By Our Reporter
Shillong: The decline in societal ethics can be attributed to the various problems like high rates of divorce, exploitation of women, broken families and the likes which in turn has a great influence on the youth of the society, Chief Secretary WMS Pariat said on Wednesday.
“The ills of the society are apparent to all; hence training and counseling is relevant in a society which is plagued by various problems,” Pariat said while addressing a two-day workshop on Pre and Post Marriage Counseling organised by the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) at the Don Bosco Youth Centre.
Pointing to a recent interview conducted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the State for a cross section of the society including government functionaries, Pariat said that during the discussion, a major concern was raised on the increase of Neonaticide (killing of a newborn infant less than a month old) in the State.
“These are the issues which led to social turbulence and realizing this, the society has now started to wake up to these problems,” the Chief Secretary stated.
“Therefore, counseling on marriage to the young people and newly married couples is very important as it is one of the therapies which can repair broken marriages,” he said, adding that it would be helpful to identify the problem before it becomes worse.
He, however, rued the fact that in Shillong there is a lack of counseling institutions and qualified persons to provide such counseling.
General secretary of the YMCA, Dr CO Rangad, while referring to the fact that this year is being observed as the ‘Year of the Youth’, said that dealing with issues involving the youth is perhaps one of the ways to address the social ills afflicting the society.
Stating that the youth are often blamed for disruptions caused in the society, Dr Rangad said they cannot always be blamed simply for being hot-headed, but the root cause can be traced back to the kind of family he/she is brought up in.
“There are many angles to these problems and one of them is the degradation of the marriage institutions where it was found that the children are the end sufferers,” he said, adding that providing counseling to the young people on marriage can go a long way in solving the ills of the society.
Resource persons present at the workshop include Dr N Moa, a counselor from Nagaland and Dr YL Mynthing, Director of Tangkhul Theological Association in Manipur.
The workshop was also attended by the Director of Don Bosco Youth Centre, Fr Joseph Cilia, and college students.