In Plato’s The Republic, he suggests the highest purpose of the state is the promotion of justice, and that the best form of state is one that pursues justice. In this context I ask as to whether the government has been just in its decision making by implementing a visionless policy which has neither benefitted the ‘underprivileged’ nor has it benefitted the ‘privileged’ sections? I certainly agree that the special recruitment drive (SRD) was molded on compassionate and genuine economic interests of the backward tribes, but has it produced the desired results?
The nu- Naga youngsters, who are deemed to be the torch bearers of tomorrow, are today fighting among themselves due to mere lack of legislative expertise and foresight. The proclivity of the reservation issue in Nagaland has, by all means in ad nauseam, manifested into a state of perpetual contentiousness. The pandemonium which evoked, ensuing the SRD is a corollary bereft of administrative and legislative vision. A disconnect which is beginning to simmer between young Nagas is truly a matter of grave concern. On the one hand the backward tribes has been severely tantalized with the withdrawal of the SRD, while on the other the forward tribes along with rest continue to suffer setbacks, because the state machinery with all its laurels and ostentatiousness has yet again failed to assess the burning issue of unemployment which seems to be the core of the problem.
This is a huge concern because creation of good quality jobs is the most important mechanism in making aggregate economic growth. Examples are rife of graduates and post graduates with Engineering, Management, liberal arts and other degrees applying for jobs as salespersons, peons, drivers, typists, railway signalman because they are unable to find jobs that will exploit their special skills. It is indeed a waste of essential human resources and talent pool to find post graduates in Nagaland who undertake five-days-a-week job, as kindergarten teachers, supplemented with salaries as low as 2000 a month. The reason may well be simple enough, as the system simply is not generating sufficient number of jobs that are demanded by those with such degrees. Also one cannot forget the proverbial ‘backdoor appointments’, a hole in the employment bucket which continues to ‘leak in’ instead of vice versa. The state government under the colorful banner of ‘year of the entrepreneur’ assumes that ‘self-employment’ is the key out of the unemployment crisis presents in itself an incomprehensible irony. Availing bank loans for budding entrepreneurs is like looking for a needle in the haystack. Banks, these days, have brilliantly managed to devise hardcore policies for self employed people making it the more difficult to reach the ‘take off’ stage. Also, the fluctuating political atmosphere deters the ambitions of global marketing tycoons to set up a self sustaining market base in our home. But if employment is indeed to become a serious economic policy of the government, then it must partake in proactive roles and policies. Firstly, it needs to gather data at more frequent rates. It is indeed surprising that Departments such as the NSSO, Statistics and economics and the Census bureau fail to provide data at regular intervals (NSSO provides data every 5 years and the census at a gap of 10 years). More regular, at the least, an annual data of unemployed people should be made a priority to asses and plan strategies to overcome the unemployment crunch. Secondly, taking examples from south East Asia and Nordic countries, creation of more jobs in sectors like education, health, sanitation, environment and other essential public service will surely prove to be mutually benefiting, as all these sectors and areas solely work for the public good which would obviously yield productive outcomes. Keeping in view the bulge in demography, the time has come to redesign our social and economic strategy more diligently.
Getting back to the issue of underrepresentation and equality; the economic hardships faced by the people of eastern Nagaland is indeed truly saddening. Please allow me to ponder on a little bit on the concept of equality with my crude knowledge and understanding. The English political theorist Thomas Hobbes believes humans are naturally equal to one another. He tells us he has observed weak humans and strong ones and has been struck by the following fact: Even the weakest of humans is capable of killing the strongest. The weak person can launch a sneak attack, wait until the strong person goes to sleep, creep up on a strong person from behind, use cunning and trickery, and manage somehow to kill the strong. Does this not, Hobbes asks, prove that in terms of the only thing that really matters, that is, staying alive we are all fundamentally equal? The fact of our equality, coupled with our shared tendencies toward aggression, creates a human condition in which each of us is vulnerable to all others. No one is safe. The strongest can fall at the hands of the weakest. Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the American Declaration of Independence, has rightly pointed out that,” having the right to life, liberty and happiness is a fundamental part of being a human being, just as much a core element of our essence as is possessing mind, a heart, and some would say a soul”. Thus each of us is equally human; none of us possess these rights to a greater or lesser extent than others. It is in this sense that the rights are equal. In this context, I completely agree with the question raised by the youths of eastern Nagaland as to, who is the government to deny or take away their rights because these rights are a part of very part of the human nature. But as humans, we must understand that problems cannot be an end in itself; rather the underlying questions which must be, what have you accomplished despite these hardships? How have you succeeded despite the challenges you’ve faced? I believe this is more significant than merely cataloging misfortunes.
I believe that the most urgent problem facing youth today is indifference. The general attitude about everything and anything is “Who cares? I am not that important, there is nothing I can do about it.” I find this incredibly sad and distressing. I recently discovered this short parable which depicts the story about an old man who goes down to the sea one morning. He notices that a young girl is reaching down and throwing starfish into the water. Curious, he walks over to the girl and asks her what she is doing. She replies, “Well, the tide is awfully low, and if I don’t throw the starfish into the water the sun will dry them out.” The old man looked at her and laughed. There were miles of shore with thousands of starfish. The little girl couldn’t possibly throw all the starfish back in the sea. He told her she wouldn’t be able to make a difference. The little girl bent down scooping up yet another starfish. She turned it over in her hand processing what the man had told her. Then, looking at the old man, she placed the starfish in his hands and helped him throw it back into the sea and moved on to the next starfish. She looked over her shoulder and said, “Well, to that starfish, I made a world of difference.” That day, maybe not all the starfish were saved, but those that were, I’m sure, were very grateful. They continued living because of the determination of a little girl who knew that she could make a difference and could find ways to get others involved. We must each find our starfish. If we throw our stars wisely and well, the world will be blessed.
