New Delhi, Feb 3 (PTI) Claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative has failed, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Monday presented an alternative vision of greatly enhancing the participation of Dalits, tribals and OBCs, as well as ensuring that the energy and mobility revolution is not given up to the Chinese.

He, however, conceded that successive governments, be it the Congress-led UPA or the the BJP-led NDA, have not been able to tackle unemployment and give a clear cut answer to the youth on employment.

Speaking on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, Gandhi centred his address around on what a presidential address under an INDIA bloc government would look like.

"When we talk to the US, we wouldn't send our foreign minister to (get) our PM invited to his (US President's) coronation. We will not send our foreign minister 3-4 times (to say) please invite our prime minister... because if we had a robust production system and were working on technologies, the US President would come to India and invite our PM," Gandhi said to protests from the treasury benches with Union minister Kiren Rijiju asking him not to make "unsubstantiated allegations" on India's foreign policy.

Gandhi's remarks were an apparent reference to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar travelling to the US ahead of President Donald Trump's inauguration. Jaishankar, later represented India at the inauguration on January 20.

Noting that India's future is going to be decided by the youth, Gandhi said the country has grown at a fast pace in the past and is now growing at a slower rate, but it has not been able to address the universal problem of unemployment.

"Neither the UPA government nor today's NDA government has given a clear cut answer to the youth about unemployment," the former Congress chief said.

He also said 'Make in India' was a good idea, but the prime minister "pretty much failed". PM Modi was present in the House when Gandhi spoke.

"Manufacturing fell from 15.3 per cent of GDP in 2014 to 12.6 per cent of GDP today i.e. the lowest share of manufacturing in 60 years," he said.

"I am not even blaming the prime minister because it would not be fair to say that the prime minister did not try. I think the prime minister tried and conceptually 'Make in India' was a good idea but it is pretty clear that he failed," Gandhi said.

He said the alternative vision must answer how the problem of unemployment will be solved.

Every government since 1990 has done a decent job on organising consumption but the record of the country in organising production is dismal, Gandhi said. "What we have done is that we have handed over the organisation of production to the Chinese." He said that due to rising unemployment, social tension is on the rise in India.

Gandhi said that his message to the youth is that a mobility revolution is taking place as "we are moving from the world of the internal combustion engine to the world of the electric motor and we are moving from petrol to batteries".

"The last time there was a revolution, the computer revolution, the Congress government looked at the revolution and decided that we are going to focus on the development software. We rode the wave of that revolution. Today you can see the results," he said.

Gandhi said four technologies driving change in mobility are -- electric motors, batteries, optics, application of Aritificial Intelligence (AI).

"AI on its own is absolutely meaningless, as it operates on top of data. In India, consumption data is owned by the US through companies such as Google, Facebook, and Instagram," he said.

He said China has a 10-year lead over India in terms of the revolution.

"Our president's address will say to youngsters, we will choose critical areas in each one of these technologies and we will start to build capabilities in those areas. We would ensure our banking system is not captured by 2-3 companies, our banking system is open, dynamic and accessible to small and medium businesses," he said.

"Today, we have the Chinese (on our land) but the Prime Minister has denied it, the Army disagreed with the Prime Minister," he said, to strong protests from the treasury benches.

"The PM has denied that Chinese forces are inside our territory but for some reason our army keeps talking to the Chinese about their entry into our territory and our chief of army staff has said that the Chinese are inside our territory," he said.

Gandhi claimed the reason China is inside this country is because 'Make in India' has failed and India is refusing to produce. "I am worried that India is going to give up this revolution to the Chinese once again," he said.

He also said a Congress government have conducted a Caste Census in Telangana, and the findings are shocking.

Almost 90 percent of Telangana's population is constituted by Dalits, Adivasis, Backward Classes, or minorities, he said, adding that he is sure that the OBC population of this country is at least 50 percent.

"There are two parallel tracks to focus on: firstly, ensuring the participation of OBCs, Adivasis, and Dalits in the country's governance, institutions, and equal distribution of wealth. Secondly, challenging China and participating in the revolution to emerge victorious," Gandhi said.

He asserted the President's address was pretty much the same the year before and the year before that, and it was a laundry list of things that the government has done.

Later, in a post on X, Gandhi shared his address on X and said, "As the world stands on the brink of a technological and economic revolution, India needs a new vision for growth, production, and participation'”one that directly addresses our two biggest challenges: the job crisis and the lack of opportunity for 90% of Indians." "Jobs come from production, which Make In India has failed to revive. But we have an opportunity with the revolution in energy and mobility - with renewable energy, batteries, electric motors and optics, and AI to bring these together. India must master a central role in this revolution, and boost production to give our youth hope for the future," he said.

"Although China is 10 years ahead, we can catch up - with the right vision.

An INDIA government would realign education, enlist experts, widely spread finance, and align our trade and foreign policies," he asserted.

Asserting that production is also the foundation of national security, Gandhi said that in a world where wars are not fought between armies but between industrial systems, our dependence on Chinese imports like motors and batteries puts us at risk.

Internally, India is fighting against inequality that is increasing social tensions by excluding the 90%, he said.

"We must conduct a caste census to understand where Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs and minorities stand today; and with the help of AI understand how best to ensure they have a fair share in the nation's wealth and opportunities. It is only these two tracks in parallel - production and participation - which will create a robust growth story for India and a bright future for all our youth," Gandhi said. PTI ASK TIR TIR