Namaskar, friends!

Today more than 70,000 youths are getting appointment letters for jobs in various departments of the Government of India. All of you have achieved this success through hard work. I convey my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to you and your family. Just a few days ago, a similar ‘Rozgar Mela’ (job fair) was organized in Gujarat which provided employment to thousands of people. A major job fair is also being organized in Assam this month. Such job fairs organised by the Government of India and the BJP-ruled state governments show our commitment towards the youth.

Friends,

The Government of India has also given priority to making the government recruitment process faster, more transparent and fair in the last nine years. Earlier, the Staff Selection Board used to take around 15 to 18 months to complete the recruitment process, which means around one and a half years. Today this process is completed in six to eight months. Earlier it was very difficult to apply for a government job. One had to stand in queues for hours to collect an application form, find gazetted officers to get documents attested and then send the application by post. Moreover, it was also not sure whether the application reached on time or not, and importantly, at the desired department or not. Today the entire process from applying to getting the results has become online. Today it is also sufficient to self-attest the document. Interview rounds for recruitment to Group-C and Group-D posts have been done away with. The biggest advantage of all these efforts is that the possibilities of corruption or nepotism have ended.

Friends,

Today is very special for another reason. Nine years ago on May 16, the results of the Lok Sabha elections came. The entire country was filled with enthusiasm, gusto and trust. India, which is marching ahead with the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,’ is striving to become a developed India today. Just as the results of the Lok Sabha elections were announced nine years ago on May 16, today is another important day. Today is also the foundation day of one of our important states, Sikkim, situated in the lap of the Himalayas.

Friends,

During these nine years, the policies of the government were formulated keeping new possibilities of employment at the center. Be it construction of modern infrastructure, development of rural areas, or expansion of facilities related to survival, every plan and policy of the Government of India is creating new employment opportunities for the youth.

Friends,

The Government of India has spent about 34 lakh crore rupees on capital expenditure for basic facilities in the last nine years. In this year's budget also, 10 lakh crore rupees has been set aside for capital expenditure. With this amount, new highways, airports, rail routes and bridges have been built and lakhs of new jobs have been created in the country due to the construction of innumerable such modern infrastructure. The speed and scale at which India is working today is also unprecedented in the history of 75 years of independence. Only around 20,000 kilometers of rail lines were electrified in India in the 70 years after independence. On the other hand, about 40,000 kilometers of rail lines in India have been electrified under our government in the last nine years. That means double. Before 2014, only 600 meters of new metro lines were being laid every month in our country. Today it is six kilometres on an average every month. Earlier the pace of construction was in metres, whereas, it is in kilometres nowadays. Now six kilometres of new metro lines are being laid on a monthly basis.

Before 2014, there were less than 4 lakh kilometers of rural roads in the country. Today, there are more than 7.25 lakh kilometers of rural roads in the country. This too is almost double. Before 2014, there were only 74 airports in the country. Today the number of airports in the country is also on the way to around 150. In this too, it is double. The four crore pucca houses that have been built for the poor in the country in the last nine years have also created many new employment opportunities. Five lakh common service centers have been opened in every village and they have become a major source of employment besides making youths entrepreneurs at the village level. Be it building more than 30,000 ‘Panchayat Bhavans’ in villages or connecting nine crore houses with water connections, all these campaigns are generating employment on a large scale. Whether it is foreign investment into the country or record exports from India, it is also creating employment opportunities in every nook and corner of the country.

Friends,

The nature of the job has also changed very rapidly in the last nine years. In these changing circumstances, new sectors have emerged for the youth. The Central Government is continuously supporting these new sectors as well. The country has witnessed a new revolution in start-up culture in these nine years. While there were a few hundred start-ups in the country in 2014, today this number is close to one lakh. And it is estimated that these start-ups have provided employment to at least 10 lakh youth.

Friends,

The country has seen taxis becoming the new lifeline of Indian cities through Cab Aggregators i.e. App in these nine years. In the same period, a new system of online delivery has been created, which has given employment to lakhs of youth. There has been a new boom in the drone sector in these nine years. The use of drones is on the rise from spraying of fertilizers to supply of medicines. In these nine years, the city gas distribution system has expanded from 60 cities to more than 600 cities.

