South Indian states will be engines of growth, says Dharmendra Pradhan

South Indian states with progressive governments will be the growth engines for the country as it strives to become a developed nation by 2047. The entire nation is proud of them, said Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday.

The Centre has not yet made any strategy on the proposed delimitation of parliamentary constituencies, he said, and quoted Union Home Minister Amit Shah to say that there would be no discrimination against the South states on this count.

Talking to the media to present a progress report on the 11 years of Modi Government, he said that the tentative Census schedule has been released and women’s quota too has to be taken into account.

South along with Western India, especially Maharashtra and Gujarat, will continue to be ahead of the rest of the country due to their historical background, knowledge base and hard work.

Mr. Pradhan also justified more private universities pointing out that enrolment in higher education need to be enhanced from the current 27% to 50% by 2035. “We need more colleges, quality educational institutions, and universities. We have recently opened up the sector for foreign universities. But, 75% students continue to study in government funded institutions,” he said.

Golden period

On the Centre’s performance front, the Minister claimed that the last 11 years will be judged by history as a ‘golden period’ because of the manner in which the country had prospered economically by becoming the fourth largest and having drastically reduced poverty rates.

“From a fragile economy, we have become a destination for global investments. Our digital payment system has cut corruption, and government capex has increased to ₹12 lakh crore from ₹2/3 lakh crore. Our government comprises 60% SC/ST/BCs. It will be remembered as a welfare, caring and sensitive government for the common people,” he said. “Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have delivered a transparent, decisive and trustworthy governance,” he added.

Published - June 10, 2025 08:05 pm IST