Time for serious work

With a new government in place, there is a lot to be done in order to correct the drift so that Nagaland can be put back on track for development. Just merely being new does not mean that the contents are new also. The contents are like old wine being put in new bottle. Putting old wine in new bottles can be worse unless there is a dynamic change with regard to strategy and goal. The past decades serve as lessons to understand that the consequences of poor infrastructure have seriously undercut the potential for growth and adversely affected job creation. The state’s economy is on weak foundation as it is sustained mostly by a salary-economy. As the main job giver, the state government alone employs around 1.4 lakh out of a total of 19.8 lakh people. The demand for government jobs is a constant demand since several thousand youth graduate from colleges or institutions each year and find no placement. The state government had also expanded the administration by adding more and more new districts some of who have less than 10,000 population. Over and above several departments have also been bifurcated on the plea of providing better and efficient services and also launching skill development programmes. These efforts have proved incapable of absorbing a large segment from among the rising number of unemployed youth in the state. The number of unemployed is not easy to ascertain but conservative estimates put the figure to around one lakh that includes graduates and diploma holders and many school drop outs. Each year, thousands who come out of colleges or various institutions are unable to find “suitable jobs”. The investments in furthering education appears to have been in vain. Frustration has grown because more and more are not finding jobs and unfortunately, expose the desperate ones into taking up undesirable activities. The sense of frustration is more when the practice of “backdoor appointment” continues in the government. The new government needs to address this issue through a broader perception and also invite involvement of various CSOs and NGOs across districts to put their heads together to address this issue. Imparting skills that are honed in for employment may not be the cure for the ailment because jobs are not always available. With no industries and restricted opportunities for investments by private enterprises owing to the sense of prevailing insecurity on the ground, the problem is compounded. The best bet is for the state to go for exploiting oil resources as it would not only benefit the state financially but also provide the much needed quantum to job opportunities for many thousands of youths with self-employment avenues. However, the mover of all these is good governance to effectively enforce the rule of law and being accountability at all levels so as to check lawless elements spreading their tentacles. An economic vision prepared through political aberration that does not take into account the ground reality will not go far and thus be worth the paper it is printed on. This has been the case and will remain unless there is a will to make a turnaround.