Case

Are Indian Professionals Aware of Their Own Country: An Alarming Situation

Submitted To: - Prof. Surjit Kumar Kar

Submitted y Sandee! Kumar "ai# $ A %st &ear 'eg. "o. ( %%)*+*+)%*

,ate of Submition: - %--)*-+)%+

Are Indian Professionals Aware of Their Own Country: An Alarming Situation

The world's largest democracy and second most populous country emerged as a major power in the 1990s. It is militarily strong, has major cultural influence and a fast-growing and powerful economy. With its many languages, cultures and religions, India is highly di erse. This is also reflected in its federal political system, where!y power is shared !etween the central go ernment and "# states. $owe er, communal, caste and regional tensions continue to haunt Indian politics, sometimes threatening its long-standing democratic and secular ethos. In 19#% &rime 'inister Indira (andhi was gunned down !y her )i*h !odyguards after ordering troops to flush out )i*h militants from the (olden Temple in +mritsar. The country has a !urgeoning ur!an middle class and has made great strides in fields such as information technology. Its large, s*illed wor*force ma*es it a popular choice for international companies see*ing to outsource wor*. ,ut the impo erished. ast mass of the rural population remains

Case

-ortheast India refers to the easternmost region of India consisting of the contiguous )e en )ister )tates .+runachal &radesh, +ssam, 'anipur, 'eghalaya, 'i/oram, -agaland and Tripura0, )i**im,

and parts of -orth ,engal .districts of 1arjeeling, 2alpaiguri, and 3och ,ihar0. -ortheast India is ethnically distinct from the rest of India and has strong ethnic and cultural ties with 4ast +sia and )outheast +sia, that had escaped )ans*riti/ation in the most groups. 5inguistically the region is distinguished !y a preponderance of Ti!eto-,urman languages. The states are officially recogni/ed under -orth 4astern 6ouncil .-460 constituted in 1971 as the acting agency for the de elopment of the eight states. The -orth 4astern 1e elopment 8inance 6orporation 5td .-418i0 was incorporated on +ugust 9, 1999 and the 'inistry of 1e elopment of -orth 4astern :egion .1o-4:0 was set up in )eptem!er "001. The )iliguri 6orridor in West ,engal, with an a erage width of "1 *m to %0 *m,;%< connects the -orth 4astern region with the mainland Indian su!-continent. The region shares more than %900 *ilometres of international !order .a!out 90 per cent of its entire !order area0 with 6hina .)outh Ti!et0 in the -orth, 'ayanmar in the 4ast, ,angladesh in the )outh-West, and ,hutan to the -orthWest. + sur ey conducted !y -orth 4ast India Image 'anagers re eals a shoc*ing ignorance of professionals a!out the people in the -orth 4ast. It is a sad fact that #7 percentages of the wor*ing professionals cannot name all the -orth 4ast states according to a sur ey conducted on %9# people from sectors of communication, media, ad ertising, pu!lic relation, human resource, finance and mar*eting and 9= percentages shared highly negati e iews of these states. -orth 4ast issues ha e !een alarming the center especially after the suicide death of "= year old lady )angma in $aryana .died !ecause of the racist comments !y a teacher in the +mity uni ersity0 and the murder of :ichard 5oitam in ,angalore .he was !eaten to death !y two of his college mates on the night he died and was a ictim of racial profiling0. The present sur ey will definitely add fuel to the issues relating to the inattention of the -orth 4ast states. The sur ey was conducted on targeted professional from different fields of media that include communication, ad ertising, pu!lic relations, human resources, finance and mar*eting. These professional were mainly from the major cities of India and they were sur eyed through online and direct methods. -4II'>s group president +!hijit ,orah said while releasing the findings ?If majority of our respondents didn't *now !asic facts a!out the -orth 4ast, how can a common man *now more a!out the region,? @-orth 4ast India> is that of @a region riddled with insurgency and most unsafe place in the countryA or @people with mongoloid features and weird food ha!it and an alien cultureA, was the responds from some who were inter iewed in the sur ey, as reported in -ortheast Today. )urprisingly =0

percent of professionals don>t prefer to wor* in -orth 4ast e en if that !est suits their career interest. The sur ey showed how these professionals are preoccupied with some wrong notions and how deeply they are ignorant a!out -orth east states. Case Statisti.s The online sur ey was conducted !y -orth 4ast India Image 'anagers .-4Iim0, a group of media and communications professionals hailing from the -ortheast and wor*ing in metros. The respondents from 1elhi, 'um!ai, ,angalore and were not aware of the northeastern part of the country. &ro!ed as to why the respondents failed to ha e much information on -orth 4ast India, a startling B1C said that they did not see much of north east India on national media. Interestingly, a whopping #9.7C !elie ed that the -ew 1elhi should gi e special attention to -orth 4ast India than what is !eing gi en now. +lso, a!out 9"C of the respondents ha e a 'negati e' perception a!out this region with their immediate recall of it as ?a region riddled with insurgency and most unsafe place in the country? or ?people with mongoloid features and weird food ha!its and an alien culture?. Though some positi e fact a!out the region is that 9=C of the respondents wanted to *now more a!out the region while 9BC felt that go ernment should run special awareness campaigns using arious media ehicles at national le el to educate people a!out -ortheast, while %=C suggest that schoolDcollege curriculum should include more information pertaining to history, geography, culture and economy of the region. )ome of the *ey statistics that is to !e loo*ed after areE 9"C ha e a highly negati e perception a!out -orth 4ast India 7BC ha e no idea a!out any peace tal*s going on !etween go t and any militant group of -4 91C ha e no *nowledge a!out -ortheast Industrial &olicy 70C respondents won't !elie e it if one states the fact that three -4 states ha e higher per capita income than the national a erage =0C of professionals will ne er go and wor* in -4 e en if that !est suits their career interest 79C respondents don't *now that the current F&+ go t has ministers hailing from -ortheast %".7C ad ocates changes in the educational curriculum to pro ide more information a!out -4

