Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday targeted the Congress' 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' campaign and said the country's youth would reject attempts to mislead them, while highlighting the government's development work and urging youngsters to build expertise in artificial intelligence.

Addressing a gathering largely attended by youngsters in Vadodara after inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of development projects worth Rs 35,000 crore, Modi also took a swipe at those questioning his government's development record, referring to them as "Naraz Fufa ji".

"At every nook and corner, you will find people who will try to mislead you through 'Jooth Ki Goonj', but today's youth will stand with the truth," the PM said.

'Chhatron Ki Goonj' is a student-dialogue campaign launched by the Congress, with programmes being held in cities across the country. The Opposition party has used the initiative to raise issues including exam paper leaks, costly education, irregularities in government recruitment and unemployment.

Modi said the youth could see the government's focus on sectors such as solar, wind, hydro and nuclear energy and urged them to develop expertise in AI.

"Youth of the country have to become experts in AI, and we want our youth to excel in the field," he added.

The prime minister also highlighted the completion of the 2,800-kilometre Dedicated Freight Corridor, calling it a "historic achievement for the 21st century".

Modi inaugurated three key sections of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, which connects Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Navi Mumbai with Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, marking completion of the project. He also flagged off freight train services from New Sanand, New Makarpura, New Umbergaon and New JNPT in Navi Mumbai, besides a passenger train service between Tanda Road and Vadodara.

Taking a dig at critics who questioned the utility of the freight corridor, Modi said, “One Naraz Fufa ji will say: What will the truck drivers do?” “Naraz Fufa now has work," he said, without naming Rahul Gandhi.

“After 2014, India built 50,000 modern rail coaches but the previous (Congress) regime could not build even 50,000 toilets in 10 years,” Modi said.

“Dedicated freight corridors are the lifeline of a fast-developing India. India’s transformation is accelerating because of this modern freight network,” Modi said.

He said passenger and goods trains earlier had to use the same tracks, which slowed both passenger travel and freight movement, but the Dedicated Freight Corridor had changed that.

“After 2014, with your blessings, when I reached Delhi, and as soon as we arrived there, we began accelerating this project. Work on the 2,800 km dedicated freight corridors has been completed today,” he said.

“Today, the Eastern and Western Freight Corridors are becoming the main backbone of the country's trade and business,” Modi said.

He described the 2,800-km Dedicated Freight Corridor as a testament to the transformation in the country's work culture over the past 12 years.

“The idea for this Dedicated Freight Corridor began in 2004. In 2006, a special company was established to carry out this work, and until 2014, files just kept shuffling from one place to another.

“Unfortunately, even these files weren't fortunate enough to get a dedicated corridor. The files would get stuck, hang around and wander aimlessly,” Modi said.

Source: telegraphindia