NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took a veiled swipe at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi while inaugurating several education and skilling projects in Bihar, urging people to be vigilant against those attempting to claim the ‘Jan Nayak’ title associated with former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur.Speaking at the inauguration of Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University in Bihar, PM Modi said, “…Karpoori Thakur wasn’t made ‘Jan Nayak’ by social media trolls. He was made ‘Jan Nayak’ by the people of Bihar, and they did so after observing his life. I would urge the people of Bihar to be vigilant. Nowadays, people are trying to steal even this title of ‘Jan Nayak’. Therefore, I urge the people of Bihar to be vigilant so that this honour bestowed upon Karpoori Thakur by the people is not stolen… the double engine government of NDA is continuously engaged in modernising the educational institutions of Bihar.” PM Modi blamed the “poor state” of education during the RJD rule for triggering large-scale migration from Bihar and lauded chief minister Nitish Kumar’s government for improving the situation. He said the state government has resolved to double employment generation in the next five years compared to the last two decades, aiming to ensure that young people find work within Bihar.He targeted the previous RJD regime, recalling how “schools would not open and few recruitments were made”, forcing students to migrate to other cities. “It is rather difficult to restore a tree whose roots are rotting, and this was the state of Bihar during the RJD rule,” he said.PM Modi unveiled youth-centric initiatives worth over Rs 62,000 crore, with a special focus on Bihar. He launched PM-SETU (Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs), a centrally sponsored scheme worth Rs 60,000 crore, which aims to upgrade 1,000 government ITIs in a hub-and-spoke model.He also announced the revamped ‘Mukhyamantri Nishchay Svyam Sahayata Bhatta Yojana’, under which nearly five lakh graduates will receive a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 for two years, along with free skill training. Additionally, the redesigned Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme will provide interest-free education loans of up to Rs 4 lakh to ease the financial burden on students.The prime minister highlighted that India’s ITIs are not only crucial for industrial education but also function as workshops for ‘aatmanirbhar Bharat’. He noted that his government has opened 5,000 ITIs in the last decade, compared to 10,000 before 2014.The inauguration of the Karpoori Thakur Skill University is part of the broader effort to create industry-ready, globally competitive youth in the state, he added.
