Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah addressed the Kashmir Mahotsav, organized by the Indian Institute of Sustainability, Gujarat University through video conferencing, today. Several dignitaries including Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh were present on the occasion.

In his address, Shri Amit Shah said that India has been moving forward through coexistence for centuries and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given the mulmantra of 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' along with several initiatives to strengthen coexistence in a country full of diversities. He said that the diverse cultures, languages, cuisines and attires are our strengths. Shri Shah added that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has called upon the countrymen, especially the youth, to imbibe the concept of “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat” as the mantra of life.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that Kashmir is the melting-pot of many cultures and a jewel in the crown of Mother India. He said that the changes taking place in Kashmir are important not only for the children of Kashmir, but also for the entire youth of the country. Shri Shah said that Last year around 1.80 Crore tourists visited Kashmir, they got to know Kashmiriyat and Kashmir culture and went back with a good message. He said that there was a time when bomb blasts, strike and stone pelting used to happen in Kashmir, but today due to the changes brought under the leadership of Shri Modi, the youth of Kashmir have books and laptops in their hands, they also have a new thinking for Start-Ups and potential to challenge the youth of the world. Shri Shah said that after the removal of Article 370 and 35A from Kashmir, for the first time democracy has reached the grassroots level.  Today more than 30,000 elected representatives of the people are working in the Panchayat system of Kashmir. He added that the entire nation is happy with these changes brought by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in the last 9 years.

Shri Amit Shah said that by forming the Ministry of Cooperation, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is trying to connect every single village with the development system and the poorest of the poor Indian with the economy. He said that Gujarat University is the University of  Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Shri Narendra Modi, many great personalities have been produced by this university who have made significant contributions for the nation building. The country's first innovation park was established in Gujarat University and currently it is supporting more than 300 start-ups. He said that Amul Cooperative Society in Gujarat smoothly functions with the hard-work of over 28 lakh women and its annual turnover is Rs. 60,000 crore. He said that recently the Union cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has decided that in the next three years, Multidimensional Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) will be constituted in two lakh panchayats of the country which will give new dimensions of rural development to the Panchayats. Shri Shah said that the Ministry of Cooperation is working with the state governments to for these multi-purpose PACS at the grassroots level.

Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has provided many platforms for the youth across the country. He said that ‘Skill India’ is one such platform which provides a global platform to the power and talent inside the youth. He said that 4000 seats have been created in many new ITIs, more than 20 lakh youth have been trained in 126 streams in 15,000 ITIs. Shri Shah said that ‘Start-up India’ is one such initiative under which more than 70,000 start-ups are strengthening their ecosystem, whereas in 2016 their number was only 724. Shri Shah said that after the launch of ‘Start-up India’ scheme by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, more than 70,000 start-ups have been formed and 44 percent of these start-ups are run by girls and women. Apart from this, more than 100 start-ups have joined the unicorn club and 45 percent of the start-ups are in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation called upon the youth to take forward the start-up movement in Kashmir as well. He said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the ‘Make in India’ scheme in 2015 and as a result India's merchandise exports have crossed $400 crore in the financial year 2022. He said that under the PLI scheme, new investment worth Rs 3 lakh crore has come in 12 sectors. Shri Shah said that many facilities have also been provided for ‘Patent Registration’ for the youth of India. He said that in 2013-14 only 3000 applications came from India, while today 24000 applications come from India annually. He said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has launched many schemes for the youth of the country like Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Digital India Mission, Fit India, Khelo India.

Shri Amit Shah said that this is the year of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has described 25 years from 2022 to 2047 as  ‘Amrit Kaal’. In this ‘Amrit Kaal’, we have to take a pledge that at the time of the centenary of independence, India will be first in every field in the world. He said that when the youth of the country will shape their intellectual ability, energy and enthusiasm in sync with schemes like Skill India, Startup India and PM Mudra Yojana, then no one can stop India from reaching to the top of the world.

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