The young men and women were full of gratitude to the Government, their trainers and employers for showing them a way to ‘stand on their own feet’. They may not be getting high salaries but the satisfaction in their eyes and gratitude in their voice said it all as Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy interacted with them.
The Chief Minister inaugurated the YVS Murthy Auditorium at the Andhra University College of Engineering (AUCE) here on Monday. He interacted with beneficiaries at a meeting organised as part of the Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu (RYK) programme, at the same auditorium.
“I did an ITI course after my SSC. My father is a fisherman. I was a swimmer and after the drowning of engineering students at Rushikonda a couple of months ago, at the initiation of the then Police Commissioner J. Purnachandra Rao I underwent training as a Community Guard,” said V. Devudu, who was trained by the City Police under RYK.
“Is the job permanent’?
“No, sir.”
“In the past, I worked as a car driver. I used to get only Rs.4,500 a month,” he said.
Kumari Lavanya, a deaf and dumb girl, had passed 10 class. She underwent a three-month computer training course under RYK. She is getting Rs.4,000 a month as a data entry operator at a private school.
The Chief Minister felt that the girl should have studied further. He told her that many girls like her had completed their graduation and were getting higher salaries. He told her that RYK was only meant to increase employability of job-seekers but not to hinder their studies or contribute to their discontinuation of studies.
Lova Lakshmi of K.D. Peta of Golugonda mandal said that she was getting Rs.7,000 a month at a restaurant. She resisted her parent’s plans to perform her marriage after 10 class and even convinced them of taking up a job after undergoing a three-month training course.
“I send Rs.4,000 home every month. I am also pursuing my degree through correspondence,” she said.
The Chief Minister said that 54 per cent of the population in the country and the State were below 25 years of age. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) had predicted that there would be 35 lakh vacancies in the State in the next five years. The objective of RYK was to channel the energies of youth for the benefit of society and the nation at large.
Efforts were being made to provide training to 15 lakh youths in three years. The training cost was being funded by the government. He, however, told the trainees that their first priority should be to complete their education.
Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao said it was unfortunate that the Opposition was finding fault with the programme aimed at increasing the employability of jobless youths.
