Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Aug. 30: Minister for Higher and Technical Education and Tribal Affairs, Temjen Imna Along has expressed concern over the rising rate of unemployment in the state and urged students to look beyond the government sector for a stable economy.
“We are the highest in unemployment, according to percentage. And having a young and robust educated population who are still looking for government service will lead us to doom and will lead us into anarchy in the days to come,” said Along while addressing the 25th Freshers’ Day of Tetso College in Dimapur on Friday.
He challenged the students to chart out a future for the people, not remaining as students but givers to the society. “Why are we looking only towards the government sector?” the minister wondered, and lamented that a state like Nagaland, with a population of approximately 20 lakh, has an economy based on 60-70% government employees and government service providers.
He further put on record that Nagaland has the highest unemployment rate in the nation according to the ratio of the population, and warned that if this is not addressed soon, the state’s economy will turn worse.
Along also pointed out that the educated people have started looking for ‘unconventional means of earning’ and raised alarm over the mushrooming of unions and NGOs, stating it was a hurdle to the development of the state.
He challenged the students to come forward and be game changers for the society, while sharing his dream for Nagaland to be the ‘Singapore of the east’ where people can grow in tandem with the rest of the world.
“Incubation is in you, it is within you,” he asserted and said that nothing can change a person unless one believes and is willing to change. “You are the genuine incubator; you are the laboratory where Nagaland will be built one day. You are the laboratory, you are the library where people will read from you,” he said, and encouraged the students to live together in harmony and not in division, to build a just future for the state.
He further called upon the students to be reformers, policymakers and various other professionals, who would not give up on their dreams but boldly pursue them with purpose.
“True sovereignty of our people comes with the sovereignty of our independence, by virtue of our liberty of thought and the presence of our society as uncorrupted and also God-fearing and hardworking society. That is true liberty,” he added.
The director of Tetso College, Kvulo Lorin, welcomed the new batch and highlighted that the college had approximately 650 freshers, part of its higher secondary, undergraduate and post-graduate programmes including students from the neighbouring states.
Lorin encouraged the students, stating that there was no need to be pressurised by anything in life.
“None of you are expected to simply secure ranks; instead, what we feel is that education is more than just marks. It’s about discovering the greater values of life. It’s also about having an open mind, forming connection and making friends,” Kvulo said.
