In a land of extortion, Naga boys learn what about honest toil and honest earning
EMN
Dimapur, May 28
Thanks to modern Naga youths whose minds have grown accustomed to contemporary but uninformed outlook at work, Nagaland’s younger generation continue to struggle for want of something that is right behind their eyes – employment and dignified labor. The narrow outlook of Naga youths are that narrow that it takes the progressive eyes of a few people like Panger Jamir, former chairman of Supply Colony in Dimapur, to show them the way.
Under his initiative, the council of the colony bought a “thela-gari” (handcart) to collect waste from households in the area and dispose it for the Dimapur Municipal Council DMC to come and collect it. Now who are behind the handcarts? Local youths and boys. And they make some pocket money. “These boys collect dust-bins and other wastes on alternate days by charging a very nominal fee of Rs.50 only from around 120 households,” a message from local anti-illegal immigrant organization, Survival Nagaland, stated on Thursday, May 28.
A number of members from Survival Nagaland went to visit the colony a few days ago and had interactions with the youth. Until Jamir’s initiative, the colony was having severe problem with waste, the organization stated in the message titled “Labour of dignity” (sic).
“Till these young students came together, the colony they reside was having a severe problem of dumping their garbage. Being a colony comprising mostly of government servants and a land-locked locality with no proper drain or a dump site nearby to dispose the garbage accumulated from their households, it was proving to be a big problem not only hygienically but as well as an obstacle to carry out regular household chores,” Survival Nagaland said.
“Only through the initiative of the former chairman of Supply Colony, Dimapur, Panger Jamir of Chungliyimsen village who always in his inner heart felt that most of our Naga youths were just wasting and idling away their precious time struck upon the idea to solve this by engaging young people of the colony”.
With Jamir’s initiative, the colony’s council bought handcarts to collect waste from households and dispose it in the garbage dump for the municipal council cleaners to collect it.
“Then these young students came forward and volunteered to do the job which most of us will even dread at the thought of it,” the organization said.
According to Survival Nagaland, all the boys come from respectable families but they are trying to be good examples – not just good examples but examples of honest earning and honest toil no matter how much the earning was.
They are from respectable families but to “make an example to our people to practice work culture and in-still the dignity of labour they undertook this task, at the same time earning some extra pocket-money and keeping their own colony clean,” the organzitaion said in appreciation.
“Who said ‘Nagas don’t have the dignity of labour? The Survival Nagaland plans to donate a thela shortly for such venture. If our leaders, local authorities and elders show the way then surely many young upcoming people are now eager to ‘work and eat’ and prove the critics wrong,” the organization added.
