NEW DELHI: From "scam India" to "skill India".
This is the new mantra of the new government with Prime Minister Narendra Modi making a pledge in Parliament to redeem the image of the country and enhance its stature in the comity of nations.
"Our image has become 'scam India', we have to convert it to 'skill India'," he said in Parliament.
In his first speech in both Houses of Parliament, he talked about his "dreams" of ensuring the country's progress and converting the image from "scam India" to "skill India" through "cooperative federalism".
The Prime Minister was apparently taking a dig at the previous Congress-led UPA government during which a number of scams came out in the open.
Noting that the country has earned the image of "scam India" in the world, he said, "The confidence has been lost, which needs to be restored. The confidence should not be broken. It is a big challenge, but we can do it if we sit together."