CONCLAVE ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP

A one day Conclave on Entrepreneurship was organized by AICTE in coordination with MHRD on 19th September, 2014 at Hotel Ashok, Delhi. Prof. DV Bhise, Head of the Department, Mechanical Engineering, Dronacharya Group of Institutions, Greater Noida participated in the conclave.

The objective of the conclave was to discuss the relevance and importance of ‘Entrepreneurship’, Start  ups and incubation centers in Academic Institutions.

HRD Minister, Govt. of India, Smt. Smriti Irani inaugurated the Conclave. Sh. Ashok Thakur, Secretary (Higher Education), MHRD, Govt. of India, presided over function. Prof. S.S. Mantha, Chairman, AICTE and Prof. Avinash S. Pant, Vice-Chairman, AICTE, Shri. R.P. Sisodiya, Joint Secretary, MHRD and other Senior Officials of MHRD & AICTE were present at the occasion. The conclave was attended by Chairmans, Vice Chancellors, Directors, and senior faculty members of the Technical Institutes.

Addressing the conclave, the HRD Minister Smt. Smriti Irani lauded the efforts done by IITs for development of Technical Education in the Country and said that Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are ranked fourth on a list of 50 best entrepreneurial undergraduate institutes in the world. The minister stressed upon the need to inculcate an Entrepreneurship mindset in students. The minister also referred to a study done by a research firm that found that the IITs had a total of 264 entrepreneurs, who have founded 205 companies and cumulatively raised USD 3.15 billion. 

Smt. Irani highlighted efforts done by HRD Ministry to improve quality of technical education in the country. She said that her ministry is working on revamping the curriculum and pedagogy in line with current industry need. This will enable our students market-ready not just domestically but also internationally, she said.

The inaugural program was followed by Technical Sessions and panel discussions.

Four Technical Sessions were organized during the conclave:

Session I was on Govt. Policies, Programs and Opportunities in Different Sectors:-

Padma Shri Prof. (Dr.) Pritam Singh, Director General, IMI in his address requested AICTE to fund good private sector institutes generously rather than Govt. institutes. Prof. Singh said majority of the institutions are in private sector and so it will motivate these institutes to work efficiently in the area of entrepreneurship development.  He also requested institutes to focus on Social Innovation to uplift rural development in the country.

Prof. (Dr.) S S Mantha, Chairman AICTE showcased opportunities available in IT sector and urged institutes to generate at least one start up from one institute. He said that from these start ups can help in Job creation for Indian youth. He also referred the need of Skill development through Vocational Education & Training for making our youth self reliant.    

In Session II Mr. Subhash Ghai, Director Whistling Woods International Institute, Mumbai expressed the need of Transformational Change in the attitude towards entrepreneurship in India. Mr. Ghai said that academic community must adopt Skill base approach rather than Memory base approach towards studies. He quoted his own example while discussing todays memory based examination system.

Mr. Dilip Cherian, Founder and Consulting Partner, Perfect Relations, focused attention on flexibility of vocational training to solve rural development challenges in the country. Mr. Cherian said innovation clusters should be developed to stimulate entrepreneurship quality. He said Indian youth should be trained for fulfilling Indian need.

Mr. Ajay Chowdhry – Founder HCL India and Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Patna, discussed the need of Entrepreneurship education and Training for Indian youth. He said innovation of any sort must be encouraged at institute level because innovation and Entrepreneurship goes hand-in-hand. He referred work done by him at IIT Hyderabad towards Step by Step Program on entrepreneurship. He urged the institutes to start a course on entrepreneurship from III year of engineering.

Prof. Anil Wali, MD, Innovation & Tech. Incubation Centre, IIT Delhi said that India is a hostile habitat for Entrepreneurs. Prof. Wali said entrepreneurs are made and not born. A systematic approach should be adopted for cultivating the growth mindset in students. He quoted approach of US government towards failure in business, where Govt. helps for failed ventures and where failure is celebrated as good as success. He said fear of failure must be addressed properly by the government.

The conclave was also addressed by other successful Entrepreneurs in various sectors from across the Country. In concluding session Prof. A. S. Pant, Vice Chairman, AICTE urged institutes to encourage opportunity entrepreneurship rather than necessity entrepreneurship. Prof. Pant said focus should be shifted from Training and Placement in institutes to Entrepreneurship development. Focus should be on Job Creators than Job seekers. Finally it was mutually agreed upon to speed up establishment of entrepreneurship cell in the institutes to change entrepreneurial mindset of students.

The conclave ended on a note that Educationist can run the nation by putting in all efforts to cultivate the growth mindset in Indian youth. 

The deliberations of the conclave shall bring in the much desired change in the entrepreneurial mindset in the country and student entrepreneurs shall be made successfully.