Seed to bloom: Seeing the children through in northeast India

Visits to local northeastern communities reveal the link between employment statistics and ground realities. Childhood is precarious in ways few can comprehend looking in from the outside. From a young age, northeastern people must deal with a perilous terrain, limited infrastructure, conflict, and proximity to the infamous drug and trafficking corridors – while trying to access education. The path from education to employment, too, is pierced with pitfalls: only 1% of corporate industries in India are active in the region, leaving graduates to choose between agriculture and limited, but highly coveted government postings. Research by Heinrich Böll Stiftung suggests that through the past decade, unemployment rates within northeastern states were much higher than in other Indian states, with youth migrating in large numbers to other states to find work.

Back home, in an atmosphere of unemployment and limited opportunities, young people face pressure to start stable careers, mental health repercussions, misguidedness and frustration. Sadly, northeastern states also bear the grim distinction of reporting the highest suicide rates in the country, surpassing the national average.

“For a place to thrive, it has to have young people,” says Nuneseno Chase, director of Dimapur-based non-government organisation (NGO) YouthNet. YouthNet, like several other NGOs, has been working to shift the current of youth migration and loss, sowing seeds for fulfilling and happy futures in their home states.

Today, one can witness a growing collective investment in building safe, heterogenous, and apolitical community spaces for youth across the northeast. These residential, educational, and recreational venues are slowly restoring security, stability, and optimism for young people - not only in urban parts, but rural areas too.

In Tripura’s Jhampui Hills, the NGO Zamzo - meaning a mythological flower-shield - is equipping local teenagers to become local climate stewards and collaborate with elders, village councils and members of parliament for environmental conservation. In Arunachal's Tawang district, NGO Jhamtse Gatsal - meaning garden of love - has pioneered a curriculum for vulnerable children to heal and build lives that not only positively impact them but their communities too. Further south in Itanagar district, the Oju Welfare Association. ‘Oju’ means the weakest of the weak. It is not only a residential home for destitute children, but also runs a school for them where they are enabled to lead lives with dignity and equality.

For adolescents, NGOs and social enterprises are providing mentorship, group support, and livelihood linkages. Assam based NGO Farm2Food, and Nagaland based YouthNet and CanYouth provide counselling, entrepreneurship avenues, and leadership training to adolescents from diverse backgrounds. Demonstrating the transformative potential of the agricultural sector for the youth through ‘farm-preneurship' models, Farm2food educates middle-school children and young people about indigenous agricultural practices, nutritional diversity, and sustainable agriculture. CanYouth, has an empathy-based model for children and youth struggling with addiction, and specifically works with high school dropouts to reintegrate them into schools, helping them successfully complete graduation.

The government support towards this emphasis on youth is visible through their youth-interest public service advertisements which take the form of vibrant street graffiti anchored by both, local governments as well as youth associations.

These non-profit institutions have become lighthouses of hope and goodness, bringing into the fold even those community members who don’t directly benefit from youth interventions. While the youth focus grows, there are conditions that impede their progress and pace. Without adequate funding, these organisations operate on limited budgets and struggle with achieving impact at scale. Data tracking, monitoring and evaluation, and technological support lag, which hinders achieving the full potential of their efforts. Catalytic investment and from diverse parts of India and transformative opportunities like meaningful collaboration can help bridge the gaps in the region.

This article is authored by Anushka Dias and Kasturi Gandhi, researchers, Dasra.