Sikkim bag position in 2nd North East Youth Festival

Gangtok, Apr 12 (PTI) The Sikkim contingent for the 2nd North East Youth Festival held at Shillong bagged two second prizes  in the solo instrumental competition and in painting competition, while they also secured third prize at the one act play competition. According to the information received from Praveen Pradhan, the team-leader of the Sikkim contingent, Dhiraj Pradhan from Rhenock stood second in the painting competition while Sonam Waiba from Gangtok bagged a second prize with his guitar skill in the solo instrumental competition. A nine member troupe finished third in the one-act play competition, Pradhan said. The 2nd NE Youth Festival was held from 7 to 9 April at the Shillong Polo Ground, in which all the northeastern states participated. The events included folk song, folk dance, one act play, photography, painting, rock band music and solo instrumental. Speaking from Shillong, Praveen Pradhan informed that a 47-member team from Sikkim had participated in six events.

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SIKKIM CM CHAMLING INTERACTS WITH UNEMPLOYED YOUTH

“BE DYNAMIC, VISIONARY AND SELF-EMPLOYED”

GANGTOK, November 22: In perhaps the first ever face to face interaction with the youth of Sikkim, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling today asked support from the youth in making Sikkim a true ‘Indrakhill’.
More than 5,000 youth from South District today attended the youth meeting held at the Indoor gymnasium hall here in the Capital.
In his four hour long speech, the Chief Minister reminded the youth of Sikkim their duties, roles and responsibilities towards the State. “Have trust on me and I will ensure your full protection,” he said.

Stating that it was high time that the youth of Sikkim come out of their stereotype mentality, the Chief Minister said that he aspired the youth of Sikkim to be the best citizens of India with high levels of sincerity, hard work and talent.
Talking about success, the Chief Minister placed his own example. “Look at me and learn. I had to struggle for 30 years in my political career to reach to this position. Nothing comes easily. One has to have the right vision and convection to be successful. Hard work and sincerity actually pays off in the end,” he said.
Regretting the fact that despite tremendous efforts from the State Government in creating opportunities for the youth, Mr. Chamling said that it was sad that the youth had failed to make good use of the opportunities provided to them.
“My government has put in its best to tackle the problems of unemployment in the State by introducing several self employed schemes and possibilities. It is for you all to grab the opportunities and give the right direction to your lives,” he said.
The Chief Minister announced the setting up of National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Rabongla, South Sikkim for which the government is acquiring 300 acres of land.
Making a slew of announcements, Mr. Chamling said that the State Government is sourcing for more than 500 acres of land in all the Districts to set up various training institutes through which the unemployed youth can be skilfully trained. Talking about the livelihood schools, the Chief Minister said that the each constituency in the State will have a livelihood school in which youth would be imparted various profession trainings. A special board will be set up to supervise and monitor the activities and functioning of the livelihood schools

ASEUSEYA boycotted Dasain festival

GANGTOK, October 5: Members of All Sikkim Educated Unemployed & Self Employed Youth Association (ASEUSEYA) boycotted the recent Dasain festival celebrations to highlight their issues and causes.
A press release informs that the members of ASEUSEYA gathered at Titanic Park, Gangtok on September 27 and 28 to talk about conditions and problems of Sikkimese youth. The members requested the people of Sikkim to think about their life as they are facing a lot of difficulties and problems due to economic disparity.
The release further informs that the ASEUSEYA read the election manifesto of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front of 1994 adding that they are still waiting for the fulfillment of commitments.
Deliberating on the pay fixation, the body observed that there has been a rapid increase in the market price adding that ‘it is impossible to the people of Sikkim to manage their basic needs’. The members also claimed that increasing crime and suicide are the ‘result of economic disparity’ in the State.
The ASEUSEYA further informed about its plan to demand the Chief Minister to make a separate budget plan for the unemployed youth who do not have any source of income and not having any employee in the family.
It is not difficult to solve unemployment if government gives priority to locals in various sector of business such as tourism and trades, the body said.
The ASEUSEYA further highlighted its aims and objectives and asserted that it is not against any individual or the present government. We are against the present system of government, the body said.

The draft policy on Sikkim CM Youth Empowerment Scheme released

Sikkim Youth need to change viewpoint on Sarkari Jagira: YED Draft report
GANGTOK, September 13: Pegging a figure of 21,000 unemployed youth in Sikkim, the Directorate of Capacity Building has stressed the need to set up an autonomous body Youth Empowerment Directorate (YED) to directly intervene in the building of capacity and capability of young people and place them in the opportunities that are ‘otherwise going to the people from outside the State’.
“This will be one of the arms of the government in its overall Livelihood Mission’, states a draft policy document on Chief Minister’s Youth Empowerment Scheme released on Saturday by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling.
Targeting to solve the 21,000 unemployed youth problem by 2015, the YED is proposed to be an integral part of the State government’s policy of zero tolerance toward youth unemployment which it has identified as a scourge of the society.
Apart from setting up YED, the policy proposed is to constantly monitor the laws and legal requirements to regulate the employment scenario in the State and interact with private, Centre and other players to see that opportunities are made available to local youth who are well positioned to do it as well as facilitate such proactive action.
The policy is also to constantly monitor the remuneration and other facilities that the private and public sector units offer to the youth of the State and see to it that there is no discrimination in this with respect to that on offer to other States in the country.
“Make available every year a state of Employment Status Report and table it in the Legislative Assembly”, the draft policy says recommending adequate financial resources for the first five years to the proposed YED.
The YED is expected to fully functionally by July 2010 with the proposed budget of Rs. 5130 lakhs. It is proposed to be an autonomous body governed by select body of eminent people from both government and civil society with independent financial powers. It will also select trainees in collaboration with decentralized grass root organizations and civil society.
The need to restructure Directorate of Capacity Building (DCB) set up in 2007 was justified with the rising unemployment in the State.
“In view of the new policy initiative and the Socio Economic Census 2006 conducted by DESME which shows that the total number of unemployed youth as 17620, now estimated to be around 21000, there is a need to restructure the DCB”, says the report.
The majority of the 21,000 unemployed youth is from rural areas and is school dropouts from Class V to Class VIII with modest sources of household income and a change in perspective is required to make significant inroads in tackling and eliminating the high rates of unemployment, the draft report outlines. It is necessary to categorize the youth broadly as per their qualification and adequate opportunities have to be provided for youth with disabilities and as well as gender sensitivity, the report observes.
Regarding the reasons for high rate of unemployment, the draft report states that though formal education system has reached the villages, it is widely accepted that the education system of the country is not related to the skills required in the labour market. Also, the youth of the State view ‘Sarkari Jagira’ as prestigious and secure and that there lies a perception that private sector jobs for people with lower skill levels do not offer adequate security and payment, the report says.
“An intensive campaign is required to educate the public that there is a limit to the number of jobs the government can create and that the youth must prepare themselves for private sector employment and or establish business enterprises”, the report states. It also underlined the need to develop the agriculture sector which will employ most of the rural young people.
The draft policy offers the strategy for mitigation of youth unemployment where by 2014, the State government shall utilize the services of YED and allied agencies to substantially reduce the number of unemployed youth from ages 15-35 by providing a range of free and paid for services to create a highly skilled workforce. The services proposed were counseling, education, skill development and training, business incubation, entrepreneurship, mentoring, market linkage and other livelihood options.
The YED also proposed to provide placement assistance by creating an IT enabled employed portal, apprenticeship opportunities in partnership with business houses, seed capital for small business enterprises through SIDICO, SABCCO and other financial institutions and entrepreneurship training to teach business survival skills.