Friends,

The Government of India has sanctioned 23 lakh crore rupees to the youth of the country under the Mudra Yojana in the last nine years. Some have started their new business with this amount, whereas some have bought a taxi or some have expanded their shop. And their number is not in lakhs. I proudly say this number is in crores today. There are about eight to nine crore people who have started their independent work for the first time with the help of the Mudra Yojana. The ongoing ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’ campaign is also based on the creation of employment through manufacturing in the country. The Central Government is providing assistance of about Rs 2 lakh crore for manufacturing under the PLI scheme. Apart from making India the manufacturing hub of the world, this amount will also help in providing employment to lakhs of youth.

Friends,

It is very important for the youth of India to develop the skills to work in different sectors. As part of this, higher education institutions and skill development institutions are also being constructed on a war footing in the country. A new IIT and IIM have come up every year between 2014 and 2022. On an average, one university has been opened every week and two colleges have been opened every day in the last nine years. There were around 720 universities in the country before the formation of our government. Now this number has increased to more than 1100. Only seven AIIMS were built in the country in seven decades. In the last nine years, we have moved towards building 15 new AIIMS. Many of these hospitals have also started providing their services. As of 2014, there were less than 400 medical colleges across the country. Today their number has increased to about 700. If the number of colleges increased, naturally the number of seats also increased and opportunities for higher education also increased for the youth. There were only around 80,000 MBBS and MD seats in our country before 2014. Now the MBBS and MD seats in the country have increased to more than 1.70 lakh.

Friends,

Our ITIs are also playing an important role in developing skills. Almost a new ITI has been built in the country every day in the last nine years. Today, new courses are being started in about 15,000 ITIs according to the new needs of the country. Skill training has also been given to more than 1.25 crore youth under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana.

Friends,

Due to these efforts of the government, new employment opportunities are being created in many new sectors. I would like to give you one example of EPFO. If we look at the net payroll figures of EPFO after 2018-19, more than four and a half crore people have got formal jobs. The payroll data of the Employee's Provident Fund Organization clearly shows that there is a continuous increase in formal jobs in India. Along with this increase in formal jobs, self-employment opportunities are also increasing continuously in the country.

Friends,

There has been an unprecedented positivity regarding industry and investment in India in the wake of reports in the last few weeks. A few days ago, I met the CEO of Walmart. He expressed confidence that his company would start exporting goods worth Rs 80,000 crore from India in the next 3-4 years. This is great news for our youth who want to work in the logistics and supply chain sector. The CEO of CISCO also told me during his visit to India that his company was aiming to export products made in India worth Rs 8,000 crore. Apple's CEO also came to India a few days back. He was also very confident about the bright future of India and especially mobile manufacturing. The top executives of the world's famous semiconductor company NXP also met me recently. They are very positive about the creation of India's semiconductor ecosystem and its potential. Foxconn has also started investing thousands of crores of rupees in many projects in India. I am going to meet many CEOs of the world's biggest companies once again in the next one week. All of them are full of enthusiasm to invest in India. All these developments and efforts show how fast new employment opportunities are being created in different sectors in India.

Friends,

You will now have a direct role in such important changes in this ‘Mahayagya’ of development going on in the country. You have to fulfil responsibilities as well as realize the resolutions of a developed India in the next 25 years. I urge all of you to make full use of this opportunity. A new phase of learning is also starting in your life from today. The government is laying greater emphasis on new skill development of its employees. Keeping this in mind, an online learning platform, iGoT Karmayogi has been started. There are many types of courses available on this platform. Make full use of them. The more your potential increases, the more positive effect will be visible in your work. And the positive effect on work due to capable people accelerates positivity in all activities of the country. Today, I once again congratulate and wish you all the best for your new journey at a very important stage in your life on this important occasion. I also wish all the best to your family members as well, because they have contributed a lot in your life with great hope, expectation and enthusiasm. Praying for your bright future, I thank you very much once again.

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DS/ VJ