News Brief
PM Modi Launches Youth-Centric Initiatives Worth Over Rs 62,000 Cr Aimed At Upgrading Skills And Empowering Youth
PM Modi at Vigyan Bhawan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday unveiled a set of youth-focused programmes worth more than Rs 62,000 crore, aimed at upgrading skills, expanding education, and empowering young people across India, The Free Press Journal reported.
At the centre of the announcements is PM-SETU (Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs), a Rs 60,000 crore centrally sponsored scheme to modernise 1,000 government ITIs.
Built on a hub-and-spoke model with 200 hubs and 800 spokes, the initiative will connect clusters of ITIs to advanced facilities such as innovation centres, digital learning, incubation hubs, and placement support.
While the ITIs remain government-owned, they will be industry-managed, with global financing support from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
In addition, PM Modi inaugurated 1,200 vocational skill labs set up across 400 Navodaya Vidyalayas and 200 Eklavya Model Residential Schools in 34 states and UTs.
These labs will provide hands-on training in 12 high-demand sectors, including IT, logistics, electronics, agriculture, and tourism, aligned with NEP 2020 and the CBSE curriculum.
The redesigned Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme will provide interest-free education loans up to Rs 4 lakh, already benefiting over 3.9 lakh students.
PM Modi also inaugurated the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University and laid foundation stones for new facilities in four universities under PM-USHA, covering 27,000 students.
The Bihta campus of NIT Patna, with space for 6,500 students, was dedicated to the nation, featuring a 5G lab, ISRO-supported research centre, and an innovation hub.
Additionally, he distributed over 4,000 appointment letters and released Rs 450 crore in scholarships to 25 lakh school students via DBT.
