Meghalaya’s young plan

Battling insurgency for the past few years, Meghalaya has finally realised the need to woo its youth to keep them away from militancy. It la...

Battling insurgency for the past few years, Meghalaya has finally realised the need to woo its youth to keep them away from militancy. It launched a new programme last week offering career guidance to students. The right jobs, the state government feels would keep them from getting frustrated and joining militants. The plan will cover students from 40 educational institutions in its first phase. A youth festival on June 23 will liven up the scene.

Tripura: five suicides every two days

TRIPURA is facing a new problem: there have been 4,658 suicide deaths in the state in the past five years. Statistically speaking, Tripura witnesses five suicides every two days. This has happened at a time when the National Crime Records Bureau has said the overall rate of suicide in the country has dropped in the same period. Official records say the capital town of Agartala has recorded the highest number of suicides, with the figures also revealing that in most cases it were younger people taking the extreme step.

Development for militants?

AT least ten percent of central funds meant for developmental projects in the northeastern region find its way into the hands of different militant groups. C.P. Thakur, union minister for development of the northeastern region says he does not have any documented evidence to substantiate his claim ‘‘but it is a fact.’’ The minister said this last week while reviewing progress of various centrally sponsored schemes in the region.

Off with headhunting

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GONE are the days when the prowess of a Naga youth was measured by the number of heads he’d collected as trophies. The tradition of headhunting is now history. The Phom Nagas, one of the five major tribes that lives in the Tuensang district of Nagaland, observes June 6 as a day marking the end of headhunting and bloodshed. It was on June 6 in 1952 that the Phom Nagas had first declared the end of headhunting.

Women power outside the home

MEGHALAYA may have been a state with a matriarchal system among the Khasi, Garo and Jaintia tribals but women feel they have not got their due share in governance. Women members of parties constituting the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance last week met in a seminar called ‘Empower Us’ and demanded the government take up programmes that actually empowered them. They asked for ‘‘sufficient’’ representation in the government as well as the organisational setups of the political parties.