'Lack of supporters, experience, knowledge can act as a barrier for Start-up India'

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Rituparno Kakati | 19 Apr, 2016
Although the scenario of start-ups in India is growing rapidly, but still there is a long way to go in strengthening India as a nation of entrepreneurs, as in the present day most of the youngsters prefer to open their own companies and be their own boss, said Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi, Director, AISECT.

In an Interview to SME Times, she said, "So starting a business with lack of investors, supporters, experience and knowledge can act as a barrier for the budding entrepreneurs in India."

Excerpts of the interview...

Please tell us something about AISECT and how the organization helps entrepreneurs.
Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi: AISECT is India's leading skills & ICT based education, training, services and e-governance network that was established in 1985 with the aim of educating, empowering and providing employment as well as entrepreneurial opportunities to people in the remote areas of the country. With 23,000 centres across 29 States and 3 Union Territories, 10 State Offices and 30 Regional Offices, AISECT has a strong hold across the nation.

AISECT Group has always encouraged people, including the youth, women as well as the less educated, to open up their own enterprises. In order to promote entrepreneurship, AISECT conducts various presentations and orientation sessions like the Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) at regular intervals and creates awareness about these initiatives by means of media and advertisements. After 31 years of continuous efforts, the Group has succeeded in generating over 15,000 entrepreneurs in semi-urban and rural areas. Moreover, collaborating with Government initiatives like Central Government's Common Service Centre (CSC) Project, Financial Inclusion Schemes and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has greatly helped us in our endeavors of producing entrepreneurs who are now successfully running their own CSCs, Banking Kiosks and education centres. AISECT acts as an incubator and is always at the doorstep of these entrepreneurs assisting them in every little way possible in running their centres effectively.

What is the overall picture of entrepreneurship development in India? In which areas are we lagging behind?
Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi: From the past few decades, India has seen a transformation in entrepreneurship. Today, establishing a business is not limited to the rich and wealthy. There are newer creative avenues coming up for people with the online business space opening up. A lot of new ventures in apparel, food, travel etc. have come up in the online space and I think creativity has a major role to play in the type of businesses that are coming up. Any enterprising person who has business acumen and can present the business venture in a creative manner to capture the consumer/target audience's attention, can start an enterprise. People residing in the semi-urban and rural parts of the country have come to the forefront and are successfully running their businesses even with limited resources in hand. Adding to this, some remarkable initiatives like Jagriti Yatra and establishment of several business schools and management programmes act as pipeline creators in generating leaders. However, lack of capital, funders, investors and supporters act as hindrances in the entrepreneurial endeavors of an individual.

What is your view on the current government's initiatives to help start-ups and the MSMEs?
Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi: A recent project undertaken by the NDA Government, 'Start Up India, Stand Up India', is one of the most effective schemes I have come across in the recent times to strengthen the scenario of start-ups in the country. With less regulatory framework, simplified rules, tax exemptions, legal assistance and easy solutions provided by the Government in case of a start-up failure, the scheme has a wide scope of increasing the number of potential entrepreneurs at the micro, small and medium levels and changing the entrepreneurship scenario across India.

What are the major challenges you think Indian start-ups are facing today?
Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi: Although the scenario of start-ups in India is growing rapidly, but still there is a long way to go in strengthening India as a nation of entrepreneurs, as in the present day most of the youngsters prefer to open their own companies and be their own boss. So starting a business with lack of investors, supporters, experience and knowledge can act as a barrier for the budding entrepreneurs in India.

How you view the current scenario as well as the potential of women entrepreneurship in India?
Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi: Today, women are undoubtedly giving a tough competition to men in almost every field, including running a business single-handedly. Increased awareness about entrepreneurship among the women in the society has boosted their participation and moreover, various Government schemes initiated to empower women have transformed them into flourishing intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs. In fact, at present, there are about 2000 women entrepreneurs in the AISECT Group nationally and all of them are successfully running their centres. These numbers are interesting considering the fact that all our centres are located at district, block and panchayat level areas. It's great to see women in semi-urban and rural areas emerge as entrepreneurs. So there is no denying that women entrepreneurship in India has immense potential in transforming the economic status of the country.

ICT & skills based education can play a big role in entrepreneurship and skill development. What are your views on it?
Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi: According to me, skills based education is demand driven and entrepreneurial education is an integral part of the skills based education. Technology and skills when combined together with entrepreneurial learning and training enhance the knowledge of an individual, thereby making them more curious, innovative and productive for the community.

What is your view on the problem of lack of timely and adequate credit? How can an entrepreneur overcome this challenge?
Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi: Starting a company and investing a good amount of money in it are quite a risky affair and without any second thoughts getting potential supporters and funders for the newly established company is an uphill task. However, trying to get angel investors and business incubators can greatly solve the initial problems of the start-up businessmen or businesswomen.

Please tell us something about the future plans of AISECT.
Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi: Recently, on the occasion of International Women's Day, AISECT launched 'Pehchaan'. It is a Centre for fostering women entrepreneurship and will provide support to aspiring business women across India. The Group is also making rigorous efforts to promote entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship through this venture. We are also on the verge of launching three new University campuses in multiple states.