Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma today asserted that youth of the Northeast especially the tribals should come out beyond the reservation mindset to compete with the rest of the world.
Sangma was speaking at the inauguration function of the Mao Students Union (MSU) Makhel Heritage Conclave commemorating its 88th anniversary and conference at Makhel in Manipur.
Recalling his late father PA Sangma on how he believed in competition, the Chief Minister said, “He used to say that the youth of the northeast, especially the tribal need to start coming out of this reservation mindset and that we must go beyond reservation”.
“By saying this he or I don’t mean that reservation should go away but it is the mindset that we must change and we must realize that we will need to compete with the rest of the world one day and we cannot go on thinking that we will get reservation.”
“We need to develop a competitive mindset. We need to realize that we are as good as others if not better and then he can compete with anybody not just in this country but in the whole world and so the mindset of the youth needs to change and we have to encourage them to start thinking big.”
He informed the gathering on Meghalaya’s youth policy that focuses on engaging the youth in a productive manner and the early child development program, which the State is soon starting.
“Meghalaya will be getting funding from the World Bank almost close to 150 Crore for an early childhood development program and we will be one of the first states in the country to be doing that,” he added.
“I am very happy that we are starting this special program run for adolescent girls and boys starting with a program for the girls first which will then supplement our vision and mission for the Youth Policy for overall development of our youth.”
He also spoke at length on the importance of balancing politics and culture to safeguard people’s identity, heritage and enable people to connect to their roots. “We should balance our identity and heritage and work with the core philosophy to promote our identity vis-à-vis ensure economic growth of our people,” he said.
Mao Students Union is one of the oldest Students Organization in Northeast and was founded in the year 1933. The Mao Students Union during its 88 years of existence has contributed for socio-economic development of the Mao community and the people of the region.
