Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday placed the youth at the centre of India's journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047, announcing a plan to train one crore youngsters in artificial intelligence skills over the next year and calling on them to take a greater leadership role in nation-building.
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 80th Independence Day, Modi said the youth would be among the biggest beneficiaries of a developed India and their capabilities must be harnessed for the country's progress.
"The youth have a big role in the journey to become a Viksit Bharat. The biggest beneficiaries of Viksit Bharat will be the youth of the country," he said.
Modi said the country needed the participation of young people in the ongoing Census exercise and appealed to them to spare time for the process.
"We have to focus on three things -- cost, quality and skill," he said, stressing the need to strengthen the skills of India's young workforce.
The prime minister announced that one crore youth would be trained in AI skills over the next year, saying their capabilities would be used for nation-building. He also pointed to rapid growth in the aviation sector as a source of new opportunities for young Indians.
On education, Modi said India had added nearly 650 universities over the past 10-12 years, compared with fewer than 350 between 2004 and 2014. He said the number of medical seats had more than doubled since 2014.
Modi said the government had introduced a new education policy after a gap of 35 years and that India was emerging as an attractive destination for foreign universities.
He said arrangements had also been made to allow Indian students to obtain foreign degrees within the country.
Addressing the burden of coaching classes on poor and middle-class families, Modi said the government would provide free online coaching for various competitive examinations. --
PTI/ANI
