The gap between Social Science Higher Education and Employment in India .

Just annoyed listening to people saying Ph.D. is not a point of mind settlement as it does not guarantees job. What else does guarantees job? If Ph.D. degree does not guarantee job, obviously, he/she want to mean is, just some senseless sort of, job does guarantees job. Then, what does mean by job? It’s nothing but just the monetary return of what we do. The conventional meaning of job, in India, I don’t know for other countries, as in the case of Ph.D. is getting into a teaching kind of institution- say, lectureship. I would say this is a clear attitude of laziness to prefer get into Government jobs to private sector similar jobs. Your Research either degree or skill/aptitude is enough to get a job either independent undertaking or under some agency and thus is how Research degree or the skill/aptitude does guarantees your job.

You start killing the potential return of your learning when the moment you feel your mainstream course either science or social science such as (let me particularize about social science) Political Science, History, Sociology or similar are less advantageous than professional course like Social Work, Development or similar. Because, once you start gaining a Research aptitude either during your Master programme or Research Master Programme (e.g. M.Phil.) your potential to earn begins. There are lots more in the market available for Research works which can be taken up either individually or in team instead of waiting for a Government job.

To go to the job market of Research you need to show your past Research works, an evidence that you have the skill and aptitude of Research, done Research with your own topic of interest, your expression of thinking by writing to show off your thought process and so on. When you start doing small scale Research you are starting to apply your learning, just like engineer or medical students applies during or after their course. There are lot many agencies both government and non-government in the market in the field of Research in which these kind of young students, Masters level or Undergraduates, who possess a mindset of independent stand of thought and interest and have earlier evidence for the same, are demanded. This is why I find strange to hear people speaking about unemployment after holding a Research degree either M.Phil. / Ph.D.

Perhaps many of the mainstream Social Science students do not know about this job market (netizens can look up few sites for the advertisement of internships and other development related jobs across Indian such as Devnetjobsindia.org and NGObox.org and for internal such as Devnetjobs.org) which is why they feel less advantageous then those so called professional course students. But, to me, there is nothing like professional or non-professional course, all course are professional when you apply for a purpose or all course are non-professional unless they are not applied for a purpose.

In today’s corporate world the market and function demands high level of personality apart from the competencies of silent desk work, meaning the aptitude of Research. One needs to have the required interpersonal skills in order to interact with the clients and the rest of the world. As this kind of personality doesn't seem required in the normal academic atmosphere, which is not supposed to be, students don’t feel the need to learn it.

To come to the corporate Research and to gain these personalities and experience one need to start exposure with Civil Societies may in the form of internship right from the undergraduate life to Masters in the field of applied Research (Such as the current Internship call in UNICEF China for Education and Child Development). This will give an exposure to both Research and Project Management (Operational) of the Research program. One who is really determined to be a Researcher does not need to hold a Research degree either M.Phil. / Ph.D. to be a competent Researcher, but the better if you have these to certify your profile.

If we closely look into the course structure and pedagogy of the so called professional course such as engineering in science and Social Work and Development are theory loaded and far to be more practical. For Engineering courses there is a much talk about making industry ready, but there never such for Social Science streams. The present courses of Social Sciences are more of theory and abstract. Once the courses such as Political Science and Sociology or similar course are made to connect bit more with practical, there is no room for students to feel less advantageous in employment frontier. It is late compared to other developed countries, which is why it is priority to make the curriculum of the Masters’ degree a Research Oriented and Computer friendly.

When the student lost their way to making money using their academic tools it is a lost to the country in terms of social and economy. It’s not only about making the courses job ready but also about the application of their learning which is the need of the day for developing country like India. There is an urgent need to make these mainstream social science courses (including mainstream general Science courses) more realistic and applicative for an inclusive and sustainable growth of the country India, before this inflation reach the threshold that kills everyone.

Impact of Manipuri Scholar on the innocent lives of Manipur?

Even if Arm Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) is not a question of their research work it is clearly seen either from their writings and peer discussion that much of the extra time of their priority task is focused in AFSPA. I am not saying anything bad or good on AFSPA. I have the clear I idea that AFSPA is not the only thing that will bring smile on the faces of Manipuries living in Manipur.

