NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday stressed the need for the education system to overcome linguistic barriers so that talent from rural areas gets opportunity to flourish and said the new National Education Policy (NEP) will be implemented on a mission mode towards this purpose.
Addressing a webinar on effective implementation of the provisions in the Union Budget for the education sector, the PM said academics and experts of every language should make available the best content in the country and the world in Indian languages. He said it is necessary to produce content in Indian languages for every area of expertise, be it medical, engineering, technology or management.
Asserting that there is no dearth of talent in the country, Modi said those living in villages and the poor, who do not know any language other than their local language, have no shortage of talent. “We should not let the talent of our villages, our poor die due to language (difficulties),” he said.
“With this thinking, the doors of several sectors such as space, atomic energy, DRDO, agriculture, are being opened for our talented youngsters,” he said.
Modi said the second biggest focus after health in this year’s budget is on education, skill, research and innovation.
Modi pointed out that to build a self-reliant India, confidence of the youth is equally important. “For a self-reliant India, the youth of the country need self-confidence and it will come only when the youth has complete trust in their knowledge and skills. A new national education policy has been created with this thinking. Now, we have to work fast to implement it from pre-nursery to PhD as soon as possible,” he said.
As a result of these efforts, he said, India has come in the top three countries in terms of scientific publications, number of PhD scholars and start-up ecosystem. He said India has joined the top 50 ranks in Global Innovation Index and is continuously improving.
The PM said the focus is on issues ranging from Atal Tinkering Labs in schools to Atal Incubation Centres in higher institutions. A new tradition of hackathons for start-ups has been created in the country, which is becoming a huge force for both the youth and industry.
Modi informed that for the first time, “Research Foundation is being built for which a provision of Rs 50,000 crore has been made. The budget shows a 100% contribution to research related to biotechnology”. In order to double farmers’ income, those engaged in biotechnology research are very much expected to work for the betterment of the agricultural sector, he said.