Borrowed from SAMPADA old editions – for the 10th Anniversary Special Issue – Special Guest Editorials section. This one is by Dr P Deepa Shenoy
In the present day, Entrepreneurship has become an integral part of Higher Education. It is no longer confined to the management class as it used to be. Entrepreneurship is an integrated concept that permeates an individual’s business in an innovative manner.
I have been a part of UVCE for the last 33 years as a student, professor and currently the Placement Officer. As per my observation, though the students of UVCE are innovative and have good management skills, they have always been ‘job-seekers’ but not ‘job-providers’. The reason could be that most of the students hail from a moderate background and their ability to take risks at investments is lesser. Also the Placement and Training Centre at UVCE is doing extremely well with around hundred companies visiting the campus every year, providing more than one job to most of the students thus reducing the necessity for the students to venture beyond the belief of a secure job after their graduation.
As a Placement Officer for over two years now, my strong belief is that UVCE would be much benefited if we have an ‘Entrepreneurship Development Cell’ besides the Placement and Training Centre. My notion of this cell is not just to encourage students to take up entrepreneurship after their studies, but also to inculcate the values that an entrepreneur needs; team work, risk-taking, leadership qualities and “CAN DO” attitude, to name a few. These qualities would also help them to become a good employee and rise in their career.
In the words of our former Vice Chancellor, Prof. N R Shetty, “Entrepreneurship development programs have to be methodically and meticulously conducted on a regular basis. They have to be properly planned and phased to identify, select and train potential entrepreneurs”. His idea of an ‘Entrepreneurship Development Cell’ is a ‘think-tank’ consisting of students, teachers and industrialists where a promising entrepreneur with innovative ideas can walk in for technical assistance.
Some of the entrepreneurs from UVCE are; Mayi Gowda who was then my student and now the owner of Blossom Book House, Church Street, Bangalore. My classmates, Mr. Narayan G Sabahit, Suresh and Harish run Techser Power Solutions Pvt. Limited established in 1988. Another student of mine, Mr. Ravikiran A has recently entered this group in the field of Data Analytics and has also invited students of UVCE for internships.
I sincerely request the students, faculty and alumni of UVCE to pitch in their ideas and views for such a cell which I would call “VEDA: Visvesvaraya Entrepreneurship Development Alliance” at UVCE and help the students reach greater heights.
– Dr P Deepa Shenoy (For Sampada-18)
