Role of Higher Education in dealing with the Socio-economic Problems of Northeast India

Role of Higher Education in dealing with the Socio-economic Problems of

Northeast India

Shamim Akhtar, Assistant Professor, Icfai University Mizoram, Email:

[email protected]

Abstract

The northeastern part of India comprises of eight small states namely: Assam, Arunachal

Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim. This region covers

almost 8 per cent of India’s total land mass and has high strategic and economic importance

as it shares international boundaries with China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan.

In spite of being blessed with mesmerizing scenic beauty and huge natural resources, the

northeast for some obvious reason could not develop economically at par with the rest of

India. The prolonged struggles and violence due to insurgency have been one of the main

factors for this poor economic growth. The serious lack of infrastructure, highways, industry,

modern healthcare and educational facilities has further contributed to a range of other

social problems in northeast like unemployment, addictions, women trafficking, HIV etc.

Today a large section of the youths from northeast are depressed and unmotivated. There is

no other way to address this problem but to create opportunities for the youth. The first and

foremost step towards this is to promote higher education in northeast. In recent times the

government both at the centre and the states has been encouraging and facilitating a number

of institutes and universities to offer higher and technical education in the region. But, the

facilities of higher education should not be limited to cities like Guwahati alone. Even people

from the extreme rural and remotest parts should have equal opportunity and access to

university and college degrees. Also, the higher education must not be confined to traditional

studies only and should give emphasis to technical and professional education. These,

coupled with a parallel pro-industrialization approach of industry friendly policies and

packages and adequate infrastructure building would certainly return the people of northeast

their legitimate hope and aspirations for sustainable socio-economic development, peace and

prosperity.

Keywords

Northeast, Higher Education, Insurgency, Underdevelopment, Socio-economic problems

I. Introduction

India is a vast country with amazing diversities spread across its length and breadth. The

northeastern part of India comprises of eight small states namely: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,

Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim. This region covers almost 8

percent of India‘s total land mass. The northeast is uniquely recognizable from the rest of

India because it is narrowly connected via the Siliguri corridor known as the ‗Chicken neck‘.

The region has got high strategic and economic importance as it shares international

boundaries with China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan. In spite of being blessed

with mesmerizing scenic beauty and huge natural resources, the northeast for some obvious

reasons could not develop economically at par with the mainland India.

Role of Higher Education in dealing with the Socio-economic Problems of Northeast India

Paper presented at NAAC Sponsored National Seminar on “Quality of Higher Education in Rural Areas: Issues and

Perspectives in North-East India” organized by IQAC, Nabinchandra College, Badarpur, Assam, India on 25th and 26th March,

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The lack of development in northeast coupled with the people‘s feeling of isolation,

deprivation and threat to their indigenous cultures is the root cause behind the growth of

insurgency in the region. Due to prolonged insurgency, the process of industrialization and

economic growth had taken a backseat. Besides insurgency and underdevelopment there also

exist other social problems such as women trafficking, drug abuse and HIV. A study

conducted by Singh (2006) concludes that since 1991, there has been increase in inequality

and unemployment, decline in the quality of governance, rise in smuggling, trafficking,

illegal immigration, corruption, squandering of public funds, escalation in insurgency related

activities, etc. all these has led to underdevelopment causing a sense of deprivation among the

educated youths of the region.

In terms of literacy many northeastern states has done exceptionally well over the years.

Missionary led school education in remote areas, government‘s policy of free elementary

education, and higher enrolments of females in schools are some of the contributing factors to

this positive development. However, on the other hand, in case of higher education, the

northeast faces serious limitations. There has been growing trend of students from northeast

migrating to other Indian cities for higher education. The higher education facilities in the

northeast are still largely concentrated in the urban areas and situated mostly in and around

the state capitals. This has made the higher educational opportunities to be more urban centric

in the northeast. Therefore, the rural people from remote areas find it difficult to continue

higher studies. Besides this, the technical and professional courses offered by private

institutions are generally very epensive and so the poor people are unable to afford them. It

needs to be stressed that a lot of problems in northeast can be eradicated by simply creating

equal opportunities for the people from all sections of the society. For this creation of

opportunities, the role of higher education is imperative.