There are many issues that we confront on everyday basis if we live in Manipur. And when we get out of Manipur we forget these issues we confronted directly and dominated by the national issues called AFSPA. It is my rational that solving the problem that we confront directly is the priority rather than the indirect one, AFSPA with the fact that AFSPA is not the causal factor of those issues we confronted directly.

It is also good to keep in mind that focus of scholars in AFSPA is one of the greatest opportunities for the ruling politicians to loot the state. It's like giving the task of straightening the dog's tail to the Ghost that if the task finishes the Master will be killed by the ghost. Here the Ghost is the scholars while Master is the State, Manipur.

I would say that the issue of Manipur is not AFSPA. The issue of Manipur is Law and Governance. You are never thinking you are in Delhi with the money borrowed from relatives in many instances and you are breaking your head in AFSPA. You are never thinking why your mom and dad is not getting salary for many months because of which they borrowed money and send for you. From now you can start your research on 'why my mom and dad are not getting salary in time?'

You make your ego thinking you are in Delhi and in Manipur your school friends are not getting the same quality of education you are getting in Delhi. Instead of this ego, why not you start your research on 'why my school friends in Manipur not getting the same quality of education you are getting in Delhi?'

Even if you are rich enough to go to Delhi and do education in Delhi University you submit that your family is poor enough that you yourself or your brother can't afford a job in Manipur Government. Instead of the directly-unproductive issue called AFSPA or similar why not you start your research on 'why my brother is not getting job when he has the qualification for it'?

When you are in Delhi you sought like anything when there is a power cut of one hour. But if you go back to your lovely homeland Manipur you really happy when you get power for one hour in night before/while dinner. What is this you're rationale that does not need light in Manipur? Is this the result of your education in Delhi?

Why not you start your research on 'why our Manipur is not getting power as much as you get in your room in Delhi' or in a focus way, you might have the similar experience if you lived in rent in Imphal before going to Delhi. In Imphal you get almost the same hour of power like in Delhi and when you go back to your village you have dinner early, no study and get into bed for having forceful sleep on account of powerless. Why don't you starts your research on ''how to make your village luminous as much as that of Rental room Imphal'?

You might have really worried if your mom or your sister-in-law gets mature the pregnancy and there is no time you can say exactly when it will get deliver and if happens what will happen because your family do not have much money to admit her in hospital advance. Why don't you know your village has a hospital? Yes, your ignorance is justified in short time. But why don't you think to research on 'why your village hospital is not hospitable' as your research question?

When you go back to your village from Delhi you clearly see that your neighbouring/ village Pradhan (Panchayati Raj System) is becoming millionaire without any transparent legitimate reason. You clearly see that your brothers and sisters in your family and neighbours are unemployed. And you also clearly know about Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Then, why don't you question and start your research to fulfill your quest and bring an equitable and equal society in your village?

You are in Delhi with the money earned by your mom in Manipur doing the livelihood of vendorship in the market on daily basis. You clearly know that when there is one day Bandh or strike your mom's income is stopped. You clearly know that five day Bandh/strike is the amount of the multiplication of one day's income and five day that your mom will not get.

You clearly know your mom borrow money in order to fill up this financial gap and how tense she might have to do this. Then, why not you start your research on 'why there is Band and why your mom does not get income for five days and how to fix it'? Why not someone come up a new policy to curb this issue?

If you come back to Manipur during vacations and before going to Delhi you clearly see that in your village there are many poor children who cannot afford private schools. And you also clearly seen many primary school without Mid-Day Meal and many stuffs which the students are supposed to get but do not get in many schools in Manipur.

In addition you clearly know poor children goes to government school and cannot ripe the fruit of education and hence they fall back to the vicious cycle of poor. Then, why not you start your research on 'why children going to government school are less talent that those going to private schools or, why government schools perform far less than private schools or their infrastructure, why students do not get the material they are entitled to get in the school and so on as your research question.

These are just few emotionally hinting areas of issues in Manipur for research for social cause that how research scholars can make direct impact. The impact of scholars (research) is hottest question for the last couple of years in India. If the state or state employed staffs are not performing at the desire level then who is going to look into that?

For example, if the scholars in Manipur University are not showing desire output and outcome which may directly or indirectly impact the society then what is the significance of scholars in the society? These seems universal causal effect of education to development is not valid with this kind of scenario.

