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NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday described India’s youth as the country’s biggest strength, but said a lack of jobs, expensive education, paper leaks, poor access to credit and the growing use of AI were holding them back.Speaking at the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme at KP Ground in Prayagraj, Rahul told the gathering, “You are power and pride of India; when I say this, I talk about every Indian citizen.” He said he wanted to speak about “dard (pain), data, and daulat (wealth)”, framing his address around the problems facing young Indians and the economic resources he believes should belong to them.Rahul said India’s nearly 40 crore young people were its “greatest strength”, adding that while there was much discussion about America, China and Russia, “India’s youth [are] unparalleled.” He argued that the country’s future would depend on the potential of its young population and the data they generate.He said artificial intelligence was also built on people’s data and argued that this data should be treated as an asset belonging to Indians. Rahul criticised the growing use of AI in discussions about employment, saying technological changes could further threaten jobs unless young people benefited from the economy being built around their data.Rahul also spoke about his connection to Prayagraj, describing the city as his family’s home and recalling its past as an important educational centre. He said Allahabad University had once been among the country’s best universities.Rahul said young Indians were being trapped in a “chakravyuh”, with education becoming increasingly expensive while degrees often failed to translate into jobs.“Today, education certificates have no meaning in India because they cannot give you job,” he said, arguing that students could spend years and large amounts of money on education without finding meaningful employment.Rahul said the problems extended across several routes into the workforce. “All doors of employment are closed in India,” he said, pointing to a decline in manufacturing, difficulties in securing loans, government-exam paper leaks and AI-driven job losses.“Decline in manufacturing, hard-to-come-by loans, paper leaks, AI replacing jobs – all this is hurting India’s youth,” Rahul said.He blamed demonetisation and GST for hurting small industries, alleged that banks were failing to provide adequate credit to small and medium businesses, and criticised the privatisation of public-sector companies. He also argued that AI could further reduce corporate employment while young Indians were increasingly pushed towards gig work.Rahul framed these problems as part of what he called the broader “system”, arguing that economic and political power had become concentrated among a small number of people. He linked this to his criticism of large corporations, the government and the RSS, alleging that they exercised disproportionate influence over India’s institutions.
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Rahul said recent student protests showed that young Indians were beginning to challenge the system. “Youths lit a light in darkness, and in doing so, changed the country,” he said.He urged young people to confront their fears without resorting to hatred or violence. “You cannot hate or be violent,” Rahul said, adding, “We will never resort to hatred or violence; will change the system with love and affection.”
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