Table 1: Demographic Overview of Northeast

States Area

(in sq. km)

Population1

Density of

Population

(in per sq. km)

Literacy Rate

(in %)

Assam 78550 31169272 396.8 76.3

Arunachal Pradesh 83743 1382611 16.5 66.95

Manipur 22347 2721756 121.8 79.85

Meghalaya 22720 2964007 130.5 72.1

Tripura 10491.69 3671032 349.9 87.75

Mizoram 21081 1091014 51.8 89.9

Nagaland 16579 1980602 119 63.7

Sikkim 7096 607688 85.6 76.6

Overall Northeast 262607.69 45587982 158.99 76.64

Overall India 3,287,2602 1,210,193,422 372.6 74.04

Compiled from various sources3

1 As Per Census 2011

2 The Surface area (sq. km) in India was last reported at 3287260 in 2010, according to a World Bank report

published in 2012. Surface area is a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways. Source: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/india/surface-area-sq-km-wb-data.html (accessed on 22-03-2013)




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II. Socio-economic Problems of Northeast India

The northeast India has long been suffering from a range of social and economic problems

like insurgency, underdevelopment, poverty, unemployment, women trafficking, drugs and

addictions etc. Most of these problems are interrelated, interdependent and often mutually

reinforcing to each-other. Some of the major problems of northeast are discussed as follows.

Insurgency

Historically, for many years a large part of northeast remained somewhat isolated in terms of

physical accessibility, cultural integration, direct political control and governance. However,

after India‘s independence in 1947, India as a new sovereign nation took special measures to

ensure that the northeast remains peacefully as an integral part of India. But even with the

best of intentions and resources put into place, the government of India found it challenging

to manage the socio-political affairs of northeast. This was mainly because of the rise of

insurgent groups from diverse sections of the society. The Northeast India is home to around

220 different indigenous groups and over 160 scheduled tribes. Though, in the last decade or

so the government has been somewhat able to curtail the insurgent activities in northeast, but

it seems to be still a temporary arrangement as the roots of insurgency are still profoundly

grounded. The recent ethnic violence in parts of lower Assam and consistent intelligence

reports suggesting the existence of various active forces in other parts of northeast, points out

to this alarming reality.

Though, insurgency in northeast has often been looked as a socio-political problem but no

one can deny the underlying economic factors behind its continuity and frequent re-

emergence in the region. In the context of northeast, there has been a vicious cycle of

underdevelopment-insurgency-underdevelopment because underdevelopment breeds

insurgency and insurgency retards development (Singh, 2006). The prolonged struggles due

to insurgency have been one of the main factors for the economic underdevelopment of the

region. The serious lack of infrastructure, highways, industry, modern healthcare and

educational facilities has further contributed to a range of other social problems in Northeast

like unemployment, addiction, women trafficking, HIV etc.

Underdevelopment

In terms of natural resources the northeastern India is blessed with minerals like oil, natural

gas, coal, dolomite, limestone, quartzite, sillimonite etc. More than 10 per cent of all forest

products requirement of India comes from this region. Northeast has also got high potential to

generate hydropower which can not only sufficiently meet the power demand of the region

itself but also it can be exported to other parts of the country. In spite of such abundant

resources the northeast is not economically as prosperous as it should have been. Moreover,

the possibilities for industrialization, agriculture based business opportunities, tourism and

border trade with neighboring countries has not yet been fully utilized.

3 http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/northeast/ (accessed on 19-03-2013) and

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/india/surface-area-sq-km-wb-data.html (accessed on 22-03-2013)




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In 1971, the North Eastern Council (NEC) was set up by the government of India for the

development of the northeastern region. Later, realizing the lack of industrialization for

economic growth and development, the government introduced the North East Industrial

Policy (NEIP) in 1997 (Pillai, 2007). In 2007 the Northeast Industrial and Investment

Promotion Policy, 2007 (NEIIPP) was introduced to transform the industrially and

economically backward region into a competitive and thriving market through various

schemes, concessions and fiscal incentives (Menon, 2007). Even after more than 40 years of

different policies adopted by the government, the northeast still remains largely

underdeveloped and its resources underutilized. Therefore, there is a need to speed up all

development initiatives. The government‘s ambitious Look East Policy, which aims at

facilitating greater economic ties with the ASEAN4 countries, has been a very positive step in

this direction as it has the potential for a collective transformation of the economies of all the

northeastern states. But to realize this, infrastructure building in the region is the most

primary and most urgent need of the hour.

Poverty and Unemployment

According to the Planning Commission report published recently (The Telegraph, March 12,

2013)5, the poverty is generally rising in the northeast except Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.

The report says Assam now has 116.4 lakh persons living below the poverty line, Manipur

12.5 lakh, Meghalaya 4.9 lakh, Mizoram 2.3 lakh, Tripura 6.3 lakh, Nagaland 4.1 lakh and

Arunachal Pradesh 3.5 lakh. According to Romita Datta6, ―it has been found that more than

half a million young and educated people in India‘s northeastern state are jobless. In

desperation they are resorting to low-income jobs and at times even militancy‖. Many would

agree that it is because of rising poverty and unemployment that the northeast is submerged

into social problems like insurgency, crime, women trafficking and addictions.

