Correspondent
KOHIMA, AUGUST 30
‘Impact 5000 by 18’, a five-year campaign on entrepreneurship and employment was launched on Friday at Hotel Vivor, Kohima. The campaign is a joint collaboration of the government of Nagaland and YouthNet with the objective to impact a target of 5000 young Nagas with entrepreneurial and employability skills by 2018.Speaking at the official launch of the campaign, minister for Youth Resources & Sports, Merentoshi R. Jamir termed the Impact 5000 by 18 campaign a “vision” that embodies a conscious initiative to work towards a positive future for the youth. He stated that the DAN government has been a youth-centric government ever since it came to power in 2003, taking initiatives to put in place policies and programs that are targeted to empower the youth of the state.
“Nagaland today is witnessing an ignition of positive change in greater momentum from all sections of the society,” he said, adding, this should be attributed to the forerunners who had tirelessly advocated and worked for the process of change for greater good to the conscious of the people as well as the enterprising and educated youth of Nagaland.
Asserting that Impact 5000 by 18 is a practical implementation plan that will go hand in hand with concrete action from the government and the youth, the minister expressed optimism that the campaign will contribute toward a sustainable future of the state.
Merentoshi also pointed out that Nagaland’s economic and employment scenario shows that its people are yet to be liberated from the traditional mindset of pursuing only government jobs, which he maintained has reached a saturation point. With progress in the level of education of the people in different fields as well as with exposure and awareness of economic and market environments, he said it was time for the young generation of Nagaland to adopt a radical mindset shift in choice of their vocations.
Referring to the recently conducted NPSC examination where 15000 young people competed for just 44 government job vacancies, Merentoshi lamented that only 0.003% of these young people, whom he called the most educated and intelligent people of the state, will be selected. He questioned as to what kind of future the people would be building if all the educated youth are headed in a lone direction.
“We must clearly understand that it is not sustainable to depend only on government jobs,” he emphasized. He said the government and the private sector complement each other and that partnership is what pushes them forward. “The Nagaland government needs its partner, a strong private sector run by enterprising Nagas employing Naga people,” the minister said.
Maintaining that the Naga youth are creative, innovative and enterprising with great potentials, he urged upon the youth to convert their thoughts into action to fuel the progress and development of the state. He said that smart Naga entrepreneurs who will create jobs and responsibly utilize local resources in propelling development of the state are the need of the hour. This Impact 5000 by 18 campaign will aim to impact 5000 youth with skills that can be practically utilized to increase income options and employment opportunities and to generate a skilled workforce for the growth of private sector in creating a collaborative and positive future for all.
For this campaign, YouthNet has roped in Dr.Krishna Tanuku, the Executive Director of Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (WCED), Indian School of Business (ISB) as the chief mentor Impact 5000 by 18.
As the first program of the Impact 5000 by 18 campaign, ‘The Entrepreneur’ was also launched here which will aim to enhance business skills of 20 top emerging young entrepreneurs in Nagaland from different districts, for generation of employment and improve the local economy through their business growth. The program will be held from August 30 to October 3. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Chairman and CEO, Jupiter Capital and independent MP to Rajya Sabha will be the chief mentor of The Entrepreneur program, whereas the faculty will include business professionals Rohan Abraham and Hemant Nitturkar.
