Job Mela at Srikalahasti selects 163 of 312 candidates
A Job Mela conducted by APSSDC, the employment exchange and SEEDAP was held at Srikalahasti in Tirupati district on October 26. Inaugurating it, MLA Bojjala Venkata Sudheer Reddy said it was part of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's initiative to generate and fill 20 lakh jobs in the State. The pay bracket was ₹13,000–₹20,000. Fifteen companies selected 163 of 312 candidates, shortlisting 37 for interviews. Selected candidates get free skill training. A Skill Development Centre was launched at SKIT, run by Srikalahastheeswara Swamy Devasthanams.
Source
Tirupati — jobs · read the original report ↗
Desk check · compared with the source
What the desk checked (5)
- Job Mela at Srikalahasti was organised by APSSDC, the employment exchange and SEEDAP. — Stated as fact in the source; organisers named, no further sourcing given.
- 15 companies selected 163 of 312 candidates who attended, with 37 shortlisted for interviews. — Figures appear directly in the source; no independent breakdown provided.
- Jobs offered carry pay of ₹13,000–₹20,000 a month. — Directly quoted and attributed to MLA Bojjala Venkata Sudheer Reddy.
- The mela is part of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's initiative to generate and fill 20 lakh jobs in the State. — Attributed to the MLA's announcement, not independently documented in the source.
- A Skill Development Centre was launched at Sri Kalahastheeswara Institute of Technology, run by Srikalahastheeswara Swamy Devasthanams. — Attributed to the MLA's announcement at the event.
Analysts’ view opinion
The Srikalahasti job mela is small in scale but politically legible: it is an attempt to make the ruling coalition's headline promise of 20 lakh jobs visible at the constituency level. By inaugurating it himself and explicitly tying it to Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's announcement, MLA Bojjala Venkata Sudheer Reddy follows a familiar playbook of routing local benefit back to a state-level agenda. His framing of the ₹13,000–₹20,000 bracket as suited to part-time students and young breadwinners reads as pre-emptive defence against the obvious criticism of low pay.
- 163 selections in one constituency will not move electoral arithmetic, but they serve as local proof-of-delivery for a much larger promise.
- Because jobs were a central plank of Andhra Pradesh's recent electoral debate, the ruling side has strong incentive to stage even modest melas as party achievements.
- The MLA volunteering the pay range up front can be read as an effort to blunt opposition attacks on the quality of the jobs on offer.
- Launching a skill centre at SKIT, run by the temple devasthanams, reflects a broader pattern of channelling temple institutional resources into development programming.
- The government can present 163 of 312 as a strong strike rate; critics can equally note the small absolute turnout and the open question of how many placements stick.
What to watch — Watch whether follow-up data emerges on how many of the selected candidates actually join and stay in these jobs — that will decide whether the programme becomes a political asset or an opposition talking point.
The story does not establish how many selections converted into actual appointments, whether these are full-time or part-time roles, how far the 20 lakh jobs target has progressed, and it carries no opposition response.
Deep dive
Research brief · 8 facts · 3 dates · exam-readyThe brief
Context
A 'Job Mela' (job fair) was held at Srikalahasti in Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati district on October 26, 2025, jointly conducted by the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC), the employment exchange and SEEDAP. It targeted lesser-skilled youth and students looking for part-time work, offering jobs in the ₹13,000–₹20,000 pay bracket. Srikalahasti MLA Bojjala Venkata Sudheer Reddy inaugurated the event and linked it to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's announced initiative to generate and fill 20 lakh jobs in the State. A Skill Development Centre was also launched at the Sri Kalahastheeswara Institute of Technology (SKIT), run by the Srikalahastheeswara Swamy Devasthanams.
Key facts
- The Job Mela was held at Srikalahasti in Tirupati district on October 26, 2025.
- It was conducted jointly by APSSDC, the employment exchange and SEEDAP.
- Fifteen companies participated and selected 163 of the 312 candidates who attended.
- Of those selected, 37 were further shortlisted for interviews.
- The pay bracket for jobs offered was ₹13,000–₹20,000.
- MLA Bojjala Venkata Sudheer Reddy said the mela was part of CM N. Chandrababu Naidu's initiative to generate and fill 20 lakh jobs in the State.
- Selected candidates will receive free skill development training to meet job requirements.
- A Skill Development Centre was launched at Sri Kalahastheeswara Institute of Technology (SKIT), run by the Srikalahastheeswara Swamy Devasthanams.
