By Gary Marbaniang
Even though it is still early days to bring you into the picture but people from certain sections of society have been speaking your name and suggesting that you should emerge from certain preferred parts of the state. As far as I’m concerned, this subject is irrelevant. What matters is that you should put the interests of the State and its people before your personal interests. The ban in coal mining has jeopardized the livelihoods of many but I want to point out that for the past two decades or so the young job seekers of Meghalaya have been going through a torrid time looking for jobs. Now the situation is only getting worse. Our past leaders have turned a blind eye to a situation that is spinning out of control. Jobs in the government sector have reached saturation point but the youths of the state still see the government as their premier employer. I also grew up with that same mindset and consider myself fortunate to be an employee of the Central government. But for the thousands of unemployed youths of the state, our past leaders have failed to address this maddening situation.
People from rural areas still migrate in droves to the capital town of Shillong hoping to land their “dream job” in Meghalaya Secretariat or some other government departments. I was in a taxi with two Pnar boys and when we reached Meghalaya Secretariat, one of the boys narrated a story of a person he knows who is working on a meagre income on contractual basis in that famed government institution, barely managing to make ends meet. Times have certainly changed. This kind of migration may have worked well in the 70’s and 80’s when the ratio of government jobs to educated youths was almost equal but today, colleges in the city alone churn out thousands of graduates every year and most of them look up to the government for jobs. The disproportionate ratio of government jobs to the number of job seekers has reached alarming levels.
Recently a Republican politician in the USA was interviewed by CNN to assess the 100 days of the Trump Presidency. He was categorical in stating that the ultimate yardstick for judging Trump’s presidency is the number of jobs that will be created two or three years down the line or at the end of the presidency. Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and even Barack Obama ended their presidency on a high approval rating since they were able to turn around the economy. But here in Meghalaya a politician’s legacy is judged by the number of assets he’s able to accumulate for himself. It is a pathetic situation and the people of Meghalaya are party to this regretful situation. Mr future Chief Minister, we want this aberration from normal political behaviour to end and every corrupt politician must be accountable for his sins. All accomplices to this crime, whether bureaucrat or technocrat should also be given the same treatment. The unholy nexus between politicians-bureaucrats -technocrats must end immediately once you assume office.
Coming to the education system in the state, a grim situation exists. Our education system is still stuck in second gear when other advanced states in the country have shifted to a higher gear. Our schools and colleges still churn out unemployable graduates. We’re caught in our dreamy little world where working for the government is the dream scenario. Other advanced states in the country are bracing themselves for a period where automation will result in layoffs of thousands of workers and here we are still obsessed with a legacy that the British Raj left us. A total revamp of the education system is the need of the hour. And by revamping the education system it doesn’t mean doing away with English as a medium of instruction or as a subject of study.
Mr future Chief Minister, our command of the English language is in fact one of our biggest strengths but we have failed to realise this and make use of it to reap full economic benefits from it. Casting pearls before swine is an exemplary phrase to describe our underutilization of the English language for economic gains. The much talked about Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry provides the Philippines, an emerging economy in East Asia with 1.3 million jobs and 25 billion dollars in revenue, nearly 10 times the size of the economy of Meghalaya! According to World Bank estimates, the same industry is expected to generate well over 50 billion dollars and provide some 2.6 million jobs for young Filipinos by 2020! If we could capture even a fraction of this market, it will generate employment for thousands of our youths.
Tourism as an employment generating sector has also not reached full potential. If we want to develop high end tourism market in our State, we must work in tandem with other North Eastern States. Kaziranga National Park in Assam, Hornbill festival of Nagaland and the Living Root Bridges of Meghalaya could be promoted as a single tour package. If there is a concerted effort to coordinate such ideas we could give international holiday destinations like Thailand a run for their money. Recent data coming out of Thailand shows that the tourism sector accounted for a staggering 18 percent of the country’s GDP in 2016.
Construction of a world class theme park in Sohra, one of the most popular holiday destinations with domestic tourists from across the country wouldn’t be a bad idea too, considering that Accoland is such a hit with the people of Meghalaya and the rest of the region.
Mr future Chief Minister I also hope you are aware that the Agriculture sector is in really bad shape. Landlessness, small holdings, low yield and unproductive forms of agriculture is affecting farmers across the state. Disguised unemployment and poverty is rampant. The only saving grace is that there are no farmer suicides yet in Meghalaya. States like Sikkim have made rapid strides in Agriculture by focusing on areas such as Aquaculture and Horticulture where high yield farming is possible. I recall my geography teacher telling us that the yield per hectare of coffee in Ri-Bhoi district is at par with Brazil. This statement has stuck with me to this day. Further research must be done in areas where there is scope for improvement and farmers in the state must be encouraged to venture into commercial farming. And I also hope that you create a situation where farmers are able to find the markets for their products and more warehousing and cold storage facilities are created so that their produce does not go waste. And yes inflation could wreak havoc on the lives of ordinary people especially farmers. What happened in Madhya Pradesh recently should be an eye opener for all of us. Farmers lives cannot be taken for granted and every effort should be taken to ensure that even if a transition from the agriculture to the secondary or tertiary sector is to happen it should be a smooth one.
As far as the threat of influx and illegal immigration is concerned, may I remind you that the threat is a real one! We are surrounded by a 150 million strong neighbouring country where a movement of just 1 million of its citizens across the border over a period of time would cause a marked change in the demography of our state! The indigenous people of the state and its unique culture must be protected at any cost. But I would also urge you to consider the persecuted ones who migrated from across the border and settled in our state before 1971. They should be treated as bonafide residents. Those who migrated to our state in the years leading up to 1971 did so under extraordinary circumstances. My family had a first- hand experience in that exodus of refugees from across the border. My grandfather and others like him living in the border towns and villages were awarded contracts to give out rations to these refugees. My grandfather and father were stationed at the border town of Balat to give out rations to these refugees but a serious illness struck my grandfather immediately after the process of rationing began and they had to return to their village never to complete the rationing exercise. But though their involvement in this process was brief, they witnessed the pain that these refugees experienced in their journey to an unknown land. My family did not strike gold from this refugee experience but the brief exposure made them see the human side of a painful conflict. Likewise these people and their descendants must be treated as stakeholders to the growth and development of our state.
I will end by reminding you that it doesn’t matter where you hail from as long as you are a capable, honest, hardworking, independent-minded, God fearing person. Most importantly you should put the interest of Meghalaya and its people above anything else.