9B.=C wants go ernment to run mass awareness dri e nationwide to educate people on -4

'e.ommendations )ome argue that it is the sheer physical isolation that ma*es it impossi!le for mainland India to find out a!out anything a!out the -orth-4ast. )tates li*e Tripura and +runachal and 'i/oram aren>t e en connected !y the railways let alone any other form of infrastructural and educational de elopment. -itin (o*hale, an -1TG journalist who has written eHtensi ely a!out the -orth 4ast and its pro!lems says, @&hysical isolation from the mainland has aggra ated the already eHisting mental IuarantineA. )o we don>t e en eHist and if we do we>re not part of India.

To o ercome the isolation pro!lems the north eastern states are facing some of the recommendations are pro ided !elowE Removal of the negative attitude of the rest of the Indians towards the people of north east This is a serious pro!lem the people of north east are facing the (o t. of India seriously needs to pro!e into this matter as soon as possi!le. The people of north east are seen differently just !ecause of their different eating styles. Understanding there importance of the north east in the contribution to the economy The people of India ha e a ery narrow perception that the people of north east only contri!ute to the economy through the tea plants which is 99 C !ut the fact is they contri!ute to the economy !y the crude oil also !y B0C and also through the traditional art and craft and tourism. Understanding equally the pain of the north east people 5et>s consider what happens when )ha!ana +/mi decides to fast for the rights of slum dwellers facing e iction. The media arri e. The politicians ma*e promises. +nd within a wee*, 's +/mi can return to her !iriani. 'eanwhile Irom )harmila has entered the ele enth year of her superhuman fast,

protesting the indefensi!le +rmed 8orces )pecial &owers +ct .+8)&+0 that has !een imposed in 'anipur and most of the -ortheast since 19#0. Introduction of large scale Industries in the North East region Industries should ta*e *een interest in setting up factories in the north east region as it is !lessed with !iodi ersity, huge hydro-energy potential, oil and gas, coal, limestone. +lready industry li*e (+I5 is running its !usiness o er there. )tates li*e +ssam pro ides huge in estment opportunities in sectors li*e hydrocar!ons, oil and natural gas, !am!oo, handicrafts and tea.

Understanding the importance of the region with regard to International Trade The region shares !orders with 6hina in the north, ,angladesh in the )outh-West, ,hutan in the -orth-West and 'yanmar in the 4ast. This ma*es the -orth-4ast a prospecti e hu! of international trade and commerce. Reduction of poverty from the region &o erty is one of the most important issues that the (o ernment of India needs to loo* after. It is po erty that has made the region stay aloof from the rest of the Indians. Introduction of Railways into these regions There is no dou!t that the introduction of air flight facilities has made the people of India come closer to north eastern people !ut as !ecause India is a country where the majority of the population are of middle class it is not possi!le on their part to reach to these regions through flight.

Con.lusion It is always easier said than done to change institutionsJ such change reIuires the introduction of incenti es, including economic incenti es, supported !y political will. With India mo ing into a new era of economic li!eration encouraging free enterprise, the -ortheast should not !e left out. Thousands of young -ortheasterners are waiting for a chance to producti ely contri!ute to their home region. Thus, with some of the changes ad ocated here ta*ing place, a process would !e set in

motion that could support them in this endea or. It is ital that this process includes mechanisms for eIuita!ly sharing the !enefits to !e deri ed from de elopment and focuses not only on the !ig-tic*et items that support !road-!ased, long-term growth, !ut also on those complementary acti ities that ha e immediate impact on po erty reduction at the community le el.

'eferen.es

http://www.siliconindia.com/news/general/Neglected-North-East-87-pct-of-IndianProfessionals-cant-Name-all-NE-States-nid-114 81-cid-1.html

http://www.!!c.co."#/news/world-so"th-asia-1$%%7&84

http://www.thehind".com/toda's-paper/article&& 8 $7.ece

http://www.hind"stantimes.com/India-news/New(elhi/87-professionals-can-t-name-allnortheast-India-states/)rticle1-8%*$78.asp+

http://www.chilli!ree,e.com/articles/North-East.asp

http://www.northeast!log.in/north-east-india/does-the-north-east-!elong-in-india/

mdoner.gov.in/.../WBWaterStrategyJan26073424960695.pdf