A panel discussion on Entrepreneurship Scenario and Challenges Faced by Entrepreneurs in Meghalaya saw a healthy debate on the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the State.
The panel discussion was held as part of the Chief Minister’s Start-Up and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Week at the State Convention Centre of Pine Wood Hotel here yesterday.
Moderated by Flo Oberhofer (Programme Head, PRIME Meghalaya), the session panelists included Augustus Suting (Deputy Director, M-LAMP & General Manager, MBMA, Dr. Benjamin F. Lyngdoh (Associate Professor, Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, NEHU), Dasumarlin Majaw (Founder, Smokey Falls Tribe Coffee) and Gopal Purkayastha (Deputy Vice President, HDFC Bank).
The discussion began with Obehofer voicing two objectives, the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Meghalaya and why things are different in the State and what to improve through CSR. He stated that in entrepreneurship, the first step is mindset.
During the discussion, Suting spoke of the culture of jobs in Meghalaya, and highlighted that parents have pushed their youths to only look for government jobs.
“Blacksmithy could be compared to Damascus. We were traders and entrepreneurs but with the coming of the British, western model overtook us and we became nothing but factory workers. We become educated but with no skill sets. Our ambitions ended in government jobs but with a series of changes enterprise and entrepreneurship is the need of the hour,” Suting said.
Lyngdoh on the other hand said that the situation has changed with time, students are beginning to show interest in this area. He also said that at NEHU, students from many streams have considered entrepreneurship as a possible career path.
“More students are now choosing the long-ignored entrepreneurship and small company papers,” he said.
He added, “Long before we had a culture of excelling only in academics but with government jobs slowly saturating and the demand and supply for other jobs, and with the help of internet trends the changed perspective is trickling within the youth. The major drawback is that it happened too late. We better catch them young and early for entrepreneurship to grow faster in the State.”
Likewise, Majaw when asked about the most promising sector in entrepreneurship in the State replied that rural tourism and food processing sectors are doing well as they promote job security to the people in the rural areas.
Despite the challenges, Suting called for a need to downscale technology that can fit in the State. He also said that supply of power through renewable energy and e-waste units should be encouraged.
Ending the panel discussion, the panelists came up with coherent plans to bring sustainability in entrepreneurship.
The second session saw business pitches made by local entrepreneurs for CSR ranging from ASPIRE Meghalaya, Academic entrepreneurship from IIM Calcutta and Martin Luther Christian University and others.
The day also saw another panel discussion titled ‘Role of CSR and Entrepreneurship in Achieving Sustainability’ moderated by Harsh Srivastava (Executive Director, Blue Circle Medi Services).
The panelists included Precious Tmung (Co-Founder, Zong Hi Traditional Handloom), Prof. Prabhat Pani (Executive Director, Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Development, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai), Dr. Subhash Ashutosh (Co-chairman & Director Centre of Excellence Natural Resource Management & Sustainable Livelihoods MBDA, Meghalaya) and Pradeep Purohit (Chief Strategy Officer, Star Cement Ltd).
A session on sharing experiences in CSR entrepreneurship by officials from a few big corporates, financial institutions like Reliance, SBI and others was the other highlight of the day. Entrepreneurs, NGOs and corporates came together to pitch their business ideas to the moderators.