I understand my points are more of activism research rather than academic. Even though it depends on what you interest to research on either for an academic degree or for a social change, but the thing here I want to mean is that even if you do for social change you should get your similar academic degree in return.

The challenge with the latter is more of field engagement which our Indian education system does not yet in favour while in campus but does not mean impossible rather than some constraints. I have the faith that if we take some pain we will definitely gain something positive in return to our effort.

(The article has already been published in E-pao.net by the same writer)

Had I not been in APU !?

I have built the perspective,

Now I have changed the way how I see the world.

I have built the professional relationship,

Now I am not alone for a change.

I have equipped with the tools,

Now I can start the adventure of my life.

I have taken a lot from the life,

Now time has come to give back.

Had I not been in APU,

These lines wouldn't have laid anywhere!!

Development for Underdevelopment !?

Why we learn so much?

For better survival?

Do we survive better now?

No, the more we learn higher the standard of living.

Higher the standard of living more the threat to environment.

Does education solve problems?

Both Yes and No.

The more solution the more unsolved is.

We are advance in medicine,

But more serious disease comes out after every new solution.

We have advanced in medicine

And we decreased the natural death rate

And thus distorted the equilibrium between death rate and birth rate.

And thus created the population explosion.

We produce seeds for better resilience from pest,

But another completely new disease comes up and destroy completely.

We produce climate resilient seeds for good produce.

Everywhere is hybrid seed and endangered endogenous one,

But we cannot grow these hybrid seeds without chemical

and becomes chemical agriculture that goes to our body ultimately.

Does higher production fill poor's stomach, no!

Poor and rich are increasing the gap between,

Have food security has met with the increased grain produced?

No, that’s are for few rich people,

Food security can be met only with fair distribution. 

We are highly educated for a better society?

One upon a time before modern education our society was egalitarian,

Now our egalitarian society has gone and is full of social and political instability.

This is the product of education for better survival?

We are educated to understand the values

But we see values only through production function.

We are educated, we need more energy than uneducated.

Energy generation is threat to our environment.

We are educated, we need shower three times a day per head in a family.

We need twenty litters of water per flushing in our western toilet,

We are educated, we need pipe for car wash before going to office.

Why should we suck water from our precious heritage  wetlands.

Is it going to be the solution?

Why should we increase quantity

which can be solved by increasing efficiency and fairness.

Why we need to cut down the forest for Railway track.

Is it the solution to political tension of Manipur?

Is the solution to supply chain in the state?

Do we need more import without making self reliance ourselves.

Does our land less productive, without any irrigation system.

Or does bombarding with import call as development?

Railway track can also be blocked like in roads,

Then same is the case as of now or earlier.

And our environment will be destroyed,

our culture will be destroyed,

Social tension will be increased as different population increases

But all in the name of fast transport with larger freight

Which are far more than we need or which we don't need at all.

But all in the name of development.

Development is a problem !

Development involves politics,

Development involves corruption,

Development involves nepotism.

Development is a legitimate problem generator.

Speed-breakers in the Development of Manipur

I have few dreams which are constructed almost fully and few yet to be constructed, all of which are to be turned into reality in Manipur someday as my nascent thought is. Many have already turned their dreams into realities in Manipur. But most of their realities have been pulled down partially or fully by illegal gunmen or armed groups. 

And hence many buddings dreamers are not allowed psychologically to turn their dreams even when they constructed it firmly in fear of such consequences.

Likewise I am also  disturbed even at this thinking stage by these potential consequences from illegal gunmen. The State knows very well about the situation, about them, their whereabouts, but they are kept in safe in the moral that all of them cannot be killed at one time, may be blended with some communal politics, although through some monetary deal in between. Its sort of paradox the face of State is.

So, simply the base of these illegal gunmen without gun (actually gunmen are in Manipur, who appear when they feel need gun to perform commitments physically in open eye) should be first pulled down by State within the domestic itself (before Myanmar and Bangladesh), say right from Delhi to Manipur. I have mentioned Delhi here with special knowledge. They are not confined within Manipur only rather they spread across the globe. In many instances armed groups are the main source of unlicensed guns which are being used by civilians, Civil Works contractors, local political aspirants, politicians and so on.

They, the armed group of Manipur based in Delhi, and sometimes in Manipur also, should not be allowed to whiten their blacks using white material, students  to mean white material, unless they are whiten themselves in from the State. Once it is done Manipur will definitely shine in a fortnight like luminous object in a new moon night.

