Andhra Pradesh IT minister Nara Lokesh, speaking at the India Today Conclave, responded in a ‘filmy’ style to the implied question if the Telugu state was at a disadvantage because of the headstart cities like Bengaluru, Chennai or Hyderabad had.
Responding to whether other states like Telangana or a city like Bengaluru had a competitive advantage, the Andhra Pradesh minister said: “Karnataka has Bangalore, Tamil Nadu has Chennai, Telangana has Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh has Chandrababu Naidu.”
“He is our competitive advantage,” Lokesh stated.
Lokesh’s quip was evocative of the iconic scene between Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor in the film ‘Deewar’, where Amitabh Bachchan lists out the luxuries he had and asked his brother, played by Kapoor, about what he had. Kapoor delivered the iconic line, “Mere paas maa hai.”
OUT OF THE SHADOWS OF NTR, CHANDRABABU NAIDU
Speaking with India Today TV’s Rajdeep Sardesai, Nara Lokesh explained how he did not feel like a third-generation politician. “I see myself as a karyakarta of the Telugu Desam Party. Being Chandrababu Naidu’s son makes it 10 times harder. I am at a greater disadvantage, because he sees me every day,” Lokesh quipped.
Lokesh revealed that his father and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was a “taskmaster” who expected everyone to function at the same pace as him.
When asked how a Carnegie Mellon and Stanford graduate transformed into a son-of-the-soil politician, Lokesh said, “Carnegie Mellon, Stanford is good for business. Padayatra is very very important for politics.”
The Andhra Pradesh IT and Human Resources Minister said that his 226-day, over 3,000 km march in 2023 helped him understand his state, its nuance far better. “I am able to connect to issues far better. So, I truly believe that the transition is complete and I am able to contribute in Mr Naidu’s cabinet quite successfully,” he said.
FROM IT TO AI ANDHRA PRADESH AT THE CUSP
“We are going to build a new Data City in Visakhapatnam; no second thoughts about it,” said Nara Lokesh, responding to what his contribution to the state would be.
His father, a four-time Chief Minister has been heralded as the builder of modern-day Hyderabad using digital technology. Lokesh, explaining his role in the transformation of the divided Andhra Pradesh, and how he would take his father’s interest in the digital economy to the “next level”.
“Hyderabad and India were beneficiaries of the Y2K revolution. And I believe we are at the cusp of the next revolution,” he said, adding that if a state has the right ecosystem which provides ease of doing business, which Andhra Pradesh has, “at the right point” to accelerate itself to be at the top.
“I believe that we are competing with all other states. We are saying we have quality manpower now in our state. As the HRD Minister I am focused on revamping our entire curriculum from KG to PG,” he added.
He also revealed how WhatsApp governance began in the state. “The whole idea started from my padayatra, where people were questioning me saying, ‘I push a button, I get food, I get groceries, I can watch a movie. Why is the government not so proactive.’ It was a simple point that was raised,” Lokesh said.
Lokesh was very pragmatic about whether AI would be an enabler or a disrupter in people’s lives. ‘If you accept it, if you adapt to it. It will definitely transform our lives. If you resist it, you will be out of a job,” he said.
“We have to be ready for it. Our students have to be ready for it and the state has to be ready for it,” Lokesh said about the AI revolution hitting the IT industry.
SKILL CENSUS Vs CASTE CENSUS
Touching on the topic of caste census, Lokesh said that doing a skill census was far tougher than doing a caste survey.
“Caste census is a lot easier than a skill census, I have realised that. The biggest challenge that I am facing right now is how do you assess skill across so many traits. How can you create that symbiotic relationship between them and then look at a life-long journey of learning. That’s what makes it exciting but challenging,” he said.
He revealed that a pilot skill survey was done in his Mangalagiri constituency, and the state was fine-tuning it to be able to do the survey across the state. He was also sure that the same survey can be scaled up to be done across the country, which would be beneficial for every citizen.
“I believe if there is any country that can do it, it’s India. We have the technology, we have the UIDAI platform, we can really substantially leapfrog in that sense,” he said.
‘THERE WON’T BE ANY IMPOSITIONS IN INDIA’
“I don’t believe impositions will happen in India. I believe every state is unique. When I met the Education Minister (Dharmendra Pradhan) he was more insistent on me promoting Telugu, Lokesh said, speaking about the language wars raging in the southern states, and the topic of Hindi imposition and the three-language formula.
