Jobs Too Few At Home, Manipur Looks Beyond

By Esha Roy

Grappling with ever rising unemployment, the Manipur government has roped in 10 placement agencies across the country to get its youths jobs outside the state. The focus is on jobs in the metros and abroad.

The government has tied up with the Indian Council of Overseas Employment and the International Organisation for Migration, which earlier this year launched an initiative on skill development for overseas employment with a focus on the Northeast. The plan is to send 10,000 youths from the Northeast to jobs abroad over the next two years.

“One of the main focuses is to get the youth here employment overseas, as they receive very few opportunities to go abroad and work. The main centres where recruitment is carried out for jobs overseas are Mumbai, Chennai and Kochi. These are where the recruiting agents are based. Our plan is to bring them to this state which has a high level of education but little employment,” says Chief Secretary D S Poonia.

The 10 companies it has tied up with include Ananda Spa, Suryavinayak, Sri Sanskara and Sunderdeep that trains in the hospitality and retail sectors. The government is also in the process of signing an MoU with C Trance that works in the aviation sector and supplies cabin crew.

Project coordinator for the International Organisation for Migration (under the Ministry of Overseas Employment) Nitin Kumar says the project was announced earlier this year to tap the human resources in all northeastern states. “The idea is to create standardised skills which will involve providing the trainees with internationally accepted qualifications. Indian qualifications aren’t always accepted abroad.”

The Northeast project is a pilot for the Ministry. “If the project is a success then in a couple of years it will be extended pan-India. According to the approximate projections which we have, there will be around 37 million unemployed by 2026 — that is about 68 per cent of the working population. Whereas there is a gap emerging with other countries — especially the European Union, which have a decreasing workforce — India can meet that gap,” he says.

Among the organisations roped in by the Centre to implement the project is Aspire, a consortium of CEOs of companies which has taken it upon itself to train a workforce. Founder and CEO Amit Bhatia says Aspire has so far been dealing in management and engineering training. “We have been working with Harvard, Cambridge, Carnegie, etc, but our main aim is to shift from the Tier I cities to the population which lives in the Tier II, III and IV cities in the country. So we are not looking at the IITs and IIMs but are trying to create a workforce outside of these elite institutions,” says Bhatia.

Bhatia says the organisation is now focusing on automotive, construction, hospitality and healthcare for its tailor-made project for the Northeast. “Indians’ employment abroad is concentrated primarily in the Gulf and some Southeast Asian countries. We have identified Korea, Denmark, Hungary and the Czech Republic as the first markets where we will export a workforce to. Within the next two years we will be sending 10,000 trained workers from the Northeast to these countries,” says Bhatia.

Prof Bijoy Kumar, Manipur University’s economics head, says the problem is not just of unemployment but of low salaries. “Only 75,000 across the state have secure government jobs with decent salaries. The rest have so negligible salaries that they can be considered unemployed,” says Kumar. Prof Amar Yumnam, also of the economics department, says that in a three million population, nearly a million are currently unemployed.

We Must Learn To Live Together: PC

Senapati, Nov 3 : In the face of the intensified United Naga Council (UNC)-sponsored stir demanding alternative administrative arrangement for the Nagas in Manipur, Union home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday strongly advocated the need to enhance communal harmony.

"We must learn to live together. There is no problem which cannot be solved through talks," said Chidambaram minutes after he inaugurated a mini secretariat office complex and a section of a district hospital at the district headquarters here, 61 km from Imphal.

The Union minister's peace initiative came a couple of days after the state government and the Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee (SHDDC) entered into an agreement in which the former assured to upgrade the Kuki-dominated Sadar hills to a full-fledged revenue district at the earliest after the submission of a report by the District Re-organization Committee (DRC).

Accompanied by central officials and AICC leaders, Chidambaram arrived in Imphal in a special aircraft on Wednesday morning on his two-day visit to strife-torn Manipur. From Imphal, he, along with chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and his team, landed at Senapati in a chopper.