Women Trafficking

According to a latest report published in Times of India, Assam has become the hotbed of

human traffickers from all over the country. The report also points out to the fact that

children from the northeast, mostly minor girls are frequently trafficked for being used as

domestic helps in metros where they are often physically abused and sexually exploited7.

Another report from Tehelka says that, ―according to data provided by the Indian Ministry of

4 ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) is a geo-political and economic organization of ten countries

that includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. It was formed on 8 August 1967 with an aim for accelerating economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, protection of regional peace and stability, and opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully. 5 The Telegraph, March 19, 2013, Guwahati, "Poverty rises in Northeast: Decline in Tripura, Arunachal; increase

in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur", Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120320/jsp/frontpage/story_15270991.jsp#.UUweuxdnouQ (accessed on 22-03-2013) 6 Romita Datta (Nov 24 2009), Manipur: At least 600,000 educated, young people are jobless, Source:

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/TckH83i1nyTxHe4hcQm1IP/Manipur--8216At-least-600000-educated-young-people-are.html (accessed on 22-03-2013) 7 Pranjal Baruah (Dec 23, 2012), Traffickers target northeast Indian women, sell them like cattle, Times of India,

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-23/india/35981961_1_human-traffickers-ne-women-bachpan-bachao-andolan (accessed on 20-03-2013)




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Home Affairs, 3500 adults and children disappeared from Assam in the last year alone—

probable victims of the human trafficking trade‖. The report further points out the reasons for

trafficking in northeastern India as: acute poverty and natural disaster, lack of awareness, lack

of sustainable job opportunities, Large family size etc8.

Drugs and Addictions

The nature of drug abuse and other addiction in the northeast has got a historical and cultural

connection to it. The region had a tradition of opium smoking, drinking of traditional wines

etc. It was initially under the religious influence of missionaries that these cultural practices

were gradually discarded. But to a certain extent the underlying temptations for addictions

remained and were often reinforced by other socio-economic factors in the society. In spite,

of strong laws by the government, dedicated awareness programmers by NGO‘s and

community initiatives, the problem of drug abuse still persists at an alarming level.

According to NACO9 there are 50,000 IDUs

10 in Northeast India, where the majority of them

are from Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram. Some local NGOs who are addressing the

problem locally believe such figures are understated as many drug users remain hidden

because of stigmatization (Moses, 2007). Generally the drug users blame the economic and

social reasons for their drug problems like unemployment, poverty, and school dropout or

lack of education etc. An additional driving factor often cited by users in the Manipur and

Nagaland is peer pressure (TNI11

, 2011).

HIV

According to Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India (Dec 2010),

Manipur has the highest adult HIV prevalence of any state, estimated at 1.40 percent and

Nagaland has an estimated prevalence of 0.78 percent, the fourth highest. Quite clearly,

India‘s northeast has got an alarming level of HIV prevalence in the country. If not controlled

immediately the situation can pose biggest threat to the wellbeing of the entire population of

northeast.

III. Challenges for Higher Education in Northeast

Today the challenges faced by the people in northeast regarding higher education can be

summarized and classified in terms of Awareness, Accessibility, Affordability, Motivation

and Opportunity. These have been discussed as follows:

8 Kishalay Bhattacharjee (August 29, 2012), Northeast And Its Ceaseless Struggle With Human Trafficking,

Source: http://tehelka.com/34210/ (accessed on 20-03-2013) 9 National AIDS Control Organization

10 Injecting Drug Users

11 The Transnational Institute (TNI) was established in 1974 as an international network of activist researchers

(“scholar activists”) committed to critical analyses of the global problems of today and tomorrow. It aims to provide intellectual support to movements struggling for a more democratic, equitable and environmentally sustainable world.




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Awareness

People from Northeast especially from rural areas are still ignorant about higher education

especially about the emerging areas of professional education. The lack of knowledge about

courses, institutes, scholarships and future prospect has been a major factor for which rural

students are not able to frame clear career goals and planning. There is a need to build

awareness by both government and non-government initiatives. Having information centers

and career counseling facilities at the secondary school levels may be helpful for generating

awareness in the rural areas.

Accessibility

Northeast is among the remotest and toughest parts in terms of accessibility in India.

Geographically the region is landlocked by rough hilly terrains, dense forests, rivers and of

course the international borders. Except Assam and Tripura, the railway connectivity is

almost absent in other northeastern states. Even the basic road connectivity is poor and there

is an urgent need for development. The air service which at times becomes only travel option

to northeast is also affected by bad weather and absence of modern facilities at the airports.