You may say, easier said than done, moreover I am talking from the view of close-circuit analysis. Yes, correct. But, what should be kept in mind is that everything starts from close-circuit to open-circuit. Open is real life circuit.

The society without armed groups can exist in Manipur. If it is already happened in many villages of Manipur, why not it can happen in the whole of Manipur, given that people of Manipur of all community understand that the cost of illegal gunmen incurred on civilians is more than the benefit of communal priority mindset, the mindset of communal supremacy, the mindset because of which all community set up their armed groups. 

Is the Center a hurdle in the growth of Manipur ?

It is always easy to blame others rather than looking back to self which can be one big reason of self-halting. And it is easier said than done. And there are many things that we people want in our society to change but hardly anyone check its feasibility, that I would called them as utopian expectation. Even without expecting to change that much the existing one is more than enough, kicking off the White Man ideology which is hazardous to Indian society and to the earth at aggregate.

Anyway, top down parliamentary democracy- many political philosophers says that representative form of government is the worst form of government but no better alternative for this. What more than this is democracy, which comes include the representative form of govt. or same? Representative form of govt. is down to top process while the administration of this form of govt. is top to down and this is neutralize by the form called democracy which includes every kind of freedom of the citizens and the policy called Panchayati Raj Institution, the rest are because of people who are selected but not because of the form of govt.

Rise of revolutionaries on account of merger- it is one of the most ambiguous issue in Manipur. Everybody, excluding the civilian people, protested against the merger. Those who are protesting, a group of people single minded people, claiming that the merger was not in consensus and hence not democratic. It was done at the time democracy was not internalized to the majority of people. This is not the issue. No one ask(ed) why this revolutionaries, who do not actually have any basic objective of their existence shouting for separation, and no one bother of them also. It’s good to compare the condition of Myanmar and Thailand and many similar countries with the situation what if Manipur was an independent country. I mean, what would be the position of the revolutionaries if we all were in the independent Manipur. We can check it out by the trend of their contribution so far in the soil of Manipur.  Or similarly we can ask why they want separate state while the rest of the people do not speak anything in favor of them. It will be totally wrong if we think that revolutionist know more of prediction of political situations than normal people. It’s not at all a people’s movement when people do not join it. Rather it is by a group of people for vested interest. Coup is one simple example for their vested interest.

Same is the case of AFSPA also. It is true that Act is alienating NE from the mainland but there had not been any such trend of insurgency in any state in Indian history other than in NE. And for any Govt. coercion is component to maintain internal peace.  I do not agree with the act, mainly the Section 6 which is the draconian part- “This section establishes that no legal proceeding can be brought against any member of the armed forces acting under the AFSPA, without the permission of the Central Government. This section leaves the victims of the armed forces abuses without a remedy”. The act itself is against the people, if we talk compendium to the act only. We can ask to the group of people who are protesting against it that what is their intention is to remove the Act and lead a peaceful state? If this is the answer why there had been a quantum increase of lethally violence in the Imphal area where this act was removed to check the validity of the claim from the group of people who are protesting. Mere protesting against the act is of no sense without making any commitment what they can do for the social stability in Manipur. The act is imposed by State govt. even though it is a central act. State govt. can remove it at any time. And it is on the basic humanitarian ground to put this act in Manipur rather than pushing the Manipur to the faith of Mizoram that happened couple of decades back. These all are to maintain internal peace. Yes, in context of Manipur we can blame the state as it is all because of lack of state force, we can blame why state can’t maintain its security.  And it is because of this reason state govt. put this act instead. And state do not have much money to empower the state force to tackle the mass of insurgency, which even Center took long time and spent millions of Rupees. Still it is because of the insurgency state can divert money to other development projects like Education as maximum non-planned money goes to security sector. There many false within the states itself also that take help of this AFSPA.

