Jobless youth joining militancy : former M’laya CM

Former Chief Minister and senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Dr Mukul Sangma said many educated unemployed youths have joined militancy.
“If the government says they don’t know, then it is their failure or their usual denial mode, but the reality is alarming,” Sangma, the Leader of the Opposition in the Meghalaya Assembly, said. “Many qualified youths with professional degrees, out of frustration and anger, have gone and joined armed groups and completed their training as well,” he stated.
Stating that the government has a robust mechanism to have all these inputs, Sangma said, “We have run the government. I was privileged to be Chief Minister during difficult times. We created a system under the command of the government to receive such inputs daily. Therefore, the government should be expected to know what is happening. I am certain they are aware.”
Referring to the hoisting of the outlawed Hynñiewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) militant outfit in Shillong on August 14, Sangma said, such cases should not be deemed as non-alarming or insignificant,
However, Sangma rued that there is no visible response from the government to prevent from joining armed groups, but he strongly emphasised on the need to adopt proactive measures to thwart educated unemployed youth from taking the wrong path.
“The government must adopt a multi-pronged strategy to address the burgeoning problem of unemployment. Unless proactive measures are taken to address unemployment, frustration will only translate into anger and ultimately rebellion,” the TMC leader said.
Sangma said parents across rural areas in Meghalaya are investing everything they earned from farming into educating their children for better opportunities.
“Today, villages have a huge pool of educated youth who were meant to dream big. But those dreams are collapsing. After hope comes frustration, after frustration comes anger, and after anger comes rebellion. That is how the cycle works,” the former Chief Minister said.