EMPLOYMENT GENERATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Ms Priyanka Upadhyay and Mr Prassan Sharma from Dronacharya Group of Institutions, Greater Noida attended the annual summit conducted by ESDA.

About ESDA :

ESDA (Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Association) plays an influential role in creating and sustaining an ecosystem in which skill development and entrepreneurship flourish. ESDA provides the resource, knowledge and supporting platform that is vital for growth in effective employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. ESDA has established ESD Cell inside the campus of the technical Institutions to impart the training and development on entrepreneurship and skill development effectively.

Having secured a unique position at a national level, ESDA is able to pro - actively convey industry viewpoints, and communicate and debate issues relating to public - private partnerships for economic development.

Industry - Academia Partnerships :

One of the approaches to tackle the problem of lacking job readiness in the Indian IT sector is partnerships between the industry and academia. Many IT companies are partnering with engineering colleges and universities. Infosys has launched a program called 'Campus Connect' to align the education being given at various engineering colleges, with the requirements of the industry. Many multinationals have also established alliances with academic institutions on specific initiatives covering faculty upgradation, internships, curriculum revision workshops, research incubation, etc. aggregating the architects of the new global economy.

Keynote Speakers at Annual Summit :

Mr. Sanjay Kumar (Chairman, ESDA), one of eminent speaker at the annual Summit, gave lecture on Youth Development. He said Skilling and Entrepreneurship complete each other! Skills are fundamental to, but not sufficient for, gaining decent jobs. Improved productivity through skill development must be complemented by economic growth and employment opportunities. They are, collectively, a prerequisite to the Government's pursuit of holistic development of the nation.

The Ministry under its mandate, therefore, not only focuses on skilling but also guides the entrepreneurship movement in the country for speedy reorganization of the entrepreneurship ecosystem. This will ensure sufficient employment opportunities for the skilled workforce. Unleashed entrepreneurship, besides employment generation, will also utilize the youth power for productivity improvement and wealth creation; thus, stimulating equitable development and a sustainable path for decent livelihood creation for the country. Technology and resources have to be judiciously harnessed to achieve the same. Furthermore, endeavors need to be aligned to ensure the outreach of opportunities and services to the bottom of the economic pyramid, facilitated by enterprises.

Mr. Sanjay Kumar, said the traditional school of thought had been thinking that “entrepreneurs are born and not made”. The modern observation has been that some entrepreneurs may be born but a large number of them can be educated, trained and made.

Mr. Anand Sahu, Chief Guest for the annual summit emphasized on importance of Innovation. Innovation is the process and outcome of creating something new, which is also of value. Innovation involves the whole process from opportunity identification, ideation or invention to development, prototyping, production marketing and sales, while entrepreneurship only needs to involve commercialization. Today it is said to involve the capacity to quickly adapt by adopting new innovations (products, processes, strategies, organization, etc) where as traditionally the focus has been on new products or processes. Recently new business models have come into focus. Mr Anand Sahu said innovation can happen anywhere , when people connect beyong technology.

Mr. Puneet Pandey (Vice President- HR, HCL Technologies), Entrepreneurs are not only born but can also be trained and developed. Entrepreneur can be developed through training, education and development. Inculcating entrepreneurial skills for setting up and operating business enterprise can be called development of entrepreneurs. He basically focused how entrepreneurship can be taught, how one can think of starting of a small business to employ others and what steps should be taken by government for generating employment.

Launching of 3 I’s Vision : Industry - Institution - Individual

3I’s Vision is a metaphysical concept which talks about the third eye, which is situated at the Agyaya Chakra between the two eyebrows on the forehead. It is said to be the executive controller of Mind and Body of a person. It is also the link between behavior and thoughts. The seat of emotional Intelligence. 3 I’s stands for (Industry - Institutions - Individual), which believes in the focal point of institutional teaching and industrial values is an empowered individual and awareness has to be inculcated in individual to function at its highest potential.

The summit was concluded with Award Distribution ceremony and launching of 3I’s vision. The program was highly informative and provided enriching experience to the participant. This Annual Summit aimed at motivating potential candidates to transform from job seekers to job creators, Influencing the potential candidates to take up entrepreneurship as their career and enabling potential candidates to acquire entrepreneurial qualities.