Often due to natural calamities such as flood and landslides, the road transport along the

major highways are frequently disrupted. In such conditions people from rural areas finds it

difficult to travel and come to major northeastern cities for pursuing higher education. Also

due to poor infrastructure it is difficult to encourage and ensure quality human resources in

higher education to serve in the northeast. In a recent survey conducted by the North East

India Image Managers (NEIIM), it was found that 30 per cent of professionals would ―never

go and work‖ in NE even if that best suited their career interest.12

Affordability

People from the rural areas in northeast are still poor and affording higher education remains

a luxury for them. Though, a section from the urban higher class and middle class are still

going to other developed cities in India and even abroad for higher studies but for the poor

people from the rural areas, it just remains a dream out of their reach. Most people from rural

areas are not financially in positions to pay for higher education.

Motivation

In many rural parts of northeast there is high level of dropouts especially at the secondary and

higher secondary levels. This shows that there is a lack of motivation to pursue higher studies

among rural students. There are three reasons for this; first, as we have already discussed, is

the people‘s inability to afford higher education. Second, is the general perception of people

that there is simply not enough return-on-investment to justify higher education due to lack of

employment opportunities in the region. And the third, and the most pressing issue is that a

section of the youth is increasingly falling for negative social behavior such as drug abuse,

12

Supratim Dey (May 5 2012), Survey indicates 87% of professionals are unaware of North Eastern states,

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/specials/survey-indicates-87-of-professionals-are-

unaware-of-north-eastern-states-112050500036_1.html ( accessed on 11-03-2013)




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alcoholism and carefree lifestyle. Due to such social attitudes visible in both urban and rural

areas it may not be wrong to presume that there is a lack of interest and motivation regarding

career aspirations, planning and efforts among the northeastern youths.

Opportunity

There is serious lack of employment opportunities in the northeast. This is the main reason

for people migrating from northeast to other parts of India. Over the years, the lack of

infrastructure and threats of insurgency has kept industries to remain skeptic about investing

wholeheartedly in northeast. A number of professional educational institutes that has come up

in recent times are finding it difficult to place their pass out students due to lack of openings.

If job opportunities are not created immediately then the gap between demand and supply of

human resources would keep on widening negatively. This would invariably increase the

unemployment rates for the educated youth.

There is a huge amount of investments requirement for revamping the overall higher

education scenario in the northeast. The government is facing limitations and therefore

encouraging the private sector to share on this responsibility. Already the higher education

sector has received investments to the tune of Rs 300 crores, and projects worth Rs 200

crores are still in the pipeline.13

Though, it is largely seen as a move towards the right

direction but there is an argument that private sector investment in higher education alone

cannot ensure equal opportunity creation and inclusive growth. As the private sector is

basically driven by profit, therefore there are apprehensions that they may not be able to

create affordable educational facilities for the rural mass. This is where, the government‘s

role is crucial, not only in terms of policy making but also in terms of active participation.

This may eventually pave the way for more PPP model investments in higher education

sector for the northeast.

Table 2: State-wise Number of Government/Private Professional Educational

Institutions (Degree and Diploma Courses) in NER, (As on 03.12.2007)14

States

*Degree Diploma

Number of

Govt./Govt.

Aided Inst.

Number of

Pvt. Inst.

Number of

Govt./Govt. Aided

Inst.

Number of Pvt. Inst.

Arunachal

Pradesh 1 0 3 1

Assam 13 4 15 0

Manipur 2 0 4 0

Meghalaya 0 2 3 0

Mizoram 1 0 4 0

Nagaland 2 1 4 0

13

Bikash Singh, ET Bureau (Feb 21, 2012), Source: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-02-21/news/31082873_1_private-universities-assam-higher-education (accessed on 19-03-2013) 14

Compiled from the statistics released by : Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1352 dated on 03.12.2007 Application. Source: http://db.nedfi.com/content/education-0 (accessed on 22-03-2013)




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Sikkim 0 3 3 1

Tripura 6 0 4 0 *The data Includes Undergraduate and Post Gradual degree Level Institutions in Engineering And Technology, Pharmacy, HMCT, Architecture and Post Graduate degree Institutions in Management and Computer.

IV. Role of Higher Education in Eradicating Socio-economic Problems of Northeast

One of the main objectives of higher education is to engage people in the process of socio-

economic development. Higher education empowers people to actively participate in

economic development, social awareness, scientific research, technological progress, political

decision-making and in the governance of the country. For this reason, the importance of

higher education has been recognized globally. According to UNESCO (2000), ―Higher

Education is no longer a luxury; it is essential to national, social and economic development‖.

