VIJAYAWADA: Making it clear that the government would cooperate with the youth for their higher education while providing skill development training, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that the ‘Naipunyam’ portal, designed to facilitate employment opportunities for the youth, should serve as a gateway to ensure employment. He wanted officials to work towards the government’s goal of providing jobs to 20 lakh youths by 2029.
He emphasised that nurturing innovation and empowering youth to achieve their aspirations must be at the core of the skill development initiatives.
Reviewing the Naipunyam portal at the State Secretariat on Thursday, the Chief Minister directed officials to benchmark global best practices and institutions to build a comprehensive and futuristic skilling framework for the youth.
He instructed that the State should collaborate with internationally reputed organisations for skill assessment, accreditation, and training, while also promoting new-age workspaces and strengthening GCC operations.
He suggested that the Naipunyam portal be launched soon and publicised before investors at the CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam.
Officials explained that the Naipunyam portal is a first-of-its-kind, AI-powered platform integrating multiple central, state, and institutional databases to create a unified interface for skill development and employment.
The portal enables candidates to create AI-assisted resumes, register for skill courses, take real-time skill assessments, and access job opportunities. It connects seamlessly with nationally integrated services, providing a one-stop solution for youth skilling, documentation, and employment.
The Chief Minister said that the portal should provide on-demand skilling, offering both upskilling and reskilling opportunities to meet evolving industry needs.
A unique feature of the portal is an AI Interview Simulator, which conducts mock interviews and provides automatic feedback for candidates to enhance job readiness. The Chief Minister directed that the portal, currently available in Telugu and English, be expanded to include multiple languages. It may be noted that a job fair is being conducted every month in every constituency, and so far, 1,44,000 people have been employed through these melas.
The Chief Minister called for a strong innovation ecosystem that begins at the school level, encouraging students, especially from Class 8 and above, to engage with new ideas and technologies. He emphasised the creation of an institutional framework to assess and enhance the skill pool of each constituency, identify predominant local skills, and design targeted programmes for continuous, blended (online and offline) skilling.
The Chief Minister also underscored the need to integrate efforts through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub. Schoolchildren must be engaged through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to encourage innovation, he said. Officials were instructed to ensure that the curriculum is regularly upgraded to keep pace with global industry requirements and technological advancements.
Minister for HRD and IT Nara Lokesh, Chief Secretary K Vijayanand, and senior officials from the Skill Development and Training Department were present.
