By Tricitynews Reporter
Chandigarh
13th November:- Embarking on an ambitious mission to
empower Indian youth with skill training and employability, the Ministry of
Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE)today hosted the National
Entrepreneurship Awards 2017, marking the completion of three
glorious years of its inception today. The awards were conferred in the
august presence of Arun Jaitley, Minister
of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs, Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of
Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship,
His Excellency Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India, Dr K.P Krishnan,
Secretary, MSDE; Jyotsna Sitling, Joint Secretary, MSDE, Sunita Chhibba, Senior
Adviser and Ms Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Bank
Ltd.
The National Entrepreneurship Awards
(NEA) was instituted by MSDE in 2016 to encourage a culture of entrepreneurship
across the country. This year the second edition of awards were conducted which
saw participation from 2880 applicants out of which 45 were shortlisted; and
finally 15 winners across defined categories, were announced and awarded.
Congratulating all the entrepreneurs recognized
by MSDE in the 2nd version of the awards this year highlighting the challenges
of limited job creation capacity,
Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, said that India
has a much younger population versus other advance economies. These are a huge
opportunity for us to scale up and skill our workforce and reap our demographic
dividend and service economies. Conventionally our focus was on awarding
degrees with always a debate on how we link them to jobs. Over a period of time
we have realized that we need to skill our youth for these jobs.
He further added that conventionally
people were skilled according to their communities but as economies develop and
there is advent of technology, we need to realize the importance of reskilling
and upskilling, to bridge the demand supply gap. As the economy expands, a
specialized skilled workforce is the need to the hour.
He said further that the Strength of
India’s economy will be entrepreneurship. We have to ensure that we do not
restrict the youth. We let them unleash their energy, allow them to move away
from the beaten track and build new ideas for the new India.
Speaking on the occasion Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum
and Natural Gas and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said
that India has become an emerging market for global investors and
entrepreneurship can majorly contribute to the country’s economy. Skill
development and entrepreneurship form the basis for the growth of any country.
Our endeavour is to empower our youth and equip them with the right skill sets
and create a conducive environment to help them build sustainable business
solutions/model. In the years to come, entrepreneurship will be the key to
attain a double-digit GDP.
He added that stable business
environment, market-oriented reforms like raising of FDI caps, implementation
of GST, and key initiatives like Make in India, Mudra Yojana, Stand up India
and Start Up India are encouraging aspiring and ambitious Indians. The youth
should leverage them.
The core committee of implementing
partners of NEAS2017 comprised of the seven premier institutes which oversaw
the scheme implementation. These institutes included- Indian Institute of
Technology Delhi; Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur; Indian Institute of
Technology Bombay; Indian Institute of Technology Madras; Indian Institute of
Management Ahmedabad; XLRI Jamshedpur; Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)
Mumbai. The first National Entrepreneurship Awards Ceremony was held last year
where Rajnath Singh, Minister for Home Affairs.
Winners were given a cash award of Rs
5 lakh (enterprises and individuals) and Rs. 10 lakh (organizations/institutes)
along with a certificate and trophy recognising their efforts of being the
change agents in India’s development. The national jury for NEA 2017 includes
eminent persons drawn from academia/research, industry, social sector, banking
etc.
The foundation day ceremony was well
attended by senior delegates from the ministry, members of the Skill Sector
Councils, leaders from Corporate India; successful and budding entrepreneurs
among others.
Sharing his message, Anantkumar Hegde, Minister of State,
MSDE shared that for thousands of years, the nation’s economy was
run on what our people made or produced with their hands – be it clothing from
weavers or items from potters and blacksmiths or produce from farmers. All
these were based on the inherent entrepreneurship capabilities of the people of
our great land. It is this entrepreneurial spirit the Government aims to tap
into and bring the best out of our people. To achieve this goal, numerous
programs have been launched encouraging entrepreneurship, including funding
programs and other initiatives that can handhold entrepreneurs during the early
years.
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