Guwahati, Sunday, November 9, 2003
�NE youths have
capacity to shine anywhere�
By Ajit
Patowary
GUWAHATI, Nov 8 � Assamese youths or for that matter, the
youths of the entire NE region, have the capability to shine even in the most
unfamiliar condition. The only thing they need is the conviction that they could
emerge as the leaders for the entire humanity, let alone their compatriots in
India in matters of professional or any entrepreneurial ventures. On many
occasions, this has been proved convincingly by the youths of the region, be it
in the battlefields or in the administrative or foreign services, or in other
areas where excellence is the key to success.
A senior officer from
the Union Department of Science And Technology the other day described the
people of the State as the injured lions licking injuries. They will soon be on
their feet roaring, he said. He was commenting on the present situation in the
State. For the perseverant ones we have the story of Sri Jukti Kumar Kalita, the
Vice President, Marketing Strategy of the Merrill Lynch, New Jersey, U S A. The
US company is one of the leading private client groups in that country dealing
mainly in shares and bonds with an annual turnover worth around US Dollars
25 billion and a net profit worth US Dollars around 3 billion in a
year.
No there is no scope for becoming sceptic. Sri Kalita started
his education in an Assamese medium school and even up to the middle level he
studied in the Assamese medium schools. For Sri Kalita, who is currently
in the State on a vacation, told this correspondent of Wednesday that he was
initiated to the world of learning at the Natun Bazar Nimna Buniyadi Vidyalaya,
Nagaon. He then studied in the Nagaon Boys� High School. From there he went to
the Ramkrishna Mission Vidyapeeth, Deogarh, Bihar (now in
Jharkahand).
The Assamese students are as intelligent as the
students from other parts of India are. Students from the colleges like Cotton
College can be deemed to be as competent as those from the renowned universities
and colleges even from the Western countries, he said. But, the problem lies in
the fact that the youths of the State and for that matter NE region, are not
aware of the opportunities available elsewhere in the country and abroad. No
doubt, they are also vulnerable to the affliction of homesickness in most of the
cases, which fetter them against venturing out of the State.
But,
when out of the State, these people perform in a manner, which cannot be
fathomed sitting here. The Assamese professionals in the USA enjoy incomes that
are several times that of the average Americans. Most of them are in salaried
jobs and only a handful are entrepreneurs or businessmen, Sri Kalita
said.
Several of the Assamese entrepreneurs started high-tech
companies in mid1990s and they are doing well even now. Some of them did very
well in late 1990s. But, right now, like many American entrepreneurs they are
struggling due to the recession in the USA. But the professional Assamese people
are doing well. Some of them, following the recession, lost their jobs no doubt,
but are re-employed now in a fruitful manner. The professional Assamese
community�s performance in the USA is in no way inferior to the other
professionals from the rest of India, Sri Kalita, a Ph D in marketing from the
Columbia University, New Jersey, said.
But he has some words of
caution for the aspiring youths from the region, who are dreaming professional
careers in computer sector in the USA. The difficult economic condition and
increased out sourcing may lead to, in the future, less opportunities for the
Indian graduates of computer science in that country.
However, it
should not adversely affect those who specialise in other areas of science and
technology, he said. Following the recession in the USA and adoption of stricter
immigration laws by the US Government, he said, the aspirant Assamese
professionals should now opt also for the countries like Japan, Korea, Malaysia
and the countries in the Middle East, which also offer opportunities for the
talents from the foreign countries.
Even for the entrepreneurs of
the State, good markets are available for their products in the South Asian
countries and Japan and Korea and also in the Middle East, very much within the
reach of the entrepreneurs of the State or the region, Sri Kalita said. On the
issue of India becoming an economic super power, he said, its annual growth rate
should shoot up to 10 per cent from the present six per cent. For that we must
develop the infrastructure � like roads, electricity, railway network and the
ports first of all.
Simultaneously, we should also improve the
judicial and social systems�like, the patent law, right to property, quick and
just settlement of legal cases and security laws and preventive measures against
corruption, rights of women and measures for poverty alleviation, among others,
Sri Kalita said.
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