Meghalaya is a State in the North East region of India where about 80 per cent of the population resides in the rural areas.
Agriculture and allied activities have been the primary source of livelihood for most of the population in the state but in the present scenario, it can be seen that there has been a shift from these traditional livelihood options.
Youth from rural areas are migrating to the cities and other states to search for alternative livelihood opportunities, which constitute a social problem for the State.
Meghalaya has numerous strengths and opportunities that can be leveraged to promote sustainable development. Based on this, the State government seeks to promote the entrepreneurship ecosystem, to improve the quality of life of its citizens and retain the youth from migrating.
In order to promote the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the State, the PRIME Saurmandala Rural Entrepreneurship Fellowship (PSREF) was launched offering an opportunity to young and motivated change makers from across the country to join as Fellows and Associates and work closely with rural entrepreneurs in Meghalaya to build and scale their enterprises as well as set up a conducive environment for others to succeed.
The fellowship and associate programme is a rural development initiative by the Planning Department, Government of Meghalaya in collaboration with Sauramandala Foundation.
Selected Fellows and Associates will identify the most propitious rural entrepreneurs in the respective blocks and villages and will be mentoring them in the processes of value chain development, machinery and technology deployment, frugal innovation, branding and packaging, pricing and unit economics, market linkages, funding and business plans.
The Fellows and Associates will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become part of a unique community geared towards change that will get the opportunity to influence policy decisions and will also be engaged in exchanging ideas with high level officials like the Deputy Commissioners, Principal Secretaries and community leaders, thus giving the young leaders an exposure to high-level decision makers.
During the Fellowship, the candidates will gain comprehensive knowledge and the exposure will thoroughly prepare the Fellows and Associates for a career in public policy, rural development, start-up incubation or entrepreneurship promotion with high level national and international organisations.
The PRIME Fellows will constitute candidates from across India that will bring in the experience and expertise from outside the state, whereas the PRIME Associates will constitute candidates from within Meghalaya who are adept with the local culture, dynamics and insights.
During this 18-month paid Fellowship, the teams will be placed at the block-level where they will be working in villages to expand the impact that PRIME has already generated in Meghalaya.
The PSREF has set May 31 as the application deadline for interested candidates. Details on the fellowship programme and the application process are available at www.primemeghalaya.com/fellowship.
