HRD Minister Lokesh calls on Vice-President, apprises him of NDA government’s achievements in Andhra Pradesh

HRD Minister Nara Lokesh with Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar in New Delhi on Wednesday. Several TDP MPs are seen.

Minister for IT & Human Resources Development Nara Lokesh on Wednesday paid a courtesy visit to Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar in New Delhi.

During the meeting, Mr. Lokesh apprised Mr. Dhankhar of the coalition government’s achievements in the last one year, and highlighted various development and welfare programmes being implemented in the State.

He sought Mr. Dhankhar’s support in taking the State forward, while pointing out that Andhra Pradesh was poised to be the front-runner in adopting quantum technologies by developing a Quantum Valley in Amaravati.

Asked about the progress of construction of the capital Amaravati, Mr. Lokesh told the Vice- President that works costing about ₹64,000 crore were going on in different stages at a brisk pace.

On the occasion, Mr. Lokesh presented a copy of the coffee-table book on his Yuvagalam to Mr. Dhankhar.

Later, Mr. Lokesh called on Union Ministers Amit Shah (Home), Chirag Paswan (Food Processing Industries) and Dharmendra Pradhan (Education).

In his meeting with Mr. Shah, the HRD Minister highlighted the achievements of the NDA Government, and informed him about the overall situation in the State.

He mentioned that extensive arrangements were made for the International Yoga Day event in Visakhapatnam on June 21, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of other dignitaries would be taking part.

The discussion with Mr. Paswan was focused on the Central government’s support for the establishment of food processing units in the State, especially in the Rayalaseema region. Mr. Lokesh explained that farmers in Rayalaseema would extensively cultivate fruits like mango, banana, tomato, sweet lime, pomegranate and dates, but struggle to fetch fair prices. Their situation would improve if the Centre takes necessary market intervention measures.

While promising to extend full support, Mr. Paswan said he would soon visit the State for inaugurating a food processing incubation centre at the IIIT, Tirupati, and would be touring Rayalaseema on July 11 and 12.

Mr. Lokesh told Mr. Pradhan that structural reforms were being implemented to achieve better outcomes, highlighting the Learning Excellence in Andhra Pradesh (LEAP) initiative, which was aimed at improving the education ecosystem. He mentioned that the schools were being given star ratings on the basis of their academic and infrastructure standards.

A new Teacher Transfer Act had been implemented for ensuring promotions and transfers with seniority and merit as the yardsticks.

New universities were being set up under the Center of Excellence initiative, he said. They were Artificial Intelligence University in Visakhapatnam, a Sports University in Amaravati, and India International University of Legal Education and Research, Mr. Lokesh added.

Mr. Lokesh was accompanied by MPs Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, Kesineni Sivanath, B. Nagaraju, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, S. Satish, and Byreddy Shabari.

Published - June 18, 2025 07:51 pm IST