The Dilemma of Unemployment in Sikkim

KC Pradhan,

It was already midday [on Friday, 23 March 2012] and my driver had failed to return [to 6th Mile] in time from Gangtok. There was gherao at Sikkim University and all traffic jammed. On his return, he tells there were round 300 young people agitating for not having received any placement in the University’s recent recruitment process. They, I am told, were pacified only after the arrival of a convoy of VIP cars along with police and India Reserve Battalion personnel.
It made me both curious and sad.
Such a large number of our young people - well qualified, but jobless.
What they have looked forward to in life?
At the same time, a friend came calling for some advice along with her daughter who is well qualified with an MBA tagged to her name and still looking for a job in Sikkim. She was well placed in Kolkata, but her parents insisted that she return home only to leave her jobless here. Her frequent appearances in tests were to no avail, a situation made especially more complicated by the roster system consequent upon the politically-motivated Mandal Commission segregation of communities who had till 1994 been living in harmony, having come from the same economic background. I wondered why not have reservations on economic criteria across the board and not on the basis of tribe, class or caste as perpetuated in India for mere vote banks. Also, the luminaries who drafted the Constitution made it a point to highlight that the reservations were meant for 10 years only, but even after 60 years of independence, the malady continues dividing the society even further. Thanks to the Indian political system and our politicians’ farsightedness!
This dilemma of unemployment will grow manifolds and it needs in-depth study. Basically, it hinges on our educational system. We must plan how to spread our youth horizontally in various vocational courses rather than encourage them to go vertically only to churn out unemployable graduates. What is the glory of Universities when the educated youth are getting more or more unemployed and a liability on the society they aspire to serve? There is something wrong in our system and the curriculums so adopted. It is time to line up the opportunities on one hand and the educational talents required on the other to make a happy match for satisfaction of all.
Sikkim, in its wisdom, has made special privileges for its people - Indians of Sikkimese origin - as enshrined in the Constitution. The federal structure of States in the Union of India is coming very much in the news and the tempo will increase over the months. In Sikkim’s context, the privileges for its people are more than are available to subjects of any other state. It is time to look the issue de-novo, both legally and constitutionally, and ensure that the opportunities at whichever organization that makes a foothold in Sikkim - central, private etc - should first go to its people. Sikkim for Sikkimese should be the motto. But here I stop. This needs sacrifices. When the erstwhile kingdom was merged with the Union of India, there was no room for tribe or class. It was an afterthought in blatant violation of the sacred pledge when Sikkim as a country was merged. It is time to ponder whether we truly want to give a fair deal to our youth now and in the future. Eighteen years is a long time to empower those who were left out from the race. It is safe to say they have all come of age and at par due to the benevolence of the governance. It is now time to concentrate on the underprivileged and poor. This much of sacrifice should be forthcoming willingly and gracefully.
It is time to pull up our socks - all politics and communal trends kept at bay - and come out with a common voice which is loud and clear. This is the only course if the people of Sikkim want to ensure themselves a fair deal and live with dignity with their heads held high.
[the writer is a former Chief Secretary, Sikkim]