Timeline
- October 26, 2025Job Mela inaugurated at Srikalahasti by MLA Bojjala Venkata Sudheer Reddy; 163 of 312 candidates selected by 15 companies.
- October 26, 2025MLA announces launch of a Skill Development Centre at SKIT, Srikalahasti.
- October 26, 2025, 03:51 pm ISTReport published.
Who has a stake
- Lesser-skilled youth and students at Srikalahasti — Access to part-time or entry-level jobs paying ₹13,000–₹20,000 and free skill training; 312 attended, 163 selected.
- APSSDC, employment exchange and SEEDAP — Implementing agencies responsible for matching candidates with employers and delivering skill training.
- Fifteen participating companies — Recruiting locally available manpower; shortlisted 37 candidates for further interviews.
- Srikalahasti MLA Bojjala Venkata Sudheer Reddy — Political ownership of delivering the State's employment promise at the constituency level.
- Andhra Pradesh government / CM N. Chandrababu Naidu — Progress on the announced initiative to generate and fill 20 lakh jobs in the State.
- Srikalahastheeswara Swamy Devasthanams and SKIT — Hosting and running the new Skill Development Centre as a local training facility.
Why it matters
Job melas are the visible, constituency-level delivery mechanism for large State employment promises, converting an announced target of 20 lakh jobs into measurable placements. The Srikalahasti numbers — 163 selections out of 312 attendees by 15 companies — show both the reach and the limits of such one-day drives, especially at ₹13,000–₹20,000 wage levels. Pairing placements with free skill training and a new Skill Development Centre at SKIT signals an attempt to link recruitment with employability rather than one-off hiring.
UPSC angle
Prelims pointers
- APSSDC = Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation, a co-organiser of the Srikalahasti Job Mela.
- SEEDAP and the employment exchange were the other two conducting agencies.
- Srikalahasti is in Tirupati district, Andhra Pradesh; its MLA is Bojjala Venkata Sudheer Reddy.
- CM N. Chandrababu Naidu's initiative: generate and fill 20 lakh jobs in Andhra Pradesh.
- Job Mela outcome on October 26, 2025: 15 companies, 312 attendees, 163 selected, 37 shortlisted for interviews.
- New Skill Development Centre launched at SKIT, run by Srikalahastheeswara Swamy Devasthanams.
Mains framing
Employment generation in Andhra Pradesh is being pursued through decentralised job melas that bring employers, the employment exchange and skill development agencies (APSSDC, SEEDAP) to the constituency level, as seen at Srikalahasti on October 26, 2025, where 15 companies selected 163 of 312 candidates. The design addresses two real constraints: information asymmetry between local job-seekers and employers, and the skill deficit of less-qualified youth, which the mela attempts to bridge through free post-selection skill training and a new Skill Development Centre at SKIT. The limits are equally visible — the pay bracket of ₹13,000–₹20,000 and the part-time orientation raise questions of job quality, wage adequacy and retention, while roughly half the attendees went unplaced, and a stated target of 20 lakh jobs cannot be assessed from single-event numbers. The way forward, as suggested by the source itself, lies in institutionalising training infrastructure close to job-seekers, tracking placement retention beyond selection letters, and deepening industry participation so that melas feed into durable livelihoods rather than episodic recruitment.
Key terms
- Job Mela
- A government-organised job fair where multiple companies recruit candidates on the spot at a single venue.
- APSSDC
- Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation, the State agency for skill training and placement linkage.
- SEEDAP
- A State agency named in the source as a co-organiser of the Job Mela; further details not stated in the source.
- Employment exchange
- Government office that registers job-seekers and connects them with employer vacancies.
- SKIT
- Sri Kalahastheeswara Institute of Technology, run by Srikalahastheeswara Swamy Devasthanams, now host to a Skill Development Centre.
- 20 lakh jobs initiative
- CM N. Chandrababu Naidu's announced programme to generate and fill 20 lakh jobs in Andhra Pradesh.
Practice questions
- Job melas have become a standard instrument of State employment policy. Examine their strengths and limitations as a means of addressing youth unemployment, with reference to the Srikalahasti example.
- How can State skill development corporations ensure that placement drives translate into durable, adequately paid employment rather than short-term hiring? Discuss.
- Discuss the role of decentralised skill development centres, including those run by institutions such as temple-managed colleges, in improving rural and semi-urban employability.
Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.