Nagaland is a slow state. In an age when speed makes so much difference, slow means being left behind. Therefore, not to be left out young people move out of the state to hone their skills to face the needs of the globalised world. They are our brave hearts. This is the plight of the Naga youth who work hard at everystage and have to keep proving themselves for career and survival.
The desire to leave home arises from necessity – be it higher education or employment or both. This outlook was once a strange idea but its now accepted as central to livelihood. It leads to opportunity but it has also high psychological costs. Today, this is not openly discussed. This is typically regarded as an embarrassing impediment to individual progress and future. Technology too reduces us into thinking that moving away is less consequential since one is just a mouse-click away or a phone-call away.
In the past we were told that Naga people and their culture are wonderful. Our past leaders are shown as icons and heroes. We don’t celebrate their birthdays. We never question them. Did they take the best decision for us or are we flaunting the great dreams of our forefathers? Why are we one of the weakest academically? Why do we have all sorts of social ills? Why are we so insensitive to quality education and so unfair to development? Do we value wealth or education? Do we value democracy where people have a greater say in how they are governed? Till today, after five decades of statehood, these questions have no easy answers.
Presently, thousands of boys and girls are pursuing academic courses outside the state draining away crores of rupees and that too has no surety of employment in their home-state. They are there in mainland India in the shadow of uncertain future.
Mainland India is materialistic. But they have created a system in which wealth is created with hard work, innovation, talent and enterprise. People who display these qualities move up in life, and they are protective of their values and systems.
The Nagas as a whole lacks policy on values. A state is defined by the ability to take decisions – a correct one. State of Nagaland is not known for her decision making prowess. We don’t know how to prioritize the needs of the state. Values tell people what is good and important. They bind the community from disintegration. Every Sunday our church begins with the ‘Holy Word’ and preaches that the society without value is useless. Only the answer to this fundamental question will determine the future course of Naga advancement particularly the ‘generation next’.
Many states have been transformed today by investment from within and abroad generating huge employment. Economic growths through private sector investment are taken seriously in many states. They know the potential of capital coming into their states. They lobby to set up industries in their states as that will provide multi-benefits to the people both educated and uneducated. But this is something unthinkable in Nagaland. The reason is known to all. The mainland India knows even better.
Nowadays, investors will not come to invest for charity. We too should not live on charity. We should learn to do good business. However, investors want level playing field, free and fair market and the government commitment towards creating appropriate infrastructure. These requirements are essential for growth and good for younger generation to contribute towards state’s development. What we need is low key rhetoric, pragmatic system of governance and fiscal prudence in government set up.
In five decades of statehood, Nagaland could not build an infrastructure worth its name. Those who dared to set up commercial ventures in a small way were nibbed in the bud. Electricity – the basic requirement is in abysmal condition whereas road capacity-building is not in a priority sector. This is an indicator of under development. On top of it, the internal imposition of levies on goods, transports and salaries – thus moping up huge sum for use other than the welfare and growth of the public is farcical and anti-growth. This is an assault on the people who work hard to generate a meagre wealth for living. We have created an aspiration in the soul of young people and now making them to regress in the shallow and untenable stricture of the past.
Education: another area of concern is the quality of education. The primary education is the first step in this direction. The government created a vast number of schools practically free. But they were so uniformly bad that people have shunned them and scrambled for seats in a few private schools. Our village schools are in terrible shape. Everything is of low quality. Low quality education is not really education at all. This is tragic. The state has failed to provide both the quantity and quality of education. Think of higher education. We do not have branded colleges and institutions. If so, how can we train potential students. If they are not being educated well, how will they succeed in today’s highly competitive market. Won’t the education crisis lead to scarcity in the job market?
Today it is a herculean task for every boy and girl from Nagaland armed with class XII or plus degree to clear the All India Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for admission into top class Engineering or Medical Colleges, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), National Defence Academy (NDA),etc. It is equally a nightmare for professional and non professional graduates to get into Indian Institute of Management (IIM), M.Tech (IIT), Indian Military Academy (IMA), All India Civil Services,etc.
This speaks lack of innovative and quality education crucial to bring the best out of any student. Spending years in sub-standard schools and colleges where skill required to face the needs of modern competitions and service sectors is not learnt is a sheer criminal wastage. That is, education in the state has flaws. This compels young aspirants to shell out crazy amounts in coaching classes. Yet they are getting etched out of the competitive arena. Can we change this? But change means sticking out your neck and ironically in Nagaland, you are risking your neck.
These young brave hearts who leave home for knowledge improvement and for better future end up feeling displaced in the wider world. Many suffer from acculturative stress. The idea that one can feel at home anywhere in the world away from home is a losing challenge for many, because of the stark reality of adaptability against new social environment.
Naga society respect power, not execellence. It is to be understood that power driven society do not progress much. The world is growing and changing constantly along with advancement in science and technology, so also the power of knowledge of the younger lot. Therefore, keeping in mind the future of the young generation, the state and its people has to change its attitude and values and together should take the responsibility towards genuine advancement in the areas of infrastructure building and establishment of Institutions of Excellence.
In fact, ideas and knowledge from other shores are required and be used gainfully to revive and nourish indigenious talents especially when they become decadents. “When you do not have resources, you become resourceful,” says K.R.Sridhar, Founder of Silicon Valley Fuel Cell Co. Bloom Energy, USA. In Nagaland it is the other way round. Nagaland has resources, but people are not resourceful. Let us not forget the Vedic adage-“knowledge is wealth.” The world has changed from an industrial to a knowledge economy. Knowledge Economy means that jobs and economic activity with the value added will come from the knowledge sectors of the economy. The state that participates in these sectors will be rewarded with growth from poverty to prosperity. “The raft of knowledge ferries the worst sinners to safety.”Bhagavad Gita.
Mapu Jamir, I.A.S. (Retd.)
