“Investing in people, economy, and innovation is a theme that defines the roadmap for a developed India. You can see its impact on a large scale in this year’s budget,” PM Modi said during his virtual address.
He emphasised that the government has given equal priority to infrastructure and industries as well as human capital. “Capacity building and talent nurturing, do the job of the foundation stone for the country’s progress. Therefore, in the next phase of development, we need to invest more in these two areas,” he said.
Speaking on investment in people, PM Modi outlined three key pillars: education, skill development, and healthcare. He pointed to key initiatives such as the National Education Policy, expansion of IITs, integration of artificial intelligence in education, digitisation of textbooks, and making study materials available in 22 Indian languages.
Since 2014, over three crore youth have received skill training, the Prime Minister noted, adding that the government plans to upgrade 1,000 ITI institutes and establish five Centers of Excellence. “Our aim is that the training of the youth should be such that they can meet the needs of our industry… To provide new opportunities and practical skills to youth, we have launched the PM Internship Scheme. We must ensure that businesses at every scale actively participate in this scheme,” he said.
Discussing healthcare, the Prime Minister pointed to increased investment in medical education and digital infrastructure. “In this year’s budget, we announced 10,000 additional medical seats, with a target of adding 75,000 seats in the medical field over the next five years.
Telemedical Facility is being expanded in Primary Health Centers. Through day-care cancer centres and digital healthcare infrastructure, we want to take quality healthcare to the last mile,” he said.
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