Dimapur, April 26 (MExN): The two-day State Consultation on youth employment which kicked off at the Kohima Local ground under the joint chairmanship of Chief Minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio and the Chief Secretary Lalhuma led to a two-day intensive workshop at the ATI. 120 youth leaders from all over the State under NSF and ENSF along with NGOs and Government officials deliberated on the three thematic issues in general – building an entrepreneurial culture, natural resource and livelihood and information and communication technology and youth employment. Resource persons and experts were present from various parts of the country. This first consultation will lead to district consultations over the next three months and then culminating into a second State Consultation sometime in September or October 2007.
The YES campaign seeks to address relevant points of youth unemployment/employment, consistent with remedial actions envisaged to arrive at a workable point of reference for further initiatives.
The ground realties, as a power-point presentation from YouthNet highlighted, are over-dependence on the government, lack of finance, knowledge and skills, lack of infrastructural facilities, connectivity, unstable situation, lack of information and lack of motivation. The campaign envisages encouraging an enabled environment to spread awareness through consultations, workshops and interactions with the government, civil society and entrepreneurs; technical, practical and business skills to be imparted and provide linkages to market institutions, finance, know-how etc. Consistent with these capacity-building dynamics, taxation and infrastructural issues will be addressed.
Some of the issues relative to vocational and entrepreneurial issues are highlighted, YES states, by inadequate power resources, infrastructure, and unawareness in basic marketing skills storage facilities and processing units access to information and awareness to production centre and schemes, difficulty in availing business license and finally taxation.
The suggestions being made are improving infrastructure like storage facilities, roads etc, undertaking networking initiatives like food and crops festivals to impact networking of entrepreneurs, garnering information from governments and other organizations, linking local entrepreneurs to markets and vice versa, addressing issues of subsidy, instating of experts groups for Agri and allied sectors (State, district and village) etc., among others. YES also suggests that supplementary entrepreneurships like in the model of Komul be instated with proper branding and marketing. This way youth (can) be the link between farmers, buyers and the outside world.
What could be done? YES forwards these redress actions: Improve information dissemination system; use local channels constructively/ positively; use local vernacular papers, FM radios for advertisements and set up community FM radio in every district. Further, credit card facility for E-business be streamlined, institute job-oriented education in school curriculum etc. YES also advises youths to play the role of catalysts and submit to positive attitudinal change be more “adventurous”
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