Before addressing the public at Senapati, the Union home minister and the chief minister had a closed-door meeting with the leaders of the agitating United Naga Council (UNC) for about 40 minutes.

Though both parties refused to divulge the meeting deliberations, sources said the UNC hard pressed the home minister to implement its long standing demand of an alternative administrative arrangement in Naga areas without links with the state government.

Following Monday night's agreement, the SHDDC suspended its 90-day economic blockade on National Highways 2 and 37.

Denouncing the state government's alleged attempt to bifurcate the Naga-dominated areas to create new districts, the UNC has been imposing economic blockade on the highways since August 21.

The apex Naga body has also imposed a three-day total bandh in the Naga area from Thursday midnight in protest against the state-SHDDC agreement. Pacifying the UNC's ire, Singh said even after the DRC submits its report, his government will not take any decision of its own to create the Sadar Hills district.

"Even after we receive the DRC report, we will consult all civil bodies and communities. We will not take any decision unilaterally and we don't want to create problems while trying to resolve another problem," Singh said.

"We will not do anything which will hurt any community and we should live together peacefully. If there is any misunderstanding let us forget and forgive," the chief minister said, earning a round of heavy applause from the Nagas at the newly inaugurated hall within the district headquarters' mini secretariat complex.

The chief minister appealed to the UNC to end its intensified stir in the larger interest of the people. "At a time when the Centre is extending its utmost effort to develop the state, we are facing frequent economic blockades," Singh lamented.

After the Senapati programme, they flew to Ukhrul to inaugurate a new government infrastructure. On Thursday, they will visit Tamenglong district.

Planning Commission Lauds Mizoram Flagship Project

Aizawl, Nov 2 : Planning Commission member Secretary Suddha Pillai, who was on a two-day visit to Mizoram, today expressed her optimism that the state government’s flagship programme- New Land Use Policy had the potential to improve the state’s economy dramatically.

Suddha Pillai visited farms in Sihphir, about 15 kms from Aizawl, this morning where NLUP beneficiaries had cultivated Chayote and other crops.

At a brief function, Pillai mentioned her deep impression on their interest in NLUP which she felt had the potential to improve Mizoram economy dramatically.

She pointed out that all government schemes were for the benefit of the people and people were obliged to make full use of it.

Visiting the farms, Pillai felt measures should be taken to improve the drastic low prices farmers get for their produce so that they would receive appropriate benefits for their toil and urged the district authorities to look into it.

She also suggested that pictures should be uploaded on internet whenever new developments take place to serve as visual evidence.

In the first five years, the NLUP aims to support 1,20,000 families.

The departments of Agriculture, Horticulture, Veterinary, Industries, Forest, Fisheries, Sericulture and Soil and Water Conservation would be involved in the scheme.

About 80 per cent of farmers in Mizoram still depend on jhum cultivation that involves clearing of forests and burning trees, weeds and bamboos.

The NLUP aims to restore ecological balance by providing the farmers alternative sustainable and permanent land-based means of livelihood. It also aims to create 21,480 hectares of bamboo plantation to benefit 10,740 families.

Despite the slash-and-burn system of cultivation, Mizoram has a large forest cover area of 75.77 per cent of the total land.

The NLUP intends to keep 60 per cent of the State’s total geographical area under forest cover and the remaining 40 per cent for land-based development.

Lalremsiami Murder Accused Confesses Before Court

Aizawl, Nov 2 : One of the two accused in the sensational murder of Remsiami seven years back confessed before the court here on Monday to committing the gruesome crime at the behest of the victim’s employer, Muanpuii.

Lalremsiami was found dead in a pool of blood inside the store room of MP Garments on May 15, 2004, two days after she was murdered. The prime suspects Mohammed Mister and Mohammed Gulzar, who were working as porters in the MP Garments, where Lalremsiami also worked as an assistant, were arrested by Mizoram police on June 14 from Nepal.

Statement of the victim’s mother had implicated the MP Garments owner Muanpuii in the murder of her daughter. Muanpuii was initially arrested but was later released due to lack of evidence. The victim’s mother had suspected that her daughter was murdered out of jealousy.

