Learning to be a social entreprenuer

With so much focus on Make in India and the start-up culture, educational institutions in the city are now not only focussing on just making money but also give something back to the society. Social entrepreneurship is being taken as an elective or a subject in many colleges where the students are trained to build business that is inclusive and people from the underprivileged background are benefited. 

A couple of women from Thideer Nagar, off Greams Road were trained to grow, package and sell mushrooms at Ethiraj College Campus. An initiative by Enactus Ethiraj, a group of students working on social entrepreneurship along with a microfinance group working with people from low-income groups, it started with five women. It started in 2015 when selected, women along with a few students were trained in mushroom cultivation. They erected a shed within the campus and with the help of experts, gave the opportunity for women to earn money. “That was just a start. The students have been working on many environmentally sustainable project since then. Right now, they are working in a project based out of Villivakkam, where underprivileged women are trained in candle making. These are not the regular candles but the designer ones, for which we brought in an expert. We are also working with bio-fertilizers that will be beneficial for the environment,” says Dr A Nirmala, Principal and Secretary, Ethiraj College. 

Some colleges have also set up incubators dedicated to social entrepreneurship. “As part of its Prof. CK Prahalad Centre for Emerging India initiative, we set up an incubation centre in October last year for emerging social entrepreneurs. We have five firms functioning right now where they are provided with funds and mentorship,” explains Fr Christie SJ, Director – LIBA. He further adds, “One of the firms incubated here works with artisans. There is another that works with bio waste  and one that closely deals with skills development for those belonging to the underprivileged background.” 

Hand in Hand, an international NGO that extensively works towards empowering women in rural India  and also abolishing child labour for  the past 10 years has also started an institution for those who wish to be a social entrepreneur. “We have three courses. First is the six-month course in banking that will help students with micro-financing. This certificate programme in banking has been designed by sector experts. The others are the Post Graduation Diploma in Management and Development Studies. There is a 12-month programme in partnership with Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII). There is also a two-year course where where the first year they will be trained at Shankara University and the second year with us,” Dr Jayshree Suresh Parekh. Dean - Hand in Hand Academy for Social Entrepreneurship. They will also be mentored and funded by the institution.

This is only recently that educational institutions are exploring the options in this field. Mahalakshmi Sarvanan of Women Entrepreneurs India mentors college students and helps them setup businesses. She works with women have interacted with many female students. She says, “There is a rise in the awareness among educational institutions in the recent years. All major colleges have entrepreneurship cells and off late the focus in on social entrepreneurship. I deal with many women and often they are not encouraged by their parents to do business. Most of them ended up taking regular jobs. When colleges themselves encourage to get into the field and support them financially too, the outlook changes. Today’s generation want to make a difference in the world and college platforms a great place to start.”