Patna/New Delhi, Oct. 5 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a Rs.62,000-crore bouquet of youth and education initiatives-many focused squarely on Bihar-while cautioning that "some people" were trying to "steal" the Jan Nayak title bestowed on socialist icon Karpoori Thakur by the people of the state. The outreach comes days before the Election Commission is expected to announce poll dates for Bihar, where assembly elections are due in the coming months. Saturday's was the latest in a spree of over a dozen initiatives and schemes announced for the state by the ruling NDA. "Karpoori Thakur wasn't made Jan Nayak by social media trolls. He was made Jan Nayak by the people of Bihar, after observing his life," Modi said during the Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh at Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan, in remarks seen as targeting the Congress for calling Rahul Gandhi 'Jananayak' during the Vote Adhikaar Yatra in Bihar. "Nowadays, some people are trying to steal even this title... The people of Bihar need to remain vigilant so that this honour is not stolen." The remark set the tone for a day-long event showcasing the government's push to modernise skill training and higher education in a state with one of India's youngest populations, high unemployment rates, and elections on the horizon. Chief minister Nitish Kumar attended the function in Patna with his cabinet colleagues via video link. At the heart of the announcement was the Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU)-a Rs.60,000-crore centrally sponsored scheme co-financed by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to modernise 1,000 government-run Industrial Training Institutes across the country. The scheme follows a hub-and-spoke model with 200 ITIs serving as hubs and 800 as spokes. Each cluster will feature upgraded infrastructure, digital learning systems, and incubation centres. Pilot hubs will begin in Patna and Darbhanga, underscoring Bihar's priority in the rollout. "ITIs are not only premier institutions of industrial education; they are the workshops of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat," Modi said. "In 2014, there were about 10,000 ITIs. Over the past decade, we have added 5,000 more. Our focus now is on modernisation, linking training to new-age industries." The Prime Minister also inaugurated 1,200 vocational skill laboratories across 400 Navodaya Vidyalayas and 200 Eklavya Model Residential Schools spread over 34 states and Union territories. These laboratories will train students in 12 high-demand sectors-from IT and automotive to agriculture and logistics-aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and CBSE's vocational curriculum. Around 1,200 vocational teachers will be trained to deliver this industry-relevant education. Targeting Bihar's youth specifically, Modi launched a redesigned Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme offering interest-free loans up to Rs.4 lakh for higher education....