Lalremsiami was a trusted assistant and all money transactions of MP Garments through the bank was done by her. Sources said Mister told the court of additional district sessions judge K L Liana that he murdered Lalremsiami at the behest of their employer Muanpuii.

When the court asked where was the money, Rs 4,14,000, which their employer told Lalremsiami to deposit in the bank that went missing after her murder, Mister said the money was taken by Muanpuii. Whether or not he was given reward for murdering the girl was not mentioned.

Mister also told the court that his friend Mohammed Gulzar was not involved in the murder. The controversial murder case was first taken up by ADM (J) Marli Vankung. After going through different judges, it finally landed in the court of K L Liana.

Quake Fault Line Touches Two Districts Of Tripura

Agartala, Nov 2 : Geologists today warned the Tripura Government that two hill-bound districts of North Tripura and Dhalai of the state have become more vulnerable as the fault line drawn after disastrous quake in Sikkim, intersects the entire area.

Talking to media here, state Revenue Minister Badal Choudhury said the latest National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) communiqu asked all the northeastern states to enhance the disaster management infrastructure especially the preparedness to tackle high magnitude earthquake.

Tripura has high probability of earthquake because sedimentary rock underneath and most area is under 1st order topography of marine origin besides, poor houses including government infrastructures.

Moreover, According to Vulnerability Atlas of India, 1997, Tripura comes under the very high earthquake damage risk-zone (category V, magnitude 7.0 to 7.5) and most of the existing houses were not able to stand high magnitude tremor. Mr Choudhury however, stated that the state government had identified as many as 2000 building mostly government houses including existing Raj Bhawan as vulnerable to earthquake, which required retrofitting but the state government could not manage the adequate fund to execute the plan.

He also demanded provision of additional funds for building of earthquake resistant public houses and constructions under the special housing schemes like Indira Awas Yajuna (IAY) and Sarva Sikhya Abhiyan (SSA) and the quality disaster management training infrastructure in the state.

Mr Choudhury blamed the Centre for awarding only Rs one crore in a year by the 13th finace commission for disaster management activities in Tripura despite identifying the state as one of the most earth quake prone areas and all other states were awarded five crore every year.

To sensitise the key players of disaster management in the state for strengthening the disaster management responsibilities and further effective implementation of required action, the state has organised a two-day workshop from today in Agartala, Mr Choudhury said, adding as part of the workshop, an exhibition on critical equipment and skills was organised to understand the use of the equipment for supplementing the existing resources for saving loss.

Earlier, Tripura Governor Dr Dnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil asked the state government to shift his residence from the 95-year-old Raj Bhawan building in Agartala to a safer place after reviewing the earthquake warning from the scientists.

But the state government assured him that necessary protection had already been given to the building and till the completion of new Raj Bhawan, there was no other suitable accommodation for the governor.

Keeping the experts opinion and the region s topographical status, the Ministry of Urban Development had asked the state government to follow the recommendations in the following areas: policy, strategy, action plan, technical guidance for new buildings and retrofitting existing buildings.

Quoting National Seismic Advisor A S Arya s warning, officals said between 1792 and 2003, about 42 moderate to high- magnitude earthquakes occurred along the state boundary and within a 100 km area of the state. So far as wind hazards go, the wind speed in the state is cyclonic.

The government had also begun to train villagers and civil officials in dealing with both man-made and natural disasters. The approach and management strategies had been incorporated into the school curriculum.

Disaster management was included in environment studies at school level and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping of the state s residential status had alerady been done besides formulating separate regulation for buildings in urban areas.

'Bio-Diversity in Northeast Under Threat'

Shillong, Nov 2 : Though the northeastern region of the country is considered an ecological hotspot, large sections of the local people are not even aware that the region reservoirs of biodiversity are under constant threat.

Experts say that at present the region is suffering from destruction offorests that is threatening permanent loss of biodiversity due to unsustainable logging and jhuming (slash and burn method of farming).

