Modi gives call for a skilled India

Giving a call to transform the country from "scam India" to "skilled India", Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday said his government would focus on developing entrepreneurial skill among the youths.

"Our country has earned a reputation for scam India. We will have to transform this into skilled India. There is an urgent need for manpower in the world. Our neighbour China is getting older and we are getting younger. Our priority should be skill development in the youth," Modi said.

He said India should come out of its image of a scam-tainted society and make a reputation for providing skilled manpower to the world.

"There is a need to have skill, not just certificates," Modi told the Lok Sabha while replying to the debate on the motion of thanks on the president's address. He was speaking for the first time on the floor of the Lok Sabha.

He underlined the need for good social status for the skilled workers.

"In Gujarat, we improved the social status of the skilled workers by enabling them to get degrees and diplomas," Modi emphasised.

The endeavour for development should be made a mass movement, he said.

"Mahatma Gandhi had made the freedom struggle into a mass movement. Even a sweeper sweeping the floor used to think he was working for the freedom of the country. The same emotion should reflect in the cause for development. Development should become a mass movement," Modi said.