The nu- Naga youngsters, who are deemed to be the torch bearers of tomorrow, are today fighting among themselves due to mere lack of legislative expertise and foresight. The proclivity of the reservation issue in Nagaland has, by all means in ad nauseam, manifested into a state of perpetual contentiousness. The pandemonium which evoked, ensuing the SRD is a corollary bereft of administrative and legislative vision. A disconnect which is beginning to simmer between young Nagas is truly a matter of grave concern. On the one hand the backward tribes has been severely tantalized with the withdrawal of the SRD, while on the other the forward tribes along with rest continue to suffer setbacks, because the state machinery with all its laurels and ostentatiousness has yet again failed to assess the burning issue of unemployment which seems to be the core of the problem.
This is a huge concern because creation of good quality jobs is the most important mechanism in making aggregate economic growth. Examples are rife of graduates and post graduates with Engineering, Management, liberal arts and other degrees applying for jobs as salespersons, peons, drivers, typists, railway signalman because they are unable to find jobs that will exploit their special skills. It is indeed a waste of essential human resources and talent pool to find post graduates in Nagaland who undertake five-days-a-week job, as kindergarten teachers, supplemented with salaries as low as 2000 a month. The reason may well be simple enough, as the system simply is not generating sufficient number of jobs that are demanded by those with such degrees. Also one cannot forget the proverbial ‘backdoor appointments’, a hole in the employment bucket which continues to ‘leak in’ instead of vice versa. The state government under the colorful banner of ‘year of the entrepreneur’ assumes that ‘self-employment’ is the key out of the unemployment crisis presents in itself an incomprehensible irony. Availing bank loans for budding entrepreneurs is like looking for a needle in the haystack. Banks, these days, have brilliantly managed to devise hardcore policies for self employed people making it the more difficult to reach the ‘take off’ stage. Also, the fluctuating political atmosphere deters the ambitions of global marketing tycoons to set up a self sustaining market base in our home. But if employment is indeed to become a serious economic policy of the government, then it must partake in proactive roles and policies. Firstly, it needs to gather data at more frequent rates. It is indeed surprising that Departments such as the NSSO, Statistics and economics and the Census bureau fail to provide data at regular intervals (NSSO provides data every 5 years and the census at a gap of 10 years). More regular, at the least, an annual data of unemployed people should be made a priority to asses and plan strategies to overcome the unemployment crunch. Secondly, taking examples from south East Asia and Nordic countries, creation of more jobs in sectors like education, health, sanitation, environment and other essential public service will surely prove to be mutually benefiting, as all these sectors and areas solely work for the public good which would obviously yield productive outcomes. Keeping in view the bulge in demography, the time has come to redesign our social and economic strategy more diligently.
Getting back to the issue of underrepresentation and equality; the economic hardships faced by the people of eastern Nagaland is indeed truly saddening. Please allow me to ponder on a little bit on the concept of equality with my crude knowledge and understanding. The English political theorist Thomas Hobbes believes humans are naturally equal to one another. He tells us he has observed weak humans and strong ones and has been struck by the following fact: Even the weakest of humans is capable of killing the strongest. The weak person can launch a sneak attack, wait until the strong person goes to sleep, creep up on a strong person from behind, use cunning and trickery, and manage somehow to kill the strong. Does this not, Hobbes asks, prove that in terms of the only thing that really matters, that is, staying alive we are all fundamentally equal? The fact of our equality, coupled with our shared tendencies toward aggression, creates a human condition in which each of us is vulnerable to all others. No one is safe. The strongest can fall at the hands of the weakest. Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the American Declaration of Independence, has rightly pointed out that,” having the right to life, liberty and happiness is a fundamental part of being a human being, just as much a core element of our essence as is possessing mind, a heart, and some would say a soul”. Thus each of us is equally human; none of us possess these rights to a greater or lesser extent than others. It is in this sense that the rights are equal. In this context, I completely agree with the question raised by the youths of eastern Nagaland as to, who is the government to deny or take away their rights because these rights are a part of very part of the human nature. But as humans, we must understand that problems cannot be an end in itself; rather the underlying questions which must be, what have you accomplished despite these hardships? How have you succeeded despite the challenges you’ve faced? I believe this is more significant than merely cataloging misfortunes.
I believe that the most urgent problem facing youth today is indifference. The general attitude about everything and anything is “Who cares? I am not that important, there is nothing I can do about it.” I find this incredibly sad and distressing. I recently discovered this short parable which depicts the story about an old man who goes down to the sea one morning. He notices that a young girl is reaching down and throwing starfish into the water. Curious, he walks over to the girl and asks her what she is doing. She replies, “Well, the tide is awfully low, and if I don’t throw the starfish into the water the sun will dry them out.” The old man looked at her and laughed. There were miles of shore with thousands of starfish. The little girl couldn’t possibly throw all the starfish back in the sea. He told her she wouldn’t be able to make a difference. The little girl bent down scooping up yet another starfish. She turned it over in her hand processing what the man had told her. Then, looking at the old man, she placed the starfish in his hands and helped him throw it back into the sea and moved on to the next starfish. She looked over her shoulder and said, “Well, to that starfish, I made a world of difference.” That day, maybe not all the starfish were saved, but those that were, I’m sure, were very grateful. They continued living because of the determination of a little girl who knew that she could make a difference and could find ways to get others involved. We must each find our starfish. If we throw our stars wisely and well, the world will be blessed.
