The figure of 71,034 registered job seekers in Nagaland has become a familiar reference in statements by government officials and political leaders. It is often cited as evidence of the state’s unemployment problem, but rarely followed by a deeper examination of what the figure actually represents and what it tells us about the people behind the number.
Employment Exchange registrations do not necessarily account for all unemployed people in the state. Nor do they reveal their educational qualifications, skills, employment preferences or the reasons they remain without work. The estimates that 65 to 80 per cent of unemployed youth are educated and around 92 per cent lack vocational training also need to be backed by a clearly defined survey methodology.
The government should therefore commission a comprehensive employment and skills survey to establish the actual profile of unemployment in Nagaland. It should identify the number of “educated unemployed”, their qualifications, existing skills, preferred occupations and geographical distribution. It should also examine the skills required by different sectors and the capacity of those sectors to absorb workers.
Such a survey would provide an evidence-based foundation for employment policy. It would help identify gaps in the education and training system, determine where vocational programmes are needed and ensure that public resources are directed towards skills for which there is actual or potential demand. It would also help distinguish between the aspirations of job seekers and the opportunities available within the state, rather than treating all registered candidates as one uniform group.
The wider issues of preference for government jobs, parental expectations, social attitudes towards vocational work and the limited growth of private enterprise cannot be ignored. But addressing them requires more than general observations and repeated appeals to young people to become job creators.
The figure of 71,034 must not remain a convenient statistic for political speeches. The government has a responsibility to establish who these job seekers are, what they can do and where their skills can be put to use. Without reliable data, employment policies will continue to be shaped by assumptions, and public resources may be spent on training that does not lead to jobs. A comprehensive employment and skills survey is therefore not just a first step; it is the basis on which Nagaland must build a credible response to unemployment.
