India

Entrepreneurs are the harbingers of a progressive society. They are the ones who shape the lifestyle of people and bring progress to a country. A couple of decades back the talk of successful entrepreneurs always gave us the picture of senior individuals who have struggled to establish a successful enterprise. But times have changed now. We can see a distinct rise in the young entrepreneurs who have brought about exemplary entrepreneurial success. Some interesting facts have been highlighted by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2022/2023, it says younger people are still more likely than older adults to be starting new businesses. The TEA rate of the 18–34 age group exceeded that of the 35–64 age group in 37 of the 49 economies in the GEM APS. The GEM report was prepared on the basis of interviews with over 175,000 individuals and experts from 51 economies, the report tracks the percentage of adults who are starting or running a new business (referred to as Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity or TEA). India has seen a year-on-year surge in the number of entrepreneurs. The Government on 08th Feb 2023 said the number of recognized startups has increased from 445 in 2016 to 86 thousand 713 in 2022. It is also found that a lot of the successful start-ups are run by young entrepreneurs who have become a source of inspiration to young Indians. Indeed, the success stories of Zepto, Upgrad, Cred, Zerodha etc. are truly inspirational with all of these being brilliantly run by young entrepreneurs. Like the rest of the country, Assam is waking up to the idea of entrepreneurship. Many young educated individuals are taking up entrepreneurship as a conscious career choice. As of February 2022, Assam has 499 Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recognized start-ups. BlueWhale, PicklnDel, Olatus Systems etc. have been some of the promising start-ups from the state of Assam. The growth in entrepreneurial enthusiasm among young Indians can also be attributed to the consistent efforts of the Government schemes that have been initiated from time to time. These Government schemes have acted as a catalyst among the youngsters motivating them to embark on the altogether risky proposition of entrepreneurship. Some of the Government of India’s Schemes for entrepreneurs are: Startup India Scheme • Mudra Yojana Scheme • Stand-Up India Scheme • Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) • Electronic Development Fund (EDF) • Pradhan Mantri Mudra Loan Yojana (PMMY). Similarly, on the state level, the Government of Assam also has brought out schemes like ---the Sarothi Startup Loan Scheme for new entrepreneurs in the State. This scheme is also known as the Chief Minister’s Startup Fund – Sarothi. Here let us look at the entrepreneurial journey of a successful entrepreneur from Assam—Dr Jaya Bhattacharjee. Dr Jaya Bhattacharjee is a young free spirited successful entrepreneur from Assam who has been able to create a niche for herself in the education and healthcare industry. She started with the Gurukul Kids, a chain of concept pre-schools in 2016. Soon the pre-schools branched with a host of franchisees all across North East. She is also a trustee to Kaziranga English Medium school. Strongly rooted on Indian value system the Gurukul Kids school has been imparting modern education to the tiny toddlers equipping them with the Indian values and love for learning. Apart from the above-mentioned educational institutions that she has founded and is associated with, she is also associated with Gurukul Vidya Mandir High School. Some years later she ventured into the healthcare sector becoming the head and master franchisee of North Eastern region of Ziagnosis (a diagnostic lab) Delhi, an initiative of AIIMS Delhi alumni. Dr Jaya has been awarded for her successful entrepreneurial journal and above all, being a visionary seeking to create jobs and wealth for the society in the North East India. She got recognitions from FICCI Flo and Byatikram to name a few. Indeed, Dr Jaya’s journey can be an inspiration to the youth of North East India. An epitome of strong determination Jaya truly represents the indomitable spirit of young Indians. I would like to put up to the young readers that the growth of knowledge, economy and the dynamics of information technological changes along with every changing legal provisions of business, entrepreneurs too must focus on academic upskilling. The importance of contemporary skills in the professional domain are being recognized like never before. Niche areas of expertise seem to be coming up every now and then. This makes it imperative for all of us who wish to succeed to upskill ourselves with latest areas of domain expertise that would help in career growth as success in entrepreneurial ventures. Upskilling proves that you are a ready learner. Adding a new skill also seems to help in keeping the creative passion in place. There are indeed a lot of successful entrepreneurs who have not acquired complete academic qualifications but many a times these entrepreneurs have conveyed their regret at not having a higher formal qualification. One such example is the case of Dhirubhai Ambani who as reported in Mumbai Mirror in an article of 23rd February 2011 ‘New Ambani on the block’ that “It’s a well-known fact that Dhirubhai always regretted not being able to get higher education because he felt that with it, he could have gone much farther and much faster”. Similarly, more recently Gautam Adani the billionaire businessman from India shared in a television interview that “reflecting on my life and the different turns it has taken, I believe that I would have benefited if I had completed my college education.” Thus, all young people who want to become entrepreneurs must also acquire academic acumen. These days there are excellent incubation centers in academic institutions to facilitate the entrepreneurial dreams of students. The incubation centre at IIT Guwahati has been doing an excellent job in this regard. IITG-TIC is also one of the Business Incubators approved and recognized by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Govt. of India. The Technology Development Board, under the Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, has also approved grant assistance to IITG-TIC to support Start-ups units. IITG-TIC has a Seven-member Governing Body under the Chairmanship of the Director of IIT Guwahati. A Management Council directs and administers the smooth functioning of the IITG-TIC. Currently, the Management Team of the IITG-TIC is led by a Chief Executive Officer. Some more popular incubation centers in North East India are: 1. Technology Incubation Center, Mushroom Culture & Farming—Assam 2. Total Start Sikkim Innovation & Incubation Center--Sikkim 3. Centre of Excellence for Entrepreneurship, (Youthnet), Kohima--Nagaland 4. Mizoram University-Incubation Centre--Mizoram 5. R-ABI College of Veterinary Science, CAU, Imphal--Manipur 6. North- Eastern Hill university Design Innovation Centre (D.I.C)--Meghalaya 7. I-CUBE (Entrepreneurs Club) IIM Shilong--Meghalaya 8. Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD)--Assam 9. Kaziranga University Business Incubation Centre--Assam 10. Entrepreneurship Development and Incubation Centre (EDIC) Assam Don Bosco University--Assam These incubations are sure to facilitate the growth development of larger number of entrepreneurs in North East India and along with the government initiative drive the entrepreneurial spirit of the youth from North East. We can well expect that the day is not far when North East will be at par with the rest of the country in having many success stories of entrepreneurs’ worth emulating. Dr Sarmistha Sarma Professor at Asian Business school, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
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