Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. And truly the people of Nagaland are naturally gifted with skills, which if honed have the potential to self-sustain and meet aspirations and progress of the people on its own.
The development of any region or state thrives on basic infrastructure available. Improvement of basic infrastructure can remove remoteness of an area. Connectivity is one of key aspects which requires improvement. It will open up multiple options for movement of resources for enhancing growth. Similarly, other basic infrastructure like provision of water, health, school, hospitals and commercial centres will make our villages and towns liveable and increase opportunities. Even if we were to improve the infrastructures, our people may not be able to extract the best use of it due to lack of skill development centres that can facilitate training and equipping of individuals for self-reliance and independence. Our people being gifted, culturally and naturally, with numerous talents like weaving, handicraft, music, etc., have the potential to make their own unique imprint in India and the world.
The present education system does not focus on training young people in employable skills that can provide them with employment opportunities. Today, a large section of our people haveoutdated skills. With current and expected economic growth, this challenge is going to increase further since more than 75% of new job opportunities are expected to be skill-based. Indeed, the job avenues for most educated unemployed youths in Nagaland will be available to them based on their skills but not only on academic credentials. Eventually, the ones who hones their skills, will thrive in the chosen field.
To increase the potential of Nagaland in skill development the state needs to focus on the rich diversity of natural resources and intrinsic skills. In this regard, the state needs to focus on a number of fields which will hone and promote existing skills in the state. In the field of Horticulture focus should be more on adopting medicinal and aromatic plants as alternative crops. In tourism, we need to exploit the diverse cultural ethos of various tribes instead of just celebrating “Hornbill Festival”. Tribal tourism can attract a large number of tourists – ask those who have studied/lived in the metros of India. Nagaland’s bio-diversity includes unique birds, moths and insects and wild animals. Nagaland is estimated to have mineral reserves of coal, limestone, iron, nickel, cobalt, chromium, gold, etc. - most of which are unexplored. Our diet predominantly includes pork and thus Nagaland is one of the highest importers of pig in the country for both meat and breeding purposes. Why can’t we be self-sufficient in piggery? Our women folk known for adeptness in weaving beautiful shawls and other products are now importing not only the raw material but also finished products.
Productivity in skill and development process explains an input-output relationship with a crucial factor through which benefits can be distributed in several different ways within the state such as better wages and working conditions to workforce; increased profits anddividends to shareholders, environmental protection and increase in revenue to State government. The traditional sectors such as handloom and handicraft need to be revived and new areas such as IT, Tourism, Apiculture and Horticulture developed. It is also evident that infrastructure and skill development is just one factor necessary for productivity growth and it needs to be an integral part of the development policies. But activities can only prosper if the scourge of illegal taxation and corruption are rooted out from the system.
