Labour Minister, Prestone Tynsong informed the Assembly in March 2018 that youth unemployment ratio in the age group of 15-29 years is 115/1000. In the age group of 30 years and above the unemployment figure is 11/1000. As of March 2018 there were 43,000 registered unemployed youth in Meghalaya. Many who have dropped out of school and colleges are not registered with the employment agency. The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) had recently done a national unemployment survey and found Meghalaya to be having the highest number of urban unemployed youth in the country. This could be due to large scale migration of youth from rural Meghalaya to the urban hubs in search of jobs. So far, the Government has been the single largest job provider in Meghalaya. In the absence of any industrial growth, this trend continues. The few cement companies and other industries can at best employ a few thousand skilled, employable youth. Tynsong stated that the youth are neither skilled nor employable. This is not new information. Yet nothing has been done to create vocational studies centres other than the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), which are stuck with the same curriculum even when the market today is in need of different skill sets.
It is ironic that not a single MLA has so far called for a research on the reasons for the high unemployment rate. Where is the mismatch between the education provided by our educational institutions and the skills required? Why is there a mismatch? What are skill sets that our young people are inclined towards? Are these skills being honed or are the skills training provided by government agencies not matching the aptitude and attitudes of our youth? There is a big thrust by government to push the youth towards entrepreneurship; to become job creators instead of job seekers. Well, not all the youth have the aptitude for running a business or starting an enterprise. This requires diligent hand-holding by agencies that provide the skilling. Skills- training is a value chain. It cannot stop with just providing the training. Budding entrepreneurs need seed money and there have to be angel funding agencies or micro-credit societies that invest in enterprises which show the potential for taking off.
It is a pity that even in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election none of the candidates are flagging the issue of youth unemployment which is going to take a serious toll on the State if it is not addressed. Unemployment is an issue of concern even at the national level.