With a view to creating a skilled workforce, the Telangana government introduced a Skill University Bill in the Assembly on Thursday. The Young India Skill University, which will work out of a temporary campus this academic year, will have a permanent campus at Meerkhanpet near Hyderabad.

Addressing the House, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that the university would create thousands of skilled personnel, helping them find employment opportunities.

“We are going to introduce 17 courses in the university. On completion, the students will get a certificate. We are going to charge a nominal annual fee of ₹50,000. We will consider offering fee reimbursement to the students belonging to SC, ST, and OBC categories,” he said.

He later laid the foundation stone for the university campus at Meerkhanpet near here.

Introducing the Bill in the House, D Sridhar Babu, Minister for IT, Industries, and Legislative Affairs, said that there was a huge demand for jobs. “Even if we provide jobs to two lakh people, there will be another 20 lakh youth that seek employment opportunities. The skill university will equip them with niche skills that will help them find jobs,” he said.

In the current academic year, about 2,000 students will be inducted into the university. In the second year, the number would go up to 10,000, the Minister said.