Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Encouraging young social entrepreneurs

COIMBATORE: The 540 million youth in India who are below 25 years of age should be provided with the education to increase their self confidence and face the challenges ahead, former President A.P.J Abdul Kalam, said here recently.

According to a release, Mr.Kalam was addressing a seminar “Inaindhu Naam 99,” organised by Siraku Foundation and Sakthi PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) at Dr.N.Mahalingam College, Pollachi.

“Inaindhu Naam 99,” brought together 33 corporates and 66 social entrepreneurs for a social cause.

The scheme was launched by Dr.Abdul Kalam in Chennai earlier this year.

The 66 social entrepreneurs were now given training to manage social projects.

“All of them should be trained to develop the products individually with the help of students from various educational institutions. The students should prepare the project reports to market these products and also to export them. MBA students of the various colleges should also be involved in this concept,” he said. In this task, the Government, non-Governmental organisations, educational institutions, and banks should co-ordinate with each other. This would help increase the income of the rural segment three times, Mr.Kalam added

“Inaindhu Naam 99,” a concept developed by Y.S.Rajan, Scientist and co-author of ‘India Vision 2020’ along with Dr.Kalam, was promoted by Siraku Foundation.

The programme had been initiated to offer support and encouragement to young social workers who had potential for social action and change. The fellowships were made available for individuals who wanted to set up non-profit organisations as well as those who had already set up such non-profit organisations not more than five years ago.

The primary aim of the fellowship, however, was to provide a much-needed impetus to youngsters who were engaged in social work. Women and Dalit social workers were given priority.

The fellowship offered financial support for two years, combined with training support. It was open to those who were based in Tamil Nadu, who was the founding trustee of an existing or a new organisation, while not being a part of any other organisation or institution.

The candidate should be secular and non-political and not more than 35 years of age.

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