NEW DELHI: Underscoring that India’s expanding economy is creating new possibilities for the youth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the unemployment rate in the country is at its lowest level in the last six years.
The Prime Minister in a video message to the Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh said that employment creation in India has reached a new height.
He emphasized that the benefits of development are reaching both villages and cities equally, and as a result, new opportunities are increasing equally in both villages and cities.
“Employment creation in India has reached a new height and the unemployment rate in India is at its lowest level in six years according to a recent survey,” he said.
He said earlier there was neglect towards skill development in the previous governments, but “our government understood the importance of skill and created a separate ministry for it and allocated a separate budget.”
Highlighting the importance of skilling, upskilling and re-skilling, Modi noted the rapidly changing demands and nature of jobs and emphasised upgrading the skills accordingly.
Therefore, he said, it is very important for industry, research and skill development institutions to be in tune with the present times.
He said about 5,000 new ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes) have been set up in the country in the last nine years, thus adding more than four lakh new ITI seats.
He said institutes are being upgraded as model ITIs with the objective of providing efficient and high-quality training along with best practices.
“The scope of skill development is continuously increasing in India. We are not limited to just mechanics, engineers, technology, or any other service,” he said.
Pointing out that there has been an unprecedented increase in the participation of women in India’s workforce, he credited it to the impact of the schemes and campaigns that have been launched in India in the past years regarding women empowerment.
Emphasising that India is investing more in the skills of its youth than ever before, Modi gave the example of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, which has strengthened the youth at the ground level.
“Under this scheme, about 1.5 crore youth have been trained so far. New skill centres are also being established near industrial clusters which will enable the industry to share its requirements with skill development institutes, thereby developing the necessary skill sets among the youth for better employment opportunities,” he said.
Highlighting the recent figures released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Modi said India will remain the fastest-growing major economy in the coming years.
He also recalled his resolve to take India among the top three economies of the world and said that the IMF is also confident of India becoming one of the top three economies of the world in the next 3-4 years.
“It would create new opportunities for employment and self-employment in the country,” he said.
“India has this huge advantage. The world is looking towards India for its skilled youth,” he said while suggesting not to waste any opportunity being created and assured that the government is ready to support the cause.