http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/dalit-students-to-become-entrepreneurs/184860.html
Dalit students to become entrepreneurs
C ShivakumarFirst Published : 27 Jun 2010 02:37:15 AM ISTLast Updated :
CHENNAI: After his father's death, Parthiban did odd jobs to feed his
family. The commerce graduate from Kovilpatti's GVN college tried hard
for a government job. He became a daily wage labourer earning Rs 200.
But life took a turn when he was selected for the monthlong
residential entrepreneur development programme early this month.
The entrepreneurship programme designed by Pradipta K Mohapatra,
exchairman, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Southern Region and
chairman, Governing Board, Executive and Business Coaching Foundation
India Limited, Sudeep Jain, EDI special officer, Pandia Rajan, the
managing Director of MA FOI, Management Consultants, K Ranganathan,
chairman and managing director of CavinKare, and Prof Jhunjhunwala of
IIT.
Confident and armed with entrepreneurial skills, Prathiban is among
the new breed of 27 young dalit entrepreneurs who want to start their
own business. "Dalits are at the tailend of the social spectrum. They
are hardworking and have the skills but don't have confidence and are
traditionally guided by others," said Chandrakant B Kamble, the
managing director of Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing Development
Corporation. He added that these skills will make them job generators.
"They can go back to their villages and generate jobs and wealth,"
said Kamble.
"During the training, the students met real time first generation
entrepreneurs and learnt from their experiences," Pradipta K Mohapatra
said. The real competition will be on June 29 when the entrepreneurs
will be wooing investors with their presentations, he said. He said
the CII is committed to inclusive growth and this scheme will produce
several thousands of SC/ST employers. "If these entrepreneurs can
employ people in rural areas it will be a fabulous idea," he said.
Sudeep Jain said initially 50 colleges were targeted but many backed
out due to exams. There were 16 colleges who participated and of the
362 people, 50 were selected (27 of them dalits). "The government is
spending Rs 15,000 for dalit students," he said. And if the scheme is
successful, soon smaller cities like Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy
will be targeted.
Dalit student Jayadivya S plans to start organic farming in the land
bought by her father. She said some of her ideas already had resulted
in queries from few investors. But Parthiban feels some more time is
required. "I want to work for six more months before starting my own
enterprise," he said.
On June 30, Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin will honour the
entrepreneurs with certificates.
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