Private sector should get free hand in education: Modi

The private sector should be given a free hand in the education sector, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said Sunday.

He also said that the government should set up the Indian Institute of Technology, the Indian Institute of Management and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in all states.

Speaking at the 9th convocation of the SRM University near here, Modi said: "The private sector is more than eager to enter this field. I am personally quite convinced that we should give them a free hand."

However he said institution building should begin with the government and it is "our commitment to set up IIT, IIM and AIIMS in every state".

He said good educational institutions could be set in every part of the country if given the right environment.

"This is an era of knowledge. This is the only potent route to fight poverty. We have to review our commitment to education," said Modi, who is also the Gujarat chief minister.

He said education was the route to eradicate poverty and every child in India must be educated.

Reminding the students that very few people were able to access good educational institutions in India, Modi urged them help the underprivileged.

Modi said 65 percent of India's population was under 35 years, and youths needed to embrace skill and speed.

Skill development, he said, was the need of the hour and should get priority. "Japan is a small country but is running bullet trains."

He said India was a diverse country with diverse natural resources which have to be harnessed efficiently.

Naural resources should be mined in a sustainable manner while the rivers must be linked.

Stressing the importance of developing scientific temper, Modi said research and development as well as innovations have to be encouraged.

Modi advised the students to create in India companies like Google and Microsoft.

Avinash Chander, scientific advisor to the defence minister and director general of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, called for setting up of more R and D institutions in India.

He said sustained efforts were needed so that the armed forces have cutting edge technologies.

Earlier, SRM University founder chancellor T.R. Pachamuthu said that 70 percent of its students hailed from outside Tamil Nadu. Its student population was drawn from 47 countries, he said.

SRM University was also one of the few universities in the world to put a satellite in space, Pachamuthu said.