Liberal economic system- there is no any such system/program that fulfills all sort of problem or demand of people. This freedom of economy does make grow the economy who contributes at the national economy. And classical economists didn’t have the idea of inclusion of Indian poor who will be seriously affected as this very concept is for aggregate policy and this for global arena, but not for individual units. This is the concept of Capital approach of development. And what now emerged is that of Amartya Sen called as Capability Approach that is to create enabling factors among the people to let the people grow themselves, e.g. govt. is trying at its best to improve the health conditions and education, empowering women, Dalits, and many identities and so on. This is called as Development, which very different from Economic growth. Development includes everything, or it is another term of inclusive growth. So, we cannot say that India is not applying this new Capability approach/ inclusive growth policy. We cannot say the policy of inclusive growth and democracy, and newly decentralized form of Panchayats raj institutions are not empowering people with liberty to take decision themselves. I am not saying Govt. is doing the best, yes they are doing the best but the not accounted. Even the money is directly sent to Pradhan all of the money is diverted to his pocket. This is to some extent similar to form of Panchayats in which money was not sent direct to Pradhan, as the money is not spent on the people that mean to use for.

There are many programs in which there is no interference of dirty politics that taken up by many civil societies. And it is very hard to say people should not have politics in their mind, as politics is something comes inbuilt in human mind. We cannot change the system all at once as you have experienced about the Lokpal and RTI. Anyway, RTI has made the system transparent to a great extent than before. Yes, there are many elements in the system which itself corrupt, called as non-collusive which are very hard to detect. And another type is collusive, in which there is mutual benefit. Both these are being curbed by RTI slowly and another coming is Lokpal. So, we cannot bluntly say that we need to change the system all together, which is not possible at all in the population of 1.2 billion.

Autonomy is a broad term.  There is both advantage and disadvantage for autonomy both at micro-level and macro-level as in the case of Liberal Economic Policy, as India is equity starve country. To make it easier let me take it in context of Manipur. How much autonomy we need to run a state smoothly. Does Manipur need more autonomy than we are getting now, as special status? Yes, it is of the general perception that Center is in such a stand to make NE depends on them so that they can claim the importance of Center for NE. It may be true but there is no evidence to prove this because we are in special status. Specials status means maximum autonomy that no other state get in which we can grow in our own. We are in such a freedom that we can build our own satellite if we can like California does. All NE states are under the supervisor and management by NE Council, not center. We are getting money directly from IMF unlike other states. Because of these autonomous policies vested for NE Center do not need to pay special attention to NE. And we do not have our own resources also to attract special attention of Center also. Although we are getting money more that we can use. It is the lack within us, not the Center at all. There had not been any such incident that questioned how the central money is using by the state, other than the one recently happened in which Prime minister’s team questioned to IBOBI about the development  of Manipur. It is because of the autonomy given to us. Meaning, we are given to grow in our own. We had chosen this at the time we signed in the process of merging with Indian Union. Why Manipur do not grow is not because we do not get enough autonomy, nor we do not get enough attention from the Center but because of gross mismanagement within the state.

In order to go ahead it is always good to look back within ourselves once before complaining. We are making the need but not the solution for what we need.

Why Islamic Terrorism Arose ?

We read many research articles whose findings are obvious, many research findings of problems and issues whose solution is nowhere feasible. It seems sometimes highly educated peoples are trying to create jobs themselves.

Every organism knows why Islamic terrorist came out. Why they target only USA, but no other country. Is it because terrorist uneducated? Is it because they are in below poverty line? No, they are humiliated by USA and his allied forces. Chances are very high that Human rights violation may lead to violence retaliation but the chances for violence are very in case of poverty.

Why there is inverse relationship trend of unemployment with education in Palestine, meaning increase in unemployment as the educational level increases, is not because marginal utility for education has decreases but because of over attack Israeli forces like destroying Olive fields, demolishing houses, occupying already settled areas by demolishing houses altogether can’t make a conducive environment to run an economic business.

It’s really ridiculous to read an article on “economic aid in Islamic breeding country will help reduce breeding terrorism” in the country in which there had not been any aid so far. Why they are studying in the country, Palestine where there had not been any aid from any non-Islamic country like US rather than Pakistan where aids are going like water supply pipe. Educated are more irrational.

Is there any research that support that USA should allow to enrich nuclear in Israel and should stop in Iran? Is there any list of countries that support USA for these same acts? No, I bet. It’s only Israel and Britain.

If USA is going to use force, as declared very recently, in order to stop nuclear enrichment in Iran, the same rule should be applied to Israel also. Otherwise, it is an axiom that one must agree the discrimination by USA against Islamic countries.