It was while working for the Indian public when the country was badly hit by COVID-19 virus that it dawned upon Bharat Bhushan Arora, MD of Bharat Prakashan, that something concrete needs to be done on a fast track mode to mitigate the suffering of such a large number of people. The result was that Samarth Bharat was born. Samarth Bharat is engaged in expanding skill development efforts in India by creating an outcome-focused implementation framework for employers. In a way, it is working for 360-degree development of economically and socially deprived classes.
Throwing light on how he worked round-the-clock to normalise things for the people, especially economically marginalised families, Shri Arora, who is also Chief Visionary and Patron of Samarth Bharat, said, “During the pandemic, we ran kitchens for two months to feed the public. It was a difficult phase yet we succeeded in distributing food to 1 crore people and gave rations to 2 lakhs families. However, I asked myself how long we can keep distributing food? We need to do something more as a lot of people have become jobless. Many sectors, including hospitality, were badly affected.”
Pointing out that many people, who lost their livelihood, are now earning good money, Shri Arora, who put his life at risk by venturing out of home almost on a daily basis, said, “We laid emphasis on skill development. Thanks to skill development, Kiran, a girl who lost her father, is now earning Rs 20,000. These children are before my eyes.”
Now, these children are earning from Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000, said Shri Arora, while articulating how social engineering was necessary to bring about a change in society at an event titled “Lead The Future”, in which Delhi University and Samarth Bharat launched Career Development Centre (CDC) at Convention Hall of DU on Tuesday. CDC seeks to create a start-up support ecosystem in colleges with guidance for idea and start-up launch, incubation centre connect, pitch development and investor tie-ups.
The event saw a large turn-up of prospective entrepreneurs dreaming of starting their own startups. They listened with rapt attention to the success stories of entrepreneurs, some young and others with plenty of experience. All of them gave valuable lessons on how to climb the ladder of success.
Describing the event as an important one, Prof Yogesh Singh, Delhi University Vice-Chancellor said, Career Development Centre was started by Samarth Bharat, which has created a start-up support ecosystem that will introduce young minds to skill development.
“This is the centenary year of Delhi University and we are celebrating 70 years of our Independence. On behalf of Delhi University, I welcome you all. Your presence influences young minds,” said the DU Vice-Chancellor.
Recalling a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor of Yale University in 2011, Prof Yogesh Singh said, “I was invited by the Vice Chancellor. He was worried about the future of young entrepreneurs in the US as the manufacturing units had shifted elsewhere. I thought if America was having a problem from becoming a world leader then we, too, need to give equal importance to manufacturers. We need to imbibe originality, creativity and imagination.”
He stressed the importance of skill development and having the right mindset to bring about a change.
people.
Revealing that he was an alumnus of Delhi University, Sanjeev Bhikhchandani of Naukri.com said he began working after graduating in 1984. “Looking back, I can say that it has been 39 years of evolution. During my time, there was neither the IT sector nor the Internet. Telecompany or mobile apps were non-existent. Fortunately, we have now witnessed tremendous growth.”
Shri Bhikhchandani broke the myth that an entrepreneur needs to have a lot of money before embarking on any project. “No venture capital is needed. Take the case of Zomato, which started its business with a motorcycle but is now a listed company.”
His advice to the young audience was to dream big but start small.
Challenging the traditional way of earning livelihood, speaker after speaker emphasised the need for youngsters to become job providers rather than job seekers.
Underlining the need for running one’s own private venture, Ruchi Kalra, co-founder of Oxyzo, said, “Apna Kam” is the theme today. It was said by the Principal of a school.” She called upon young entrepreneurs to work with conviction and not be a prototype of somebody.
Ending on a pragmatic note, Ruchi said, “Once you start running your start-up, not everything will be well defined. So you have to define things. In three years, you should be raising capital. Only then, growth can be exponential. Remember, it is not about you but about others.”
Abhishek Sinha, co-founder and CEO of Eko India Financial Services, urged young entrepreneurs to keep their creativity alive.
Speaking on a hypothetical note, he said, “If I become 20-years- old again, I would like to devote my whole day to creative indulgence. So, the youth has to break norms and be fearless.”
Anubhav Dubey, CEO of Chai, Sutta Bar, explained how his pitaji (father) pinned high hopes on him after his aggregate in Class VIII was 96 per cent. “Pitaji wanted me to crack the UPSC. But I couldn’t fulfil his dream,” said this young entrepreneur, who has sort of created a revolution in expanding his tea-chain in offshore destinations.
Amidst loud laughter from the audience, Anubhav, said in cities, children call their paterfamilias as father, but in our part we call him baap.
Explaining how he has succeeded in creating employment generation, Anubhav said, “Two thousand five hundred families are now making Kulhads. We have 470 shops and five lakh Kulhads are made. So, you have to respect the market and start young.”
Ramesh Agarwal, Chairman, Agarwal Packers & Movers, devoted most of his speech on why and how he made the switch from an Airman to an entrepreneur.
Balasubramaniam of Ken 42, said today it is not about employability but also deployability.
