The Union government is investing heavily in Uttarakhand’s infrastructure to ensure that young people from the state who migrated to big cities for livelihood return to their villages in the hills and get jobs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.
Addressing a Rozgar mela via video-conferencing, Modi said it is an amrit kaal ( the period until the centenary of India’s independence in 2047) of limitless possibilities for the country’s youngsters, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments at the Centre and in the state are trying to ensure that everyone in Uttarakhand gets a job according to their ability.
The Rozgar Mela is a recruitment drive to provide employment to one million people by filling up existing vacancies against sanctioned posts in mission mode, according to a release by the Union government when the drive was launched in October.
“Pahad ka pani and pahad ki jawani pahad ke kam nahin aate (the water and the youth of the hills are never of any help to them).We have to change this old concept,” he said. “That’s why the central government is making constant efforts to ensure that young people in Uttarakhand return to their villages. For this, new employment and self-employment opportunities are being created in the hills,” he said.
“Today, you can see that several roads are being built and railway lines are being laid. That is, heavy investments are being made on infrastructure in Uttarakhand. As a result, it is becoming easier to travel to far-flung villages. And a large number of jobs are also being created due to this,” he added.
The Prime Minister continued: “Be it construction work, engineering, industries related to raw materials, or even shops, job opportunities are increasing everywhere. Due to an increase in demand in the transport sector, the youngsters are getting new opportunities. Earlier, for these types of jobs, those from rural areas had to move towards the city. Today, thousands of youngsters are working in common service centres which provide internet service and digital services in every village.”
The far-flung areas of Uttarakhand are being connected by road, rail and internet and this is helping in expansion of the tourism sector, Modi said. “New places are becoming popular on the tourism map. Consequently, the youngsters of Uttarakhand are getting the kind of employment opportunities near their homes that they would have had to move to large cities for in the past,” he said.
Modi said that the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (loan scheme) is playing a crucial role in boosting employment and self-employment opportunities in the tourism sector.
“38 crore Mudra loans have been given across the country so far. About eight crore youngsters have become entrepreneurs for the first time,” he said.
Loans up to ₹10,00,000 are being given to youngsters without any guarantee to open shops, dhabas, guest houses and home stays, Modi said, adding “it is an amrit kaal of limitless possibilities for the country’s youngsters”.
“The BJP government at the Centre as well as in the state is trying to ensure that every youngster gets a job in accordance with his aptitude and ability,” he said.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed his gratitude to Modi and said the state government is running a campaign to fill vacant posts in various departments. He added that his government is committed to ensure a golden future for the young people.
“Some people are talking about postponing the exams. However, we want to ensure that young people don’t lose their precious time. That’s why all recruitment exams are being conducted on time. We brought an anti-copying law to ensure transparency in all recruitment exams. It is the strictest law in the country,” he said, referring to the law brought through an ordinance earlier this month.
The ordinance was introduced after several paper leaks rocked the hill state , prompting unemployed aspirants to hit the streets in Dehradun in protest. State education minister Dhan Singh Rawat also addressed the Rozgar Mela event.