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Amid gloom over consistent rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country as well as in the state, the people of Nagaland woke up to good news about one of its citizens -- Richard Yanthan – clearing the prestigious Indian civil services examination 2019. Ranked 133 in the overall category, he is set to enter the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Anything positive during hard times like the current crisis is welcomed, so no wonder Yanthan’s achievement brought smiles to the faces of the people in the state, spreading positive vibes. Kesonyu Yhome was the last Naga from Nagaland to crack the civil services examination and become an IAS officer. That was in 2007, which means not a single Naga from the state was able to pass the prestigious examination over the past 17 long years. The wait was painfully long, making many conclude that complacency might have overwhelmed the young minds of this generation, painting a grim picture of the state’s future, but if there was a perfect time to end this long drought, this is perhaps the perfect time. The world, especially Nagaland needs more such success stories. It will not only inspire the aspirants preparing for the examination to work harder but also motivate young students to strive towards excellence.
It is celebration time. However, it is also necessary to retrospect and find out the possible reasons for taking so long to make this much-needed breakthrough. There is no dearth of bright students from the state and hundreds of them study in prestigious educational institutions spread across the country but the number of people passing competitive examinations every year isn’t impressive. What could be the reason for this trend? With all the facilities at their disposal today, unlike a couple of decades ago, youths of this generation could be either not working hard enough and have become complacent or are craving only for state government jobs, with the exception of some who choose to take up professional jobs in private firms or start-up enterprises. But complacency and over dependency on state government jobs will lead us to our doom.
First of all, there is no room for growth once we fall into the trap of complacency. Secondly, state officials have repeatedly said that government jobs have reached saturation point in Nagaland. The craze for state government jobs has to go if we want a progressive and self-reliant society. Everybody should work hard in whatever profession they are in and excel. Those interested in becoming public servants should burn the midnight oil while preparing for civil services examinations and those who want to take up other professions like entrepreneurship too should apply the same strategy – hard work. We should encourage the youths to take up professions they love and put their heart into it. Young minds from the state should draw inspiration from Yanthan and excel in their respective professions. Nagaland needs more successful farmers, IAS officers and entrepreneurs.