The Impressive TimesNew Delhi– Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday unveiled a series of youth-centric initiatives worth more than ₹62,000 crore during the Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. Addressing thousands of ITI students and teachers across the country, the Prime Minister said that India is a land of knowledge and skill, and this intellectual strength is the nation’s greatest power. He noted that ITIs are not just centres of industrial education but also workshops of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, where the youth are being prepared to meet the demands of the 21st century.
At the heart of the announcements was the launch of PM-SETU (Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs), a ₹60,000 crore scheme that aims to modernize 1,000 ITIs across India in partnership with industries and global institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. The scheme will adopt a hub-and-spoke model to upgrade ITIs with new machinery, innovation labs, digital learning, incubation centres, and placement facilities, ensuring that Indian youth are trained not only for domestic industries but also to meet global skill requirements.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated 1,200 vocational skill labs in Navodaya Vidyalayas and Eklavya Model Schools across 34 states and union territories. These labs will provide hands-on training in high-demand sectors including IT, agriculture, automotive, electronics, logistics and tourism, ensuring that students from even remote and tribal areas have access to industry-relevant learning from an early age.
A special emphasis was placed on Bihar, where the Prime Minister inaugurated the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University in honour of the veteran socialist leader who devoted his life to social service and the promotion of education. He also laid foundation stones for new academic and research facilities at Patna University, Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University, Jai Prakash Vishwavidyalaya, and Nalanda Open University under the PM-USHA scheme, while dedicating to the nation the Bihta campus of NIT Patna, equipped with a 5G use case lab, a regional space centre with ISRO, and incubation support for startups. Alongside these, the Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme was redesigned to provide interest-free loans up to ₹4 lakh, and over ₹450 crore worth of scholarships were transferred directly to Class 9 and 10 students. Appointment letters were also distributed to more than 4,000 newly recruited candidates in government departments.
The Prime Minister underlined that Bihar, which once saw large-scale migration due to poor educational infrastructure, is now witnessing transformation with expanded universities, modernized schools, and large-scale recruitment of teachers. He said that in recent years, Bihar has provided nearly 10 lakh permanent government jobs, including more than 2.5 lakh teacher appointments, while the government now aims to double employment opportunities in the next five years. He added that the Central Government has approved Kendriya Vidyalayas in 19 districts of Bihar and noted that the state, which once lacked sports infrastructure, is now hosting national and international sporting events.
Highlighting India’s broader progress, the Prime Minister recalled that before 2014, the country was labelled as one of the “Fragile Five” economies but is today on track to become one of the world’s top three economies. He pointed out that unprecedented growth in manufacturing sectors such as electronics, automobiles, defence, and mobile phones has generated millions of jobs for skilled youth. He further said that the Mudra Yojana has enabled crores of young people to start their own ventures, while the newly launched Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana with an outlay of ₹1 lakh crore will help 3.5 crore youth secure private sector employment.
The Prime Minister concluded that while there may be alternatives for many things, there is no substitute for skill, innovation, and hard work. He expressed confidence that India’s youth possess all these qualities and will be the driving force of a Viksit Bharat. He extended his best wishes to students, teachers, and young achievers, affirming that the strength of youth is the true strength of the nation.
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