One possible way to address youth unemployment is to support young people in creating their own businesses, Governor Banwarilal Purohit said.
“They (entrepreneurs) have the interest and potential to become self-employed. Hence, encouraging entrepreneurship in young people is an important way of harnessing their enthusiasm, energy and ambition to contribute to economic development,” he said while addressing budding entrepreneurs at the International Mentoring Summit, “Empowering Young Grampreneurs to Create Jobs” organised by the Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST) in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The Governor quoted the World Bank’s World Development Report 2013, which mentions that around 600 million new jobs will be required in the next 15 years to support a growing workforce. “In India alone, the facts and figures on growing unemployment are truly staggering,” he said.
Empowering youth
Lakshmi V. Venkatesan, Founding and Managing Trustee, BYST, the brainchild behind this venture, said BYST strongly felt the need to empower youth and create an eco-system for entrepreneurship not just in big cities but in small villages as well. “BYST-trademarked Grampreneurs from the smallest towns and villages have the untapped potential to create jobs and solve the problem of joblessness,” she said.
“Our aim is to take as many ideas and convert them into thriving businesses,” she added
The event saw an interesting panel discussion on mentoring where achievers from different walks of life shared their experiences.
This session was moderated by N. Ram, Chairman, The Hindu Publishing Group, who threw a volley of questions to the speakers and asked the audience about the rewards a good mentor gets. Ashwin Mahalingam, Associate Professor at IIT-M, highlighted how in some cases mentors have to be mentored on how to mentor.
During the valedictory session, Suresh Krishna, Chairman and Managing Director of Sundaram Fasteners Ltd., said mentoring others helps one to realise the power he or she has.
Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, said that the Government of Tamil Nadu has been in the forefront of promoting entrepreneurship and the evidence is in the establishment of the Entrepreneurship Development Institute.
The programme saw the exchange of MoUs between the Indian Bank and the Bhartiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST), Women Corporations, Government of Tamil Nadu, and the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Youth Development. Silver jubilee awards were presented to three of the best-performing ‘grampreneurs.’ Kalaiselvan, a Siddha doctor, bagged the first prize for developing a low-cost mosquito protection suit for employees on night duty. Panimalar, a student of Loyola college, was given the second prize for making cups out of coconut shells. Vivek, a final year Computer Science Engineering student from SA Engineering College, Chennai, who won the third prize, is developing security-enabled smart mirrors for the physically disabled and senior citizens.
