“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life, dream of it, think of it, and live on that idea. Let the brain, the body, muscles, nerves, and every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone” That Ideation Process is — Startup India movement.
As of now, Bharat has surpassed China in population, and we have become the world’s largest populated country with a population of more than 140 crores. In terms of economy or GDP, we are in 5th position.
After the initiative is taken by our honourable Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, we are eying Bharat as Viksit Bharat by 2047.
If we analyse the countries that use economic or GDP terms, we will see that deeply engraved Startup orstartupreneurial mindset development ecosystems in their universities.
After joining as an assistant professor at Government Engineering College, Aurangabad, Bihar or even after taking charge of the Startup cell, I can assure you that the role of technical colleges will be extremely important for achieving the Sankalp of Viksit Bharat.
As India has approx. More than 9000 technical colleges. Each college at a time consists of 1000 students across different technical specialisations, and in the same place, each college has 70 to 80 teaching faculty members and lab assistants. These faculty members and lab assistants are technical experts on some level in their specialisation.
For example, in my Government Engineering College, Aurangabad College, we have Artificial intelligence & Machine learning, Data science, Electrical engineering, electronics and communication engineering, civil engineering, & Mechanical engineering. With this in one place, we get these huge, versatile technical experts as faculty members.
Now Sankalp for Viksit Bharat by 2047 point of view, we need to utilise this expertise to shape our youth’s jobseeker mindset toward entrepreneurial or job creation.
Bharat’s most fertile young brains are in college at this time, so the seed of Viksit Bharat must be sown at the colleges with the help of academics. So, the role of academia must be defined or reconstructed by AICTE from the Sankalp of Viksit Bharat point of view.
In India, 2.2 per cent of the adult population are income taxpayers. Similar comparative percentages for certain other developed countries are – France 78.3 per cent, USA 50.1 per cent, Germany 61.3 per cent, UK 59.7 per cent. And we are eying to compete with these developed countries by 2047 through the Sankalp of Viksit Bharat.
Bharat is one of the world’s biggest markets with huge potential for startups and entrepreneurship, but still, the youth of our Nation are wasting half of their lives up to the age of 30 to 35 for government jobs. They are not able to see the entrepreneurial opportunity of Bharat. This huge population is ready to be a liability rather than an asset for the Nation. Government jobs are not bad, but the number of government jobs is very small compared to the number of people seeking them.
To convert this liability population into an asset, we must drive and promote the startup ecosystem at the college and university levels.
When I say Startup, it will automatically include Innovation and Intellectual properties. Now, all the countries leading the world economy are leaders in Innovation and Intellectual property. So we need a more focused ecosystem in universities and colleges toward Startup, Innovation, & Intellectual property. The path of prosperity or Viksit Bharat should be on Startup, Innovation, & Intellectual property, i.e.‘ Pravidhi se Samridhi’.
Our central government & AICTE already established the Institute Innovation Council, Startup & innovation Cell, and Technical Club in each college, and they conduct regular Hackathons.
Even in a State like Bihar, all engineering colleges of the Department of Science, technology, and Technical Education have dedicated startup Cells, established with the collaborative support of the Department of Industry (Startup Bihar) Government of Bihar.
This dedicated startup cell provides mentorship, guidance & all technical support to the budding startup founders of the respective colleges and any common people of the respective district.
Apart from mentorship, these startup cells have to conduct some Startup outreach awareness sessions outside the nodal college and startup-related sessions & competitions in the nodal college to file Some Patent copyright to register students from colleges & districts in a short-term online course that is Startup India learning program, it’s an online certification course from where budding startup founders get insights of basic Startup related knowledge and compliances. Then, students register on the Startup Bihar portal with their Startup ideas, the identified problem, and the details of the implementation solution.
Then, after Startup Bihar goes through the screening round, ideas having the potential to solve the existing problem are called for a basis test, in which Startup Bihar measures the basic knowledge about the Startup. After clearing the test, they called for the pitching round, where they had to pitch their startup ideas to experts. After a recommendation from the experts, they got an initial seed fund of Rs. 10 lacs.
Based on performance on various parameters, the Department of Industry releases a monthly ranking of the startup Cells.
This model of creating a startup ecosystem in Bihar has deeply impacted the youth’s mindset toward the Startup in Bihar. Bihar is considered an aspiring leader in the state startup ranking of the Nation.
Apart from the seed fund of Rs 10 lacs, the Bihar government provides a 15 Lacs scale-up fund, Matching grants up to 50 lacs. And a 100 per cent refund of all intellectual property processing fees and some extra benefits to the women-led startups.
Under internship schemes, the government provides financial support to pay the interns. Startup Bihar has 815 registered startups out of these 125 women-led startups, 46 startup cells, 21 incubation centres, 3 subsidies co-working spaces like B-Hub, 1 sponsored PGDM course on entrepreneurship, and 1 zero lab for ideation stage startups across the state.
I appreciate the Bihar government’s startup policy.
These are the unexceptional and huge support to the budding entrepreneurs and startup founders. It will play the most crucial role in fulfilling the sankalp of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
In conclusion, I would like to opine that the Startup India program has many benefits, making it an opportune time for aspiring entrepreneurs. The simplified processes, financial incentives, and support structures create an environment where innovative ideas can flourish, businesses can expand, and dreams can materialise.
The main takeaways from my experience –highlight the strong growth trajectory, the crucial role played by academia and government initiatives, the ongoing difficulties in obtaining funding and hiring talent, and the revolutionary effect that technology breakthroughs have had on entrepreneurship. These factors shape the opportunities and challenges faced by Indian startups. As it spurs innovation, creates jobs, and tackles urgent social issues, entrepreneurship Skills across the Nation move towards #ViksitBharat2047.
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