Andhra Pradesh will be AI Hub- Nara Lokesh

Nara Lokesh, the IT and Electronics Minister of Andhra Pradesh, revealed the state government's ambitious mission to transform Andhra Pradesh into a leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub. "As part of this mission, we will establish a prestigious global AI university in the state," Lokesh emphasized on Wednesday during a review meeting focused on the performance of higher education departments.

The meeting covered several critical topics, including strategies to improve state universities' global rankings and the establishment of AI universities. Lokesh directed officials to study the ecosystem necessary for setting up the AI University, which is envisioned to provide adequate services across 16 sectors, including education, healthcare, and governance.

In education, Lokesh proposed creating a framework to integrate advanced AI technology, benefiting students from kindergarten through postgraduate levels (KG to PG). With the current academic year already underway, he urged the preparation of a route map to achieve better results, emphasizing the need to review various performance indicators.

During the meeting, the minister also discussed the activities of the Higher Education Regulatory Monitoring Commission, which was established to regulate the fees charged by educational institutions in the state. He stressed the importance of improving state university rankings, noting that only Andhra University, Venkateswara University, and JNTU (Kakinada) are currently performing satisfactorily in terms of global rankings.

Lokesh also highlighted the difficulties students face in obtaining caste certificates and called for a permanent solution. Additionally, he instructed officials to initiate the recruitment process for vice-chancellors of state universities. Higher Education Secretary Saurabh Gaur, Higher Education In-charge Chairman Rammohan Rao, College Education Commissioner Pola Bhaskar, and Skill Development Vice Chairman and Managing Director Ganesh Kumar attended the meeting.