Flights Of Fantasy
[ M Panging Pao ]
Many Arunachalees hesitate to serve outside the state. After completion of professional degrees like engineering, medical, law, etc, most Arunachalees want to come back and serve within the state. Many Arunachalees hesitate to serve outside the state as they get homesick very easily. Arunachalees miss their rustic, simple villages nestled in lush green forests, miss Arunachalee dishes, miss the fresh air/water and desire to come back at the earliest. The hesitancy to serve outside the state is to an extent that there are unemployed associations in the state.
However, there is already a saturation of jobs in the state government. The recent decision of the state government to increase the retirement age of doctors from 58 to 62 years and other employees from 58 to 60 years will block job openings for the youths. The only way to create more jobs is through creation of more industries and services sector like tourism. But with very poor infrastructure like very poor electricity supply, lack of airports and railways, new job openings in industries and tourism are some time away. The latest unemployment figures for Arunachal are among the highest in the nation.
There are thousands of job openings in all India services like the IAS, IPS and allied services, and public sector undertakings like the ONGC, the IOC, the SAIL, the GAIL, the BSNL, the NHPC etc. There are many more challenging careers, like the Indian armed forces, comprising of the army, navy, air force and paramilitary forces like the CRPF, the BSF, the ITBP, the CISF, the SSB, etc. There are jobs for engineers, doctors, law graduates and graduates/postgraduates, both men and women.
There are many job openings at the world level also. There are job openings in the United Nations organizations like the WHO, the UNICEF, the UNESCO etc. There are job openings in organizations like the merchant navy, shipping corporations, civil aviation organizations, etc, which would allow men and women to serve and travel in various corners of the world. Today, very few Arunachalees are working in other countries of the world.
Our youths need to compete with other mainland candidates and grab jobs in these central services.
Employment in central services will allow our youths to see more places, interact with more people from different races, cultures, etc. This will broaden our horizons and our customs and traditions would be spread across the country and the world. We can learn from other races and tribes and carry back these better ideas back to our nation and state.
If we keep competing within ourselves within our state, we will not improve much and enrich our knowledge due to limited scope in the state. We need to compete with mainland Indians and foreigners in different fields to keep improving ourselves and to remain abreast with higher standards of skills, education and research.
Wouldn’t it better to have Arunachalees employed gainfully outside the state in challenging jobs, compared to having unemployed associations in the state? Are you willing to serve outside the state? (The contributor is retired Group Captain, Indian Air Force)