The problem of insurgency, which in many ways is one of the root causes for economic

underdevelopment in northeast has to be solved permanently. ―The genesis of most of the

insurgencies in northeast is either to preserve the unique indigenous identity or it‘s the lack of

economic development and opportunities for the large majority of people or both‖ (Menon,

2007). This prevailing sense of alienation, exploitation and deprivation among certain section

of the population in northeast can be positively challenged by promoting and facilitating

higher education. Higher education would help people of northeast to form a larger picture of

the issues and help them overcome their regional or cultural insecurities. Therefore, creating

opportunities through higher education can effectively tackle the problems of insurgency in

northeast.

The problems of poverty and unemployment cannot be solved unless we create opportunities

for employment. Any economy cannot come out of the stagnation phase unless new

industries and trade options are generated. One of the primary requirements for

industrialization is the availability of human resources. And it has been proven beyond doubt

that skilled human resource is a huge global competitive advantage. In the era of

globalization the words development and knowledge are complementary to each other. We

cannot create a supportive environment for development unless we have a culture where we

can inculcate knowledge. ―The main contribution of education for rural development should

be in terms of preparing the necessary conditions for development by awareness of an insight

into the social reality and processes. Its contribution to rural development may be primarily in

the form of helping people realize and use their individual as well as collective and

community strengths and resources, and help them develop new skills – both process or

social skills and technical or work skills – relevant to programmes of rural development‖

(Pareek, 2005). Therefore, if we can bring in the right kind of technical, professional and

research oriented education under the purview of higher education and make it accessible in

rural areas of northeast, it would definitely pave the way for industrial growth leading to

larger and inclusive economic prosperity.

Higher education can also help us to develop human resources who can take up leadership

roles in furthering the cause of socio-economic development of the region, especially for the

underprivileged sections of the society.―One of the goals of education for integrated rural

development is to promote social awareness of problems amongst the rural communities, and




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awareness of the dynamics of social reality, leading to action by the community‖ (Pareek,

2005). Higher education create change agents for the society in the form of entrepreneurs,

social activists, intellectuals, and writers who can fight social problems, set examples for

others and positively motivate the youth towards building a better future for themselves.

In order to deal with the socio-economic problems of northeast, we must have a proper

framework for devising the higher education policy for northeast. A proper policy framework

for higher education in northeast must cover the following aspects:

A. Making higher education accessible and affordable to people from rural and remote

areas.

B. Giving emphasis to technical, professional and skill oriented education for enhancing

employability of the people.

C. Having a pro-industrialization approach and infrastructure development program

running parallel with the higher education policy to create immediate and more job

opportunities in the region.

V. Conclusion

Today the youths from northeast India are depressed and unmotivated. This is simply because

they belong to a place which lacks infrastructure and opportunities. The general population of

northeast has a feeling of isolation, deprivation and identity crisis. The lack of educational

facilities and career opportunities is the leading cause for a large number of young

populations moving and settling to faraway cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad etc.

The more unfortunate fact is that the poor people from the rural and remote areas of northeast

cannot even afford to go out-side to pursue higher education and fulfill their career

aspirations. Perhaps, the rural poor people don‘t even have the aspirations. It is therefore a

sad scenario where the poor have no option but to remain poor, underdeveloped, and

underprivileged with little or no hope for change. And this situation is and as often in the

past, being exploited by the insurgent and vested interest groups, who could easily lure the

poor vulnerable with money, drugs or just a simple fake promise of better life.

There is no other way to address this problem but to create opportunities for the youth. The

first and most important step towards this is to promote higher education in northeast. The

government in recent times has opened the doors to private sector investments in the higher

education sector. As a result a number of universities, colleges and institutes have come up in

and around cities like Guwahati, Gangtok, Shillong etc. But, the facilities of higher education

should not be limited to cities like Guwahati. Even people from the extreme and remotest

places should have equal accessibility to university and college degrees. The higher education

must not be limited to traditional studies and should give emphasis to technical and

professional education as well. Therefore the private sector may be encouraged to invest and

participate in the higher education sector under a proper unified policy framework of the

government. These coupled with a parallel pro-industrialization approach of industry friendly

policies and packages and building adequate infrastructure like power, highways and railways

would certainly return the people of northeast their legitimate hope and aspirations for

sustainable socio-economic development, peace and prosperity.




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References

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15. The Telegraph. (March 19, 2013), Guwahati, Poverty rises in Northeast: Decline in

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120320/jsp/frontpage/story_15270991.jsp#.UUweux

dnouQ (accessed on 22-03-2013).

Role of Higher Education in dealing with the Socio-economic Problems of Northeast India

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