Date:08/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/08/stories/2007110860470700.htm

Andhra Pradesh

One lakh jobs for rural youth by next year: Chinna Reddy

HYDERABAD: The State government has embarked on an ambitious plan to provide one lakh jobs for rural youth in public-private partnership mode in the next one year.

Minister for Rural Development G. Chinna Reddy told a press conference here on Wednesday that the Employment Generation and Marketing Mission (EGMM) of the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty had identified economically and socially underprivileged rural poor in remote areas for training programmes.

The identified youth were trained in 171 training centres set up across the State. Dr. Chinna Reddy said EGMM was running Rural Retail, English Work Readiness and Computer Academies besides EGMM Security Academy.

The Minister said that out of the one lakh youth identified for training, 54,450 hailed from villages covered under the Remote and Interior Area Development (RIAD) programmes.

The remaining youth would be trained to take up work as security personnel, in textile, construction, IT and ITES services.

EGMM has trained 45,000 youth and 80 per cent of them had secured jobs in service sector like tourism, retail, BPOs, construction, textiles and security.

The annual income ranged from Rs. 18,000 to Rs. 36,000 for each youth.

The Minister said the government would spend a whopping Rs. 100 crore on the training programmes alone.

Principal Secretary (Rural Development) K. Raju, Commissioner (Rural Development) A. Shanti Kumari and EGMM Director Meera Shenoy were present.