In fact, scientists say that the rate of "biodiversity depletion" in the region is quite alarming than many parts of the world as there is an estimated annual conversion of three per cent of the primary forest into secondary or degraded forest mainly due to jhuming (shifting cultivation).

"The exotic pitcher plant found in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya, small variety of bamboo, stone moss and many other unidentified plants, most of them having medicinal value are facing extinction threats. Therefore, there is in an urgent need to explore ways and means to save the unique plants of the region," says scientist PK Das, who had carried out extensive research on the pine plantations in Meghalaya.

In fact, a unique feature of the region was prevalence of traditional institutions for maintaining biodiversity. However, sacred groves, protected by socio-religious sanctions are fast eroding with changing beliefs. At present, only about 10 per cent of the sacred groves are found to have crown cover of 100 per cent, studies conducted by the North Eastern Region Community Resources Management Project (NERCORMP) have brought to light.

"The need of the hour for policy makers is to hold serious deliberations on forests, wildlife, non-timber forest produce, medicinal and aromatic plants, joint forest management, agriculture, horticulture, water security and aquatic environment, traditional institutions and customary practices, gender perspective in conservation, environmental services and carbon trading," says the botanist, who is keen on launching an awareness scheme on the issue.

"Awareness on bio-conservation must be promoted among the masses and policy makers must be alerted on the impending need to protect, preserve biodiversity resources in the northeast, one of the richest bio-hotspots on earth," he iterates.

Over 70 Per Cent of Mizoram Plan Fund Goes To Salaries

Aizawl, Nov 1 : The 60,000-odd state government employee get the lion’s share from the state's annual plan fund with more than 70 per cent spent on their salaries.

The state government spent 1080.60 crore for salaries of its 46,915 regular employees during the 2009-2010 fiscal.

The implementation of the Sixth Pay Recommendations required an additional fund of Rs 154.08 crores, official sources said.

As of March 3, 2011, there were 46,915 regular employees and 2421 contract and 8,410 muster roll employees under the state government.

There were 7173 vacant posts which were being filled on contract and muster roll basis.

Besides these, there are 6,663 employees in various boards, authorities and councils which also have 1,636 vacant posts.

Finance minister H Liansailova has stated in the recent budget session that there were 17,362 employees drawing salaries under the plan fund and Rs 12,56,93,02,725 was spent on their salaries.

These included 1,476 group A employees, 4,794 group B employees, 1,043 group C employees, 1,415 group D employees, and muster roll and contractual employees.

With Rs 1,256 crore required for salaries of government employees from the state annual plan fund of Rs 1,700 crore this year, only Rs 444 crore is left for development projects.

Congress Got Mizoram Into Financial Crisis: Zoramthanga

Aizawl, Nov 1 : Fund mismanagement by the Congress government has dragged Mizoram into a deep financial crisis, opposition Mizo National Front chief Zoramthanga alleged here today.

Chief minister Lal Thanhawla, despite his experience as a Chief Minister for 14 years and as a member of Planning Commission, has totally failed in financial management, Mr Zoramthanga said while addressing party workers at the MNF headquarters office Hnam Run.

Despite the fact that the state annual plan has increased to an average of Rs 1300 crore per annum during the last three years, compared to an average of Rs 500 crores annually during the MNF s rule for ten years, development has come to a standstill.

The state s exchequer has run short of fund for government employees, Mr Zoramthanga alleged. Though experienced, Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, who held at the finance let more than Rs 70 crore lapses at the end of the last financial year while no single rupee lapsed during my ten years tenure as the chief minister holding finance portfolio, the former chief minister said.

Holding himself responsible for the lapse of fund, Lal Thanhawla handed over the finance portfolio to his senior cabinet minister, letting the people lose faith on him, he said.

The day after the Congress ministers were sworn in, they bought expensive cars and a good number of support cars to replace the cars purchased during the MNF government that were still in good condition.

The Congress government has no other option than to hike taxes and introduce new taxes to recover financial shortage resulted by implementation of its so-called flagship programme NLUP, he said.

All the roads have now deteriorated. Just like Myanmar, people have carried out community works to repair the roads, he added.