Former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and TDP president, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, on Wednesday called upon the youth and the other sections to think as global citizens and associate themselves with the global economy to take the nation much ahead.
In an interaction with the faculty, other staff members, students and the alumni of the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) here, which is his brainchild, Naidu strongly felt that the youth should not remain as the technology providers but grow as entrepreneurs. “You can then see and even create wonders,” Naidu said.
Recalling how he developed Cyberabad with his vision and created the infrastructure in the Financial district, the former chief minister of the combined AP said now he is proposing P-4 (People, Public, Private and Partnership) not only for the progress of the Telugu States but for the development of the whole nation. “If we can achieve this it is a great asset to the nation,” Naidu remarked.
Going back to 25 years when only BSNL for making calls in the nation and VSNL for international calls, Naidu recalled that for making a lightning call to speak to someone in an emergency it used to take eight hours if not eight days to talk to that person concerned. “With my Vision-2020 I was successful in modernising technology and you are all enjoying it now for which I feel extremely happy,” he said.
Explaining in detail as to how he struggled to meet Bill Gates to get the Microsoft unit to Hyderabad, the former chief minister said he managed to convince the then prime minister, late Atal Behari Vajpayee, to get the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to Hyderabad which resulted in the formation of Financial District there. Narrating the story behind developing Gachibowli, Naidu said he could visualise this 25 years ago and now Hyderabad is on the global map.
Maintaining that the roads in Hyderabad were very narrow and the city was once considered to be only as a semi-urban area, the TDP supremo recalled how he battled with the circumstances to widen the roads and later design the Outer Ring Road (ORR), the International Airport at Shamshabad and other projects which only convinced the investors to set up their units here. “No other city in the country has such beautiful facilities like Hyderabad even today,” said Naidu.
Explaining in detail how Hyderabad city is now considered as a technical, financial and pharma hub, the former chief minister wanted the youth to make use of the facilities available here and grow as global citizens. “No doubt I want the nation to progress well but my first and top priority is Telugus should lead the world,” Naidu said.
“The IIIT, the Indian Business Management (IBM) and Nalsar University all these institutes of excellence are here and I feel happy that experts are coming out of these institutes to lead the nation and the world,” Naidu said. Expressing confidence in the Telugus to lead the world, he pointed out that the Vice President of America and the PM of UK have Indian links while CEOs of various top companies too are from the country.
