Telangana Chief Minister, A Revanth Reddy, has announced that the State will have a Skill University. The Chief Minister asked the officials and industry bigwigs to come up with proposals for the establishment of the University one or two days before the start of the Budget Session of the State Assembly, which is by this month end.
The government will take an appropriate decision within 24 hours after examining the proposals received, an official statement said. The Chief Minister has proposed the establishment of Skill University within the premises of the Engineering Staff College since the college is located close to IT companies and other industries. At the meeting, it was decided that the industry department, in coordination with the education department, will engage with industry leaders and come up with a clear action plan for setting up the Skill University. The report is to be submitted before the assembly budget session (before July 23).
Reddy and the officials discussed the constitution of a Board for skill university on the lines of ISB (IInternational School of Business) and decided to float a board temporarily. The Chief Minister suggested to the officials to come up with a blueprint in advance for the courses that are being offered at the university, the course curriculum, industrial needs, and employment opportunities for the youth.
It has been envisaged as a PPP project in a hub and spoke model that is self-sustainable, the official release said, adding that the hub will be located in Hyderabad with spokes in every erstwhile district headquarters to cover all parliamentary constituencies eventually. However, the CM asked the officials to examine whether the skill university should be established through a private partnership between the government or if the government alone take the responsibility.
Industry will play a critical role in demand assessment, curriculum development, skill training, as well as offering internships. A corpus fund will be created with CSR donations from industry.
The officials have been asked to hire a reputed consultancy to prepare all the necessary proposals and project reports for the establishment of the skill university. The chief minister also announced that the Department of Industries will be the nodal agency for the university.
Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka, IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu, and Advisor to the Chief Minister Vem Narender Reddy also participated in this meeting. Special Chief Secretary to IT and Industry Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary to Education B Venkatesham, CM Special Secretary Ajith Reddy, Vishnuvardhan Reddy, Dr. Reddy’s Lab Chairman Satish Reddy, Hari Prasad from Bharat Biotech, CREDAI President Shekhar Reddy, and Srini Raju (I Labs) were present.