Need to create jobs in rural areas to reduce migration of youth: Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said there is a need to create employment opportunities in rural and tribal areas to check migration to metro cities.

Addressing the second edition of Save the Earth Conclave, Gadkari further said the economic condition of farmers and workers in villages is serious.

“Youth, farmers and workers from villages are migrating to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Pune due to lack of employment opportunities there. We should create employment opportunities in villages and tribal areas,” he said.

The Road Transport and Highways Minister said youth and farmers are migrating from villages out of compulsion, highlighting 10,000 farmer suicides in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

He also called for a transformational shift in the agriculture sector to save farmers, saying they are ‘annadata’ (food producers), but they should now become ‘urjaadata’ (energy providers).

Gadkari also made a case for increasing the production of alternative fuel and biofuel.

“We import fossil fuels worth Rs 22 lakh crore, which is also causing pollution... so we need to work on increasing production of alternative fuel and bio-fuel,” he said.

The sugar price is determined by Brazil, the oil price by Malaysia, the corn price by the US, and the soybean price is influenced by Argentina.” Our minimum support price (MSP) is higher than market price,” he said.

The minister pointed out that a bamboo plantation can create 5 crore jobs in India.