Youth Unemployment in Nagaland

I am Lisa Kikon, a graduate in Media technologies, writing to highlight the ongoing issue of youth unemployment in Nagaland, particularly in Dimapur. This letter addresses the growing gap between academic qualifications and available employment opportunities.
According to the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Nagaland’s unemployment rate stood at 16.07% as of March 2025, reflecting only registered unemployed youth. The Periodic Labour Force Survey (July 2023–June 2024) further places Nagaland among the top eight states with the lowest employment rates.
These figures indicate structural shortcomings in employment generation. One key factor is the overdependence on limited government jobs, alongside an underdeveloped private sector.
At the same time, academic curricula often lack alignment with industry requirements, leaving graduates inadequately prepared.
Due to limited access to internships, career guidance, and exposure to emerging sectors further restricts employability.
Addressing these issues requires coordinated intervention, reducing dependence on government employment must involve strengthening the private sector through support for local enterprises, startups, and small-scale industries, policy incentives, infrastructure development, and ease-of-doing-business measures are essential, educational institutions should prioritise skill-based training, internships, and project-oriented learning to improve job readiness. Collaboration between colleges, media organisations, businesses, and service providers can help establish structured internship and apprenticeship programmes, career guidance mechanisms can also direct students toward emerging fields such as digital media, information technology, content creation, and entrepreneurship.
Dimapur, as Nagaland’s primary commercial and economic hub, has significant untapped potential for employment generation. Targeted policy support, private investment, and focused skill development can enable the city to play a central role in job creation.
Youth unemployment has long-term economic and social implications. Timely and collective action by policymakers, educational institutions, and private stakeholders is necessary to bridge the gap between education and employment.
Lisa Kikon
Dimapur