PATHANAMTHITTA: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, MP, has said that the high unemployment rate in Kerala is the main reason for the migration of youths to other states and countries. He was speaking at Yuva Maramon meeting held as part of the Maramon Convention on the topic ‘Youths and Migration’ in Pathanamthitta on Saturday.
“We should create new employment opportunities in the state. Kerala should also become an investment-friendly state. Investors are wary of strikes and hartals in Kerala. We can draw more investments by becoming a hartal-free state. Only 2,000 factories were set up in Kerala in the past 15 years while one lakh factories are being set up in the country annually. In Tamil Nadu, 17,784 factories were set up in a year,” he said.
Noting that female candidates outnumber male job aspirants in employment exchanges, Tharoor sought more employment opportunities for women.
He said youngsters should be given opportunities in politics to do their best. “We have the largest gap between the average age of the population and the average age of the cabinet. In India, the population’s average age is 28 and the cabinet’s average age is 63. This gap cannot be seen in any other country,” he said. At least five seats should be reserved for youths below the age of 30 in Parliament. Kerala can also think about such a move, he said.
Speaking about the migration of students from Kerala to abroad, he said school education in Kerala is the best in the country. “But, there is a mismatch between what the education system does and what our job system seeks. Teachers should not teach students what to think. Instead, they should teach them how to think. In the 21st century, we do not need a well-filled mind. We need a well-formed mind. If you teach children how to think, they will face problems with confidence and move forward,” he said.