The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Startup India and PRIME Entrepreneurship Meghalaya celebrated Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav on Saturday.
A two-hour programme was held at the PRIME Startup Hub in Shillong specially dedicated to the entrepreneurs of Meghalaya.
KN Kumar, chairman of the Meghalaya Farmers Commission, attended the event as chief guest.
He enlightened the audience about the various schemes available for the entrepreneurs in Meghalaya and North East at large. Some of the successful entrepreneurs of the state shared their success stories, focusing on their journey, challenges, and how they overcame it.
The need to tap the potential of agriculture in North East India was also discussed.
“This facilitating environment was not there before. But now, the entrepreneurial ecosystem has been created by the government. Just for entrepreneurship alone, the government of India has launched 16 schemes for the North East. The North East youth need to be made aware of these schemes for them to dig deeper and take benefit from the takeaways,” Kumar said.
Aiban Swer, Director of Meghalaya Basin Management Authority, gave an insight on entrepreneurship in Meghalaya.
He stated, “The definition of entrepreneurship has changed over the years. The government of Meghalaya has launched the PRIME and FOCUS programmes among various other schemes to benefit the entrepreneurship ecosystem of the state. The primary purpose of such institutions is to give a comprehensive approach to changing lives and ensuring sustainable use of natural resources. Meghalaya has the potential to become a state of producers”.
Flo Oberhofer, programme head, PRIME Startup Hub, outlined the offerings of PRIME and its vision of developing the scope of entrepreneurship in the state. He threw light on the new initiatives that PRIME has introduced. Oberhofer added, “We are building up a pipeline where entrepreneurs who are in their idea stage, as well as those who are in their scale-up growth stage, can get support from us. Every entrepreneur who walks in will receive the support that they seek.”
