EDI grads promise Swayam to give back to society

EDI grads promise Swayam to give back to society


During the 12th convocation celebrations at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI), as students got ready to bid adieu to their institution and faculty, Ashish Kumar Jha, a graduating student himself, set the ball rolling for his social enterprise, Swayam.
Jha from Madhubani district, Bihar, chose this grand occasion to get his very own social enterprise inaugurated by deputy governor, Reserve Bank of India, Dr KC Chakrabarty, RM Malla, president of EDI & chairman of IDBI and Dinesh Awasthi, director of EDI.
"Although I have been brought up in Delhi, I have always wanted to give back to my home town and hence I started this venture, Swayam, which deals in hand-made cards, corporate gifting and handicrafts. I started this venture with an approximate budget of Rs4 lakh and intend to break even within 6 months," Jha explained.
Jha further said, "I have also designed products for Indian youth - calledTanishtha. My products will display a lot of Madhubani work while my friends and other students from NIFT would be assisting me with the overall design of the products."
Jha also aims to export these products. According to him, most exporters are unaware about the changing patterns of handicrafts and therefore he intends to educate the exporters on the pattern change.
Students of Post Graduate Diploma in Management - Business Entrepreneurship (PGDMBE) and Post Graduate Diploma in Management of NGOs received their diplomas from Dr Chakrabarty and Malla.
In all 74 students were awarded diplomas, of which 58 were from PGDMBE, 31 from New Enterprise Creation, 17 from Family Business Management, 10 from Services Management and 16 from Management of NGOs.
However, while all of these students had opted for an entrepreneurship course, 14 have opted for placements in companies in order to have a feel of the corporate sector before venturing into their own businesses. Ramkrishna Mistry, placement cell officer and faculty at EDI said, "The highest package offered was by an international firm, of UAE 5000 dinars per annum, which turns out to be around Rs7 lakh per annum and the average salary offered was approximately Rs3 lakh."