Nagaland youth jobless rate at 17.5%, nearly double India's: Chief Secy

Nagaland's youth unemployment rate is 17.5%, against 9.9% for India as a whole, Chief Secretary Sentiyanger Imchen said on Friday as he urged colleges and universities to shift towards job-oriented courses.

Imchen was delivering the keynote at a one-day consultative seminar on "Emerging Trends: Introduction and Realising Potential", organised by the Department of Higher and Technical Education at the IT and Communication department's conference hall in Kohima on 30 October, according to the state DIPR and The Morung Express.

The numbers he cited

Quoting the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for March 2026, Imchen said unemployment in the 15-59 age group was 7.3% in Nagaland compared with 3.5% nationally. For young people aged 15-29, the gap was wider: 17.5% in the state against 9.9% in the country.

Citing the state's "Unemployment, Skill and Migration in Nagaland 2025" report, he said 92% of residents had no formal vocational or technical training and 78% had no previous work experience, The Morung Express reported.

He also pointed to shrinking government hiring. Recruitment to state services through the Nagaland Staff Selection Board and the Nagaland Public Service Commission was 845 in 2024 and 589 in 2025, he said, far below the number of people looking for jobs.

'A skills gap'

Imchen said families in Nagaland have long put a premium on education, often taking loans to send children to college in the hope of a government job. But many graduates had theoretical knowledge without the practical skills employers want, a mismatch he described as the skills gap the state now faces.

He said education was changing faster than at any time since the Industrial Revolution, driven by technology, climate change, demographic shifts and the move to a green economy. For decades, he noted, academic degrees were seen as more prestigious than vocational trades, and that bias had fed the problem.

Courses he wants on offer

The Chief Secretary pointed to programmes that leading institutions such as IITs, NITs and IIMs are expanding: data science and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital and forensic sciences, fintech and digital marketing, as well as energy science and renewable energy. He also mentioned interdisciplinary and applied professional courses as a growing area.

He asked higher education institutions in the state to bring in such courses, build links with industry and focus on hands-on learning so that students leave with skills that match the job market.

Educationists, university representatives and officials from the department took part in the seminar. The government did not announce any specific new course or scheme at the event.