On the birth anniversary of India's first Education Minister, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy stood at Banjara Bhavan, Hyderabad on Wednesday, 11 November 2026 and made a promise to every parent in the state: invest in your children, and his government will invest in them too.

Speaking at an event marking both National Education Day and Minority Welfare Day, the Chief Minister invoked the legacy of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad — the towering scholar-statesman who served as India's first Education Minister from 1947 to 1958 — as the guiding spirit behind Telangana's current push to expand access to quality education and skill development.

Maulana Azad's Legacy, Revanth's Promise

National Education Day has been observed on 11 November every year since 2008, honouring Azad's birth anniversary and his foundational role in shaping independent India's education architecture. Revanth Reddy used the occasion to reaffirm his administration's commitment on two fronts: raising educational quality and protecting minority welfare entitlements. 'We are committed to safeguarding the 4 percent reservations for minorities, their educational opportunities, and welfare schemes,' he said, underscoring that these are non-negotiable pillars of his government's social policy.

ITIs, Skills University, and a Sports Campus

Beyond the symbolism, the CM outlined concrete institutional moves. The state is upgrading its network of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) into Advanced Technology Centres — a shift designed to bring vocational training in line with modern industry demands. Two new institutions anchor the broader vision: the Young India Skills University, aimed at equipping youth with market-relevant vocational competencies, and a proposed Sports University, intended to give athletically gifted students a structured academic and training pathway.

The ambition is clear — build a pipeline that catches talent whether it shows up in a classroom, a workshop, or on a playing field.

A Chief Minister's Appeal to Parents

The most personal note of the event came when Revanth Reddy stepped away from policy and spoke directly to families. 'Prathi talli dandrulaaku naadoka vijnnapti' — 'I have one appeal to every parent' — he said, urging them to educate their children well, recognise their individual talents, and encourage them in both skills and sport. 'Your children's dreams must be fulfilled; your families must rise higher. As your brother, I will stand by you,' he pledged.

It is the kind of register — intimate, aspirational, community-rooted — that the Congress government has increasingly used to consolidate its standing among minority and first-generation-learner households in Telangana.

The question now is whether the institutional scaffolding — the upgraded ITIs, the Skills University, the Sports University — rises as fast as the rhetoric. The coming assembly session, and the budgetary allocations that follow, will be the real answer.