Government failed to help young people hone their skills: Narendra Modi

On Wednesday, from his home turf Gandhinagar, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is now also the BJP's prime ministerial candidate in the general elections next year, took yet another jab at the union government.

Modi said the government had failed to provide avenues for youth to hone the skills that would get them jobs. He was addressing a gathering of roughly 3,000 students from various ITIs across the country. The event was organised by the Gujarat government and industry lobby group CII.

The present Manmohan Singh government lacked vision and had only formed committees and panels on skill development in the last six years. The inaction was leading to increased unemployment and unrest, he claimed.  He said, in the last six months, the union government had formed six committees which were disbanded.  Subsequently the National Skill Development Agency was formed. Modi said the agency was a step towards accepting the Gujarat model of development. "They lost five years beating around the bush," he said.  



The union government itself had admitted that only two per cent of skilled people in India were employable, he added. Reeling off comparative statistics, he said ,in Korea, 96 per cent were employable; in Japan 80 per cent and the in UK 68 per cent. "We have a long way to go," Modi said.

There was lack of vision in the union government's leadership, he added. In 2008, the Prime Minister had spoken of honing the youth's employment skills in 500 verticals. But neighbouring China was pushing to develop skills in 50,000 verticals. "This is the difference in vision," he said.

A state government official noted after the meeting that Gujarat was trying to bridge the gap between the industrial needs and skills requirements with tailor made solutions.

However, Gujarat is not the only state to do so. Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and others are also running similar programmes.

Modi addressing niche sections seems to have become a key element of the BJP's election strategy. There have been two such gatherings already -- the first one was held last month. The second was attended by farmers and agriculture sector companies, earlier this month. Next in line is a seminar on urban development. A key official working with the chief minister said that this was a way to showcase the state's effort to promote sound practices. Political analysts, however, see the meetings as an effort by Modi to keep emphasizing his record at promoting development.