By Our Reporter
Shillong: In a bid to prevent the youth from joining militant outfits, the State Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has been, for the past two months, conducting a special pottery training for young people from militant-hit areas of Garo hills.
The aim of the training was to enable the youth to become self reliant in terms of employment opportunities which is at present severely lacking in many parts of the State. The lack of employment opportunities, particularly in Garo hills, has been one of the root causes of militancy.
“This is where the problem arises; young people are forced to take up arms as it is noticed that most rural areas are always neglected by the Government,” NE Zonal member of Trade, Business & Investment promoter, Rajan Bhattacharjee, said.
“We are focusing on neglected rural areas giving them a chance of exposure to the world which in turn would prevent them from joining militancy,” Bhattacharjee added.
After what might be termed as a fruitful achievement, the KVIC on Saturday organized a programme to felicitate ten youth from Kharkutta village of East Garo Hills who have successfully completed the two-month pottery training which was held from September to November last year.
Certificates were distributed to the trainees by State KVIC Director Subhash B Mane at a small but impressive function.
Sharing their experience during the training, one of the trainees, Johny Momin, said, “Training of this kind gives me hope that I can stand on my own feet being self independent”.
“Before I was confused on where to go and what to do but after now I can say that my direction is clear and visible from here,” Momin said.
It might be mentioned that Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma had called upon the youth of the State to keep their distance from militant outfits.
“The Government has been trying hard to prevent the young people from joining militant groups,” Bhattacharjee observed.
Meanwhile, highlighting on the role of the KVIC towards solving the growing unemployment problems, the KVIC Director said, “KVIC is offering opportunity targeting youths for self-employment through such trainings which in future they can establish their businesses”.
After successfully completion of the training, youth would be provided with assistance under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) scheme from KVIC which is the nodal agency for its implementation, Mane added.
“Up to Rs 25 lakh is sanctioned for manufacturing sector and Rs 10 lakh for service sector,” Mane informed, while adding that the scheme is for both rural and urban areas.
“Advertisement for the scheme would be released by April next,” he informed.
It was also informed that the next two batches would undergo training in fiber-article and agarbatti making respectively.