The youth in Northeast India has adopted the westernised modern-day clothing and accessories as per one’s ability. This phenomenon is not only seen in their attire but also in their thoughts which is overpowered by the glamour and glitters of the cities. These young people migrate to the cities with high hopes but end up working in some petty shops to earn their livelihood.

The unemployment in the region has remains a steady phenomenon which has also forced the out-migration of the youth from the Northeast to different parts of the country. About 137.6 million youth were reportedly workers in 2011-12, accounting for 29.1 per cent of the total workforce in India (NSSO 2014).

This rural exodus has impacted the agriculture sector in a big way as nobody wanted to take over agriculture in the next generation. Neither their children nor others view agriculture as an attractive profession. Farming could not gain momentum as a profession by the youth in society. They consider this as a thankless, risky and back-breaking job which yield nothing when it comes to livelihood and sustenance. Younger generations do not want to follow their parents’ footsteps, and this pushes urbanization has led to the downgrading of traditional farming and rural life.

In the target villages of Seva Kendra Silchar (SKS) partner of Caritas India, FARM programme observed that 60% to 70% of the youths opt-out of their family traditions which depends on farming and prefer to go out and work in other parts of the country.

Dimchui Rongmei, a youth from Ramgaizang village in Barak Valley district of Assam has taken a daring step to beat the odds. He can be a role model for youth who tend to escape from agricultural activities. Dimchui, the youngest son of Phunguanpou Rongmei, an ageing and ailing but hardworking farmer from Ramgaizang used to work in his 3.5 acres farm and earn around ₹ 40,000 to 60,000 annually until his health started deteriorating. Dimimchui, the youngest boy out of his four siblings who are not interested in farming, instead wanted to work outside for the livelihoods in different states.

Dimchui also followed others and started working in Chennai for to earn his livelihood but in the last four years whenever he used to come home he used to attend different meetings organised by SKS. The organisation used to conduct different meetings, trainings for the farmers to teach good agricultural practices to boost their income, increase profitability and resilience. Dimchui used to be part of these activities whenever he was in the village for his holidays twice a year.

The farmers in his village used to motivate Dimchui to give up his job and start agriculture where he can earn ₹ 30,000 – 40,000 every month which is way above than his salary while working outside. Considering his father’s ill health, Dimchui decided to take forward the legacy of his father and started working in his farm. He also took interests in the programmes of SKS under the FARM programme. Dimchui’s urge to upscale his agricultural grew bigger and he started growing crops in different seasons. During 2018, Dimchui started getting involved in farming as he could foresee a better future ahead. He started cultivating tapioca, beans, pumpkin & other different types of seasonal vegetables as well as cash crops to generate income from his parental land. In 2019, he gained a profit of ₹ 30,000 which has motivated him to work harder for a better income in the days to come. “Being a youth, I have realized that sticking to my cultural values would go a long way to not only uphold my culture but also make a livelihood,” says Dimchui.

Youth like Dimchui are setting examples for the rest to take agriculture as a sustainably attractive profession and address their food security. In an age where social media is loaded with stories of IIT and IIM graduates abandoning their lucrative jobs and taking agriculture as a profit-making enterprise, it is equally important that the ethnic youths are given a direction and choose agriculture as a profession. Caritas India is committed to promoting the idea of involving youths in agriculture, thus motivating them to take a sustainable future in agriculture.