6 Reasons Why Seeking Government Jobs is a Stereotype in Nagaland

Have you ever wondered why parents and most other people in Nagaland urge their sons, daughters, brothers and sisters to dream of, work for, and aspire only for one thing- GOVERNMENT JOBS? Well, if you are born and brought up in Nagaland, that wouldn’t be a new thing. ‘Coz that’s part of “normal” now.

More often than not, by the time you are about to finish your studies and till a few weeks after it, you get a feeling that you can achieve almost anything in this world, and in most cases, seeking a government job is not in the list. Then you start to meet people- elders, relatives- and your parents start to be more open about what they want you to do, and in no time you find yourself aspiring for government jobs and feeling the same exact thing as the mainstream idea.

                But it’s time we all try and analyse what may have triggered this hereditary chain of aspiration among us Nagas, particularly our parents and elders. Maybe they are not to be fully blamed after all. Maybe they were just caught in the system.

                I have tried to discover and analyse certain points based on facts and personal opinions through experience. In this article, we will walk through a few points that probably may have been the reasons why seeking Government jobs has become a stereotype in this beautiful place called NAGALAND.

1)     

The point that I would like to place at the foremost is The Effect of Colonial Era. It has not been very long since our elders had witnessed the might and status of the people with authoritative power- the ones with the government- during the colonial period. To be precise, we are only the third generation since then. They witnessed that anyone who got into the administrative sector, or came already being in it, suddenly enjoyed unmatched authority, overwhelming respect and a more luxurious life. Since then, they began to teach their children the great virtues of being a part of it.

2)    

  Economic liberalisation in 1991. It has only been 26 years since this historic shift of the Indian economy had taken place. Post 1991(which is around the time when most of our elders faced the ‘way of life’), there were hardly any privately owned companies and enterprises. What were not within the ambit of the government were too small and fetched too little. Today a person can start or join any kind of jobs or businesses and the only limitation is the will itself. But back then, with mammoth tax rates, strict regulation of markets and almost zero foreign investment, there were hardly any Indian or transnational companies that they could think of resorting to. At this time, when they witnessed some fellow Nagas get into government service, they worshipped their fate. After all these, it is obvious that some of these proceedings would remain engraved in their instincts.

3)      This point is something you all must have heard in first person at least once in your life- Job Security. 

Parents and elders observed and realised that on many occasions people working for private entities had to work harder but at the same time, remain uncertain about how long they are going to hold their jobs. But as for those within the government sector, they could skip work or sweat less [highly discouraged] and nothing was going to happen to them. This still somehow prevails in the system today and is, fortunately or unfortunately, one of the biggest sources of attraction towards the government sector services.

4)     

Another reason we can add here would be the Salary and Allowances of a government servant. In today’s case, we can totally argue and win over the fact that there are more private companies willing to pay better that the PSUs/the government. For example, I have my own cousin working for a private multi-national telecom company who receives allowances and salary more than double the amount that most government officers receive. But it wasn’t the same picture even till a few years back. Almost all private sector jobs provided no allowances and the salary was way too disgruntling for the amount of work one was assigned to do. Even today, there are several areas where you can find this disadvantageous side of being in the private sector. One example would be the education sector- I have seen a private high school pay their teachers as low as 4,000rs (note: it’s a school in our state’s commercial city), and teaching at the same level, teachers at government schools receive about 30,000rs. These circumstances are not difficult to escape the attention of the general public and violà! Generalisation and misconception created.

5)    

  As for seeking a government job, what is basically required is only labour, and less or no monetary investment (as opposed to starting a private business where you usually need both). Right now let’s forget about the illegal way of getting into government sector through bribery. When you decide to be in the government sector, you go through a recruitment process that either requires you to be physically suitable or be intellectually capable, or both- along with whatever level of academic performance that is required depending upon the posts. On the other hand, when you decide to work as a private sector entity, especially in business line, you approach your parents or elders to tell that what you have decided to do- because usually you can’t start it on your own. Now, the average Naga families’ economic status being in between middle to poor class, they ponder upon the risk that you are going to put your investment into. And in most cases, your ambition is turned down. Even here it appears that going for a government job seems to be more risk-proof than starting a business.

6)    

  The Domino Effect:

It is a widely known observation in Nagaland that when a member of a family gets into the government sector, it becomes natural for another member to follow up soon- though there may or may not be a compromise on the moral factor. I would like to term this phenomenon as the domino effect. As Wikipedia defines, a domino effect or chain reaction is the cumulative effect produced when one event sets off a chain of similar events. In Nagaland, whether you like it or not, it has become a sort of a culture for a person in a high ranking post within the Government sector to incorporate more employees from within his family, clan or village. This practice is highly objectionable and worrisome for our society as a whole. But somewhere within the same society, there are expectations and wishes for that very culture to go on. We cannot totally blame them, but our elders may find it difficult to let go of that hope culture. On the other hand, even when there is no compromise on any moral value, it becomes natural for a person to have the upper hand in exams or other recruitment processes, if he/she has a family that is already serving in the post or higher. Though this point may be objectionable to some, it definitely deserves a place in this list as it finds place in the general observation too.

There ends the list of possible causes that led to the situation we are in today. Thanks to the Hill Cabs app guys, this article started out initially after a deep thought that struck my mind about what must’ve gone wrong, when I went through the article about how these two talented friends were hell-bent on breaking this unruly stereotypical attachment towards government jobs alone. After reading this blog, I hope there would at least be a balance between partially blaming our elders on this and partially accepting the fact that they were also just caught in the system. This blog wasn’t to discourage anyone from discontinuing your aspirations for government jobs, if you had any. In fact, I myself aspire to become a civil servant one day. But it is to let you all know that, while we can’t be blaming our parents or elders on being stereotypical, we all have been offered wide open doors for many other careers and opportunities outside government sector too. It just requires some courage, consistency, awareness, curiosity and faith in oneself. Put your everything even if it is on something that is very small today. We learn as the process proceeds. Nobody starts a journey pre-planned till the very end. If you have something going on in your head right now, plan about how you are going to place your right foot for the first step. Because, trust me, sometimes a leap of faith is all it takes. All the best.

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