India's Modi Pledges Free AI Training for 10 Million Youths on Independence Day

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used his Independence Day address from the Red Fort in New Delhi on Saturday to announce a sweeping package of promises for the country's youth, including free online coaching for competitive examinations and artificial intelligence skills training for 10 million young people over the next year.

Context: Protests Over Exam Scandals

The announcements came weeks after India was rocked by youth-led protests over alleged irregularities in competitive exams, organised under the banner of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Those protests culminated in the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Modi acknowledged the financial burden that paid coaching classes place on families: "The competition surrounding coaching classes has become a huge burden for middle-class families," he said, adding that free online coaching would allow students to prepare from home.

AI Training Initiative

The pledge to train 10 million young people in AI skills within a year is the most ambitious component of the announcement. It reflects the government's attempt to align India's workforce with the demands of the global technology economy and channel youth frustration into opportunity.

A Broader Vision

In a speech lasting more than an hour, Modi outlined a seven-point growth and reform framework aimed at making India a developed country within 20 years. He also announced that India would build eight more semiconductor fabrication plants in coming years, and that five nuclear reactors would generate 100 gigawatts of power by 2047 — the year India aims to mark its centenary as a fully developed nation.

Intellectual Naxals Controversy

Modi's speech also drew attention for its reference to "intellectual Naxals" — a term his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has previously applied to rights activists, academics, journalists and government critics with left-wing views. He said his government had defeated the armed Naxal insurgency but warned the fight against the "Naxal mentality" remained.