NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit out at the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), accusing their previous governments in Bihar of causing the “real beginning of migration” crisis, ahead of the state assembly elections.Speaking at the Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh in Vigyan Bhawan, PM Modi said, “This generation may not realise how devastated the education system in Bihar was two and a half decades ago. Schools were not open, nor were recruitments conducted. Which parent doesn’t want their child to study and progress here? But out of compulsion, millions of children were forced to leave Bihar and go to Varanasi, Delhi, and Mumbai.”“This was the real beginning of mass migration,” he noted.PM Modi credited chief minister Nitish Kumar and the NDA government for transforming Bihar’s education system, saying they restored what was once “rotting” under the RJD-Congress rule.“Reviving a tree whose roots are infested with insects is no small feat. RJD’s misgovernance had reduced Bihar’s education system to a similar condition,” PM said.“Fortunately, the people of Bihar entrusted Nitish Kumar with the responsibility of government, and we are all witnesses to how the entire NDA team together brought the deteriorating system back on track,” he noted.Further highlighting the state’s progress, PM hailed the Bihar government for generating 10 lakh permanent government jobs and raising the education budget as compared to the RJD-Congress regime.“In the last two decades, the Bihar Government has connected 50 lakh youth with employment in Bihar. In the last few years alone, about 10 lakh permanent government jobs have been given to the youth of Bihar,” the prime minister said.“The NDA government is working with full commitment to enhance the potential of Bihar’s youth further. Bihar’s education budget has been increased several times compared to the RJD-Congress regime. Today, there is a school in almost every village in Bihar. Be it engineering colleges or medical colleges, their number has also increased manifold,” he added.PM Modi also referred to the ongoing GST Bachat Utsav, saying, “Someone told me that the youth of Bihar are very happy with the reduction in GST on bikes and scooters. They’ve even planned to buy them this Dhanteras.”The prime minister launched multiple youth-oriented projects worth over Rs 62,000 crore, including the Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU) scheme with an investment of Rs 60,000 crore.He also inaugurated the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University in Bihar, saying, “I am happy that Bihar has received a new Skill University at today’s Skill Convocation. Nitish Kumar’s government has named this university after Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur.”The prime minister unveiled a revamped Mukhyamantri Nishchay Swayam Sahayata Bhatta Yojana, offering Rs 1,000 per month for two years and free skill training to five lakh graduates annually. He also relaunched the Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme, providing interest-free education loans of up to Rs 4 lakh.(With inputs from agencies)