Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the Uttarakhand Rozgar Mela and said his government was investing heavily in infrastructure in the state to make life easier for people and create job opportunities nearer home for them.

Be it construction work, engineering or industries related to raw materials or even shops, job opportunities are increasing everywhere, he said. Due to an increase in demand in the transport sector, youth are getting new opportunities. Earlier, for these types of jobs, the rural youth of Uttarakhand had to move towards cities, the Prime Minister said.

Modi said most of the youth who got appointment letters at the Rozgar Mela would serve in the education sector. Through the New National Education Policy, it was resolved to prepare the youth of India for the emerging challenges.The responsibility of implementing this resolution in Uttarakhand rested on the shoulders of youngsters joining service now, he said.

The prime minister said, “Be it the Central government or the BJP government of Uttarakhand, we are constantly trying to ensure that every youngster gets new opportunities according to his/her interest and ability, and everyone gets the right medium to move forward. This campaign of recruitment in government services is also a step taken in this direction.”

In the last few months, the prime minister said the Central government has given appointment letters to lakhs of youngsters of the country. Such campaigns are being run on a large scale in the states run by the BJP governments across the country, as well as all Union Territories, he said. “I am glad that today Uttarakhand is also joining this campaign,” Modi said.

He said attempts were being made to change the old belief that water and youth of hills were of no use to the hills. The Central Government is making efforts that the youth of Uttarakhand return to the land of their origin. Opportunities were being created for employment and self-employment; roads and rails were being laid. The Common Service Centres offering internet and digital services were providing jobs to thousands of youth.

The prime minister said that this is the Amrit Kaal of wonderful possibilities for the youth of India and urged them to speed up the development of India through their work.

The prime minister highlighted that the Mudra Yojana was playing a crucial role in boosting employment and self-employment opportunities in the tourism sector. Giving examples of shops, dhabas, guest houses, and home-stays, he said loans up to

Rs 10 lakh were being provided to such businesses without any guarantee.

The tourism sector in Uttarakhand is expanding as far-flung areas are being connected by road, rail and internet and said that new tourist places are coming up on the tourism map.

 “Thirty-eight crore Mudra loans have been given across the country so far. About eight crore youth have become entrepreneurs for the first time,” the prime minister said. In this, he said, the share of women and youth belonging to the SC/ST/OBC categories was maximum.

The prime minister had on 22 October, last year launched the first phase of the ‘Rozgar Mela’ where appointment letters were handed over to more than 75,000 new recruits.

It marked the beginning of the campaign to provide 10 lakh government jobs. Since then, Mr Modi has addressed Rozgar Melas in several states including Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, and Maharashtra.

The recruitments are done by central ministries and departments themselves, as well as recruitment agencies like UPSC, SSC, and the Railway Recruitment Board.