SHILLONG:
The conversation about unemployment and the way to find a solution has been around for some time now. If there’s ever going to be a resolution to it, Vijay Kumar Damera, Commissioner and Secretary Planning, Government of Meghalaya said, “Youth will look at something that is reliable and good for the long term, but the problem is there is also a threshold to government jobs, beyond that there will be none.”
“Five years ago nobody knew where to go if you wanted to set up a business, but now you have a PRIME hub, you have an ecosystem. That’s how the youth, the parents, will gravitate towards that and away from the idea of government jobs,” he added.
A lot of products unique to the state are now finally getting recognised nationally, and that is a start to look at the abundance of resources in the state. But how to actually compete in the global market with the limited infrastructure in the state is a question. Commenting on this, Damera added, “We compete in the global market by riding on the best products and best opportunities we have. Lakadong turmeric is now known, there’s something called winter green aromatic oil, that’s only available in Meghalaya, it has medicinal properties. We are now beginning to package it.”
“Our pineapples are the best in the country and so are our oranges.. We go international by picking our strengths, by riding on our unique products because that way we have a huge competitive advantage,” he said.
The idea behind the entrepreneurial opportunities is also that it will somehow help the state’s GDP growth. But there are challenges, like the land tenure system.
“The land tenure system is complex, there are multiple institutions involved in this, the only alternative to this is working towards making the lending institution more flexible, but it is a long-drawn process, the other institutions involved, the financial institutions, the lending institutions should adapt to it,” he said
If the entrepreneurial opportunities in the state grow, that means the problem of unemployment will also find a solution to some extent.
“Compared to the last five years, we are in a really good place. We have almost 1000 entrepreneurs, who are capable of getting things done like going and pitching in front of an investor, taking financial assistance. In the next five years we should aim at 5000 such people, who will create jobs, so I see this movement happening and leading to the overall growth of our state,” he said.