New Delhi, Jun 9 (KNN)  Calling for skill development to be a priority area, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the country needs to exploit the demographic dividend as 65 per cent of the population was below 35 years of age.  Further, for the country to compete with China, the focus should be on skill, scale and speed. 
 
The Prime Minister was speaking during the launch of the book, "Getting India Back on track – an action agenda for reform" here yesterday.  Edited by Bibek Debroy, Ashley Tellis and Reece Trevor, the book was published by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Referring to skills such as teaching, nursing and paramedics, he said good teachers were one of the biggest needs of society, but there are very few good teachers available.
 
Can India become an exporter of good teachers who would capture the imagination of an entire generation globally, the Prime Minister asked. He said if India has to compete with China, the focus should be on skill, scale and speed, according to an official notification. 

The PM also called for enhancing the input of intellectual think tanks in policy frameworks.  Universities should be actively involved in research and analysis of the developmental process, to contribute in the best possible way for policy-related decisions.   

With regard to infrastructure, the focus needs to shift from highways to "i-ways", and optical fibre networks.  The PM said cities in the past were built on river-banks. They are now built along highways. But in future, they will be built, based on availability of optical-fibre networks and next-generation infrastructure.

The Prime Minister said urbanization should not be treated as a problem, but as an opportunity. If we have to generate employment and change for the better, we plan to build 100 smart cities.

The Prime Minister cited the three colours of the National Flag, to suggest revolutionary agendas of futuristic growth.   He said we need to bring about a second green revolution – focusing on increased agro-productivity, value addition, agro technology, and decentralization of warehousing; a white revolution with focus on increasing milk productivity, and developing a support system for ensuring cattle health; a saffron revolution that focuses on renewable energy sources such as solar energy, to meet India's growing energy demand; and the blue revolution should focus on the fisheries sector, including ornamental fish.

Modi also stressed on the need for water conservation, and emphasized the importance of micro-irrigation, which would lead to "per drop, more crop."  He said that micro-irrigation had been successful in improving productivity and quality in crops like sugarcane in Gujarat.

Also, talking about the need to combat the challenge of global warming and climate change, the Prime Minister said that a civilization that treated rivers as mothers did not need to learn about environment protection from a western mind-set.   (KNN/ES)