Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
With Gen Z in the spotlight after the recent CJP protests, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made another outreach to India’s youth, using an event in Mysuru to hardsell the government’s education reforms and hail the growing role of young Indians in innovation and the space sector.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Viveka Smaraka at Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, PM Modi put particular emphasis on the expansion of medical education, highlighting the rise in the number of medical colleges and MBBS seats across the country. He also pitched the National Education Policy (NEP) as a key vehicle for preparing young Indians for the future.
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The emphasis on education and youth comes amid a broader push by the Pm to connect with Gen Z. In recent weeks, a series of his selfie-style videos directly addressing young Indians on Instagram have gone viral.
“Our educational institutions play a pivotal role in this regard. I am pleased that the number of educational institutions in India is steadily rising. Today, the country has around 1,40,000 MBBS seats. The number of medical colleges has risen to 823,” the Prime Minister said.
“The National Education Policy is becoming a vehicle to prepare India’s youth for the 21st century,” he added.
PM Modi also highlighted the growth of innovation in educational institutions, pointing to Atal Tinkering Labs as an example of efforts to encourage scientific thinking and innovation among students.
He credited young Indians with playing a major role in the expansion of the country’s space sector, underlining the opportunities opening up for them in science, technology and innovation.
The Prime Minister pointed to Skyroot Aerospace, whose young team came to symbolise India’s growing youth power in the space sector after the historic launch of Vikram-1, the country’s first privately developed orbital rocket, in July 2026.
The focus on education and opportunities formed part of a broader message to the youth, a theme PM Modi repeatedly returned to during his address at the newly built cultural centre named after Swami Vivekananda.
Invoking the seer several times, the Prime Minister said the spiritual leader had envisioned young people taking the lead in shaping India’s future.
“Vivekananda wanted the youth to lead India,” PM Modi said, as he praised young Indians for their contribution to the country’s growth story.
He also urged them to put the country first and stressed that young people needed the right opportunities and guidance to realise their potential.
“In any country, the potential of young people transforms into national strength only when they receive the right opportunities and direction, and the confidence to dream big and realise those dreams on their own soil,” he said.
The remarks marked another attempt by the Prime Minister to reach out to young Indians in the aftermath of the recent Gen Z-led CJP agitation over the NEET paper leak, which put education and examination reforms at the centre of the political debate and culminated in Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as Union Education Minister.
While PM Modi did not directly refer to the protests, his emphasis on education, opportunities and giving young people the “right direction” came at a time when the government has faced sustained pressure from students over the examination system.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
