Kolkata, April 17 : on education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday stressed that India’s education system is on a transformative path with the unveiling of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. Addressing the 121st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Bharat Chamber of Commerce here, Pradhan said the NEP has focused on nurturing hands-on and comm cative skills of students from a young age for creating seamless connectivity between academia, industry, policymakers and society. He said the Policy also recommends putting greater emphasis on the ‘mother tongue’ which will develop critical understanding capability in students. After the meeting, Pradhan said, “Had an exclusive interaction with eminent members of the Bharat Chamber of Commerce and an elite group of industrialists in West Bengal representing a diverse spectrum, including oil, gas, steel, cement, paper, engineering and retail.” Pradhan, who also holds the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship portfolios, urged the veteran Industrialists present on the occasion to encourage the next generation to become job creators and not job seekers. He felt this would reverse the brain drain the Indian economy was experiencing at present. Speaking on the growth of the Eastern region, the minister stated that the ‘Eastern Freight Corridor’ and the Mission Purvodaya are expected to bear fruit soon. In the context of the geo-political situation in the global arena, the minister pointed out that the Indian economy may also have to face the ripples of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. However, India is now one of the ’emerging voices in world affairs and will not be dominated by other superpowers. In the context of the growth of Eastern India, Pradhan stated, “The eastern states have a population of 36 crores. The region has one of the highest resources of manpower which also supports the industrial ecology of the other States”. Speaking on the theme of the AGM ‘Energising Youth Power: Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship’, Pradhan pointed out that while the pandemic ushered in severe dislocations, on the flip side the period marked an incredible rise in innovators, who have converted the challenges of the pandemic into opport ties. As a result, 14000 startups were registered in India during 2020-2021 and 83 of these have already been converted into corns, added the minister. Pradhan observed that India is on an accelerated growth trajectory registering positive growth in core sectors. Besides, the Government is aligning its policies and undertaking initiatives to overcome the challenges of inflation and unemployment which came as an aftermath of the pandemic and global conflicts. In his Welcome Address, chamber president Ramesh Kumar Saraogi suggested that the scope for employment for graduates needs to be improved, especially for engineering graduates. BM SJC