VIJAYAWADA: HRD and IT Minister Nara Lokesh has slammed the filing of a series of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) in the AP High Court against major IT park projects, stating that such actions directly threaten employment opportunities for the youth.
In a post on social media platform ‘X’ on Friday, Lokesh pointed out that PILs have been filed against IT park projects by leading companies, including TCS, Cognizant, Sattva Group, and now Raheja Corp in Visakhapatnam. These projects together hold a potential of over one lakh jobs for youth.
“@YSRCParty has moved PILs against TCS, Cognizant, Sattva and now Raheja IT parks - projects that together mean over 1 lakh jobs for #AndhraPradesh. @ysjagan, why this hatred towards the future of our youth? Why sabotage AP at every step?” Lokesh questioned.
The latest PIL has been filed against the land allotment to Raheja Corp’s proposed IT Park. The petitioner, G Srinivasa Rao of Society for Protection of Constitution, was represented by senior counsel Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy.
According to a release, Lokesh said the repeated filing of PILs against marquee investments sends a deeply negative signal to investors, and undermines AP’s efforts to position itself as a leading destination for technology, innovation and high-quality employment. He emphasised that the coalition government is committed to transparent, lawful and investor-friendly processes, and will firmly defend projects that create livelihoods. “AP cannot afford politically motivated obstruction of development at a time when the State is focused on rebuilding investor confidence,” he averred.