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It is the government's way of discouraging young men and women from the troubled states of the northeast region from picking up arms against them. They have finalised a scheme in which skill development will be promoted among the youth and sports will be promoted as means of employment.
In his first conference after assuming the role of Union minister for state for youth affairs and sports, Ajay Maken focused on developing skills among the youth in the northeast region, keeping sports as a focal point.
The workshop, titled 'Youth and sports development in the Northeastern Region' is the first of the several ones Maken's ministry has in store as a part of their special scheme, in which they will engage the youth from troubled areas like the northeast, Jammu and Kashmir and Naxal affected areas.
Maken said that this will help in countering terrorism and insurgency.
"43 per cent of the population in the northeast is between the age group of 14-35. The region has the power of the youth, but somehow, we have not been able to do justice in utilizing this power. We have improved a lot, the number of medals at international events has gone up and we have made a sprout, but there is so much more we can do. We have infrastructure -- both completed and ongoing, which are not being utilised fully. We have schemes for the whole country, but we need schemes for the northeast and Naxal affected tribal areas to bring the youth to the fore," Maken told rediff.com.
The new sports minister said that the scheme will divide the country into four parts -- the northeast, Jammu and Kashmir, Tribal areas and the rest of the country.
Abhijit Rai, the Officer on Special Duty to Maken told rediff.com, "The scheme was announced by the minister about a week ago. This conference is the first in the series of workshops we have planned to address the issue of terrorism and insurgency in troubled areas. We are looking to engage the youth with sports by turning it into an industry."
"We are looking at sports to create jobs. In affected regions, we will also increase quotas for jobs. We can also announce life-long-supporting sports scholarships and facilitate the creation of sports industries in the region. Sports culture is slowly coming to India and in the northeast, certain sports like football is already popular."
Saying that more than 90 per cent of students linked with government youth centers have been placed, Maken said that his ministry has decided to enroll and develop 1.7 lakh National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers in the region, a lakh more than the previous figure.
Ministers of youth affairs and MPs from all the states of the region interacted with Maken in the daylong conference, outlining the troubles their states faced in promoting sports.
Parliamentary Secretary for Sports & Youth Affairs in Arunachal Pradesh, Wangki Lowang told rediff.com,