India progresses as world battles economic crisis: PM

New Delhi, February 14

India continued its rapid progress as world struggled to cope with global slowdown because of the Central Government’s policies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.

"Everyone is saying this... the World Bank, the IMF. The world is going through an economic crisis, but it is India alone that is progressing at a rapid pace. This is a unique situation when the whole world is slipping and India is growing," Modi said.

"People across the world are saying that the steps taken by the government have led to India becoming the fastest growing economy among the larger economies of the world," he said at an event to celebrate the birth anniversary of Dayanand Sarawati, the pioneer of the Arya Samaj movement in the latter half of the 19th century.

Earlier in the day, Congress said it would demand a white paper on the state of the economy in the Budget Session of Parliament beginning February 23.   

The prime minister spoke about his government’s schemes such as Skill India initiative and Mudra Bank.

"One thing can free us from our problems, from poverty, from lack of education and that is development," Modi said.

“Over two crore people have benefited from MUDRA Yojana and over Rs one lakh crore has been disbursed to them. Financial support has been given to people and we have faith in them."

He said many believed that the 21st century would be India's and asked the country’s youngsters to take the country forward with their skills and knowledge.

He also said the government intended to add another sector — the personal sector — to the existing public sector and the private sector to ensure people became job creators and not job seekers.

He spoke about his government’s schemes for the country’s youth, such as Jan Dhan Yojana, for which the government had deposited more than Rs 30,000 crore for the scheme in various accounts.

"The government's focus is on how the power of the youth can be used for development of the nation. Therefore, we not only launched a skill development programme, but also created a new ministry, with its own budget and a set of officers to take the programme forward," Modi said.

“By 2030, when the population of many countries will grow old and when they require work force, India can power these nations with skilled and technically qualified manpower, he said.

"Apart from having certificates in their hands, our youth must be skilled," he said and exhorted the youth to "pick up any one idea and work on it...let India's strength on the world stage increase through the idea you pick."  —  PTI