VIJAYAWADA: Asserting that the coalition government set an ambitious target of creating 20 lakh jobs across public and private sectors, Minister for HRD and IT Nara Lokesh said that the government has set a focus on tracking every employment opportunity generated.
Chairing a meeting of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on job creation at his Undavalli residence on Tuesday, Lokesh reviewed the progress of employment generation in the State. Discussions were held on industries already established, jobs created so far, and the status of projects that have signed agreements with the government but are yet to be grounded.
Officials informed the minister that around 625,000 (6.25 lakh) jobs have already been created for youth across the state. A detailed presentation was made outlining the strategies being implemented to achieve the 2 million jobs target.
Emphasising accountability, Lokesh directed officials to track every job through Aadhaar/KYC linkage, similar to the existing skill portal system. “Employment generation is the top priority. Both MSMEs and large-scale investments are equally important,” he said.
The Minister also called for simplifying industrial approvals, stating that processes in Andhra Pradesh should be made easier than in global hubs like Singapore and Dubai. He instructed departments to map all required approvals and No Objection Certificates (NOCs), and develop a real-time tracking mechanism to monitor their progress and timelines.
Lokesh stressed the importance of grounding investments and identifying bottlenecks, adding that weekly reviews would be conducted to ensure progress. He announced that 787 companies that have signed agreements with the State government will be closely tracked.
The AP Economic Development Board (EDB) will be further strengthened, and each department will appoint a single point of contact to monitor the EDB tracker.
The meeting also reviewed plans related to MSME parks and power banking facilities for the textile sector.
Ministers TG Bharat, Kollu Ravindra, P. Narayana, Gottipati Ravi Kumar, Kandula Durgesh, and Kondapalli Srinivas, along with Chief Secretary G. Sai Prasad and senior officials attended the meeting.