Young enterprise

Student entrepreneurs from Delhi presented their business plans for societal development at the ‘Social Innovation Competition.’ Vishakha Sharma reports
The concept of social entrepreneurship (SE) has been in India for many years now with NGOs, private companies and various other individuals working to bring about a social change in sectors like education, health and rural. The popularity of SE today is gathering pace in the country.
In an initiative towards promoting the spirit of social entrepreneurship, Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales (AIESEC) Delhi IIT, organised the ‘Youth to Business Forum 2011 (Y2B)’ on July 27 to provide the youth with an opportunity to realise the dream of executing a successful venture.
The highlight of the Y2B was the ‘Social Innovation Competition (SIC),’ for the young population to discuss their thoughts and opinions through revolutionary business plans based on the United Nations Millennium Goals. Participating students of SIC presented business plans, which is their endeavour to make the world a better place to live in.
Bhavana Mahajan, manager-corporate communication, iDiscoveri Education, one of the corporates at the Y2B, believes that SE is utilising business skills and motives to take society to the next level.
“SE has always been important and relevant in a country like India. And it is catching up fast among the youth as they are more focused, independent and more aware about ethics and global trends,” she said.
Also, according to Mahajan, the youth today are better social entrepreneurs as compared to the previous generation as they are well connected. The older generations did not know much about the importance of SE.
Udit Rastogi, one of the finalists of SIC gave credit to technology, which he said, has made the youth more aware. He said, “Earlier too, people were great social entrepreneurs with innovative ideas, wanting to bring about a social change. But, what lacked then was the availability of advanced technology, which the present generation is blessed with.”
Neetika Kataria another finalist, believes that SE in India will keep on growing and push people towards caring about their society . Their efforts will certainly have a positive impact on people’s lives on a large scale.
Some of the social business plans of students presented during the Y2B were projects like ‘Krishi Sanjeevani’ on solving problems that farmers face today, which are directly or indirectly revolving around the core problem of poverty and education, and project ‘Sanitation Hygiene and Environment’ whose objective is to provide cheap sanitary pads to rural/slum women, amongst others.