Chandigarh: Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday launched an HIV-AIDS awareness campaign that will run across Haryana till Oct 12. He also honoured Kurukshetra and Kaithal, the two districts from the state included among the country’s 15 HIV-safe districts.Addressing the International Youth Day programme at Indradhanush Auditorium in Panchkula, Saini called youth the “greatest strength” of Viksit Bharat and Viksit Haryana, saying they would play a key role in realising the 2047 vision.The CM said the battle against HIV could not be won through exclusion or isolation, but through correct information, awareness, empathy and sensitivity. “We have to fight the disease, not the person suffering from it,” he said, urging people to break the walls of silence, stigma and shame around HIV and ensure that accurate information reaches at least 10 others.Calling health the foundation of ambition, Saini urged youth to stay away from drugs and addiction.The CM said Haryana’s rural youth must get access to technology and skills on a par with urban youth in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, automation, robotics, drones, electronics, digital technology and renewable energy. He said ITIs across the state were being upgraded at a cost of nearly Rs 3,000 crore, while MoUs with industry were being used to align training with market demand.Saini said the govt wanted youth to move from being job seekers to job creators. In the past 11-and-a-half years, over 2 lakh youth had been given government jobs through the “Bina Parchi, Bina Kharchi” system, he said.Highlighting MSMEs as a major employment driver, Saini said Haryana had over 14 lakh MSMEs. Under the Haryana Progressive MSME and Export Promotion Policy-2026, the state aims to attract investment of more than Rs 55,000 crore, create over 5 lakh jobs, and double exports in five years.Minister Gaurav Gautam, former Speaker Gian Chand Gupta and senior officials were present.
