DARE - Because Entrepreneurs Do

Entrepreneurship Week India 2011, Asia’s largest campaign for entrepreneurship, rocked the nation this February

In five years, the Entrepreneurship Week India campaign has grown from a dozen institutes in 2007 to more than 500 institutes, 20 association partners, 4500 events, and 6,00,000 participants across 30 cities this year. From Ajmer in Rajasthan to Surathkal in Karnataka, from Asansol in Bengal to Karjat in Maharashtra, the awareness campaign led by over 70,000 students engaged the masses. Students invaded not only their own campuses, but malls, markets, train stations, and sometimes entire towns as well. Panel discussions, expositions, tech-bazaars, idea-generation competitions, awareness rallies were all part of the campaign, triggering excitement for entrepreneurship like never before.

Alpha Coll of Arts & Science, Chennai	Atharva Coll, Mumbai	Durgapur Institute of Adavance Technology, Durgapur
E Week @ School	VIT, Jaipur	Closing Ceremony

Through its theme “Ideas for India,” E Week India 2011 focused its attention on the breathtaking range of opportunities for entrepreneurs across several sectors: healthcare, IT, energy, education, waste management, transportation, and more.
E Week India was led by the National Entrepreneurship Network and supported by the Wadhwani Foundation.

Chennai
Chennai witnessed two TEDx events, organized by SSN College of Engineering and Velammal Engineering College respectively, which focused on “Ideas for India.” SSN also organized the “32 Hour Startup,” a two-day marathon startup event. Alpha College of Engineering made Vandalur Zoo the hub for entrepreneurship for a week where they promoted eco-tourism.

Mumbai
By the time the students of Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil University, Department of Business Management, were done with their awareness rallies, everyone in Navi Mumbai had heard of entrepreneurship. Atharva Engineering College and TIMSR used E Week to showcase and popularize their student-run companies, which are growing phenomenally in number each year.

Bangalore
Acharya Institute of Management and Sciences established media tie-ups with TV, radio, print, and other channels to reach lakhs of people with their E Week message. Bishop Cottons Women’s Christian College visited large corporates like Accenture and MphasiS to talk about E Week. Students of Mount Carmel College got a taste of entrepreneurship as they sold their wares at the campus bazaar. Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College launched a solid waste recycling processing unit in the outskirts, and a campus company that recycled canteen waste. They also launched a puppy adoption campaign at Cubbon Park.

Hyderabad
Mufakkam Jah College of Engineering and Technology placed over 20 “Ideas for India” boxes in crowded places for people to submit their ideas. They collected 3,000+ ideas during the week. Meanwhile, students of Gitanjali College of Engineering raided malls, multiplexes, and food courts to celebrate E Week. Malla Reddy Institute of Management students hijacked an annual trade exhibition in the city and made over 1,000 visitors take the E Week pledge.

Mysore
E Leaders of National Institute of Engineering led a massive awareness drive on wheels, directly engaging 3,00,000 professionals who commute daily between Mysore and Bangalore in the entrepreneurship awareness campaign. E Cell members of Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering embarked on an anti-plastic drive so inspiring that not only did the mayor join them in picking up waste at Chamundi Hills, but he also promised support in making Mysore entrepreneur-friendly.

Coimbatore
Kumaraguru College repackaged and promoted dying folk arts like Karagattam and Kummi this E Week. Sri Krishna Institute of Management E Cell put E Week stickers on over 500 autos to spread awareness. VLB Janakiammal College of Arts & Science took the incentive-subsidy debate currently plaguing government reforms head-on by conducting public polls across the city. Incentives led with 2407 votes, a cool 1698 votes ahead of subsidies!

Pune
From rural tourism programs for farmers by MES Garware to waste water treatment plants for village homes by DY Patil Engineering College, Pune students used innovation and creativity to bring change in the rural pockets of Maharashtra this E Week.

Kolkata
Apart from organizing rallies and E Bazaars, students from several institutes in Kolkata went to the famous Kolkata Book Fair and spoke about E Week to many of the visitors. Praxis Business School “played” this E Week, with the launch of Praxis Premier League, designed in the lines of IPL.

Durgapur and Asansol
It was a refreshing set of ideas for India— coal mines safety and water purification upped social networking sites and IT— that students of Asansol Engineering College worked on this E Week. At Bengal College of Engineering and Technology, Durgapur, the entrepreneurship bug made several students launch companies, ranging from cosmetics and apparels to pharma products.

Delhi
E Summits, rallies, and street plays marked E Week celebrations at Delhi, where students interacted with people from across all walks of life to develop a deep understanding of problems like poverty and corruption, and tried to solve them in creative, entrepreneurial ways.

Jaipur
The atmosphere of E Week was noisy, vibrant, and full of energy and color in Jaipur colleges. Vivekananda Institute of Technology ran a cleanliness drive in the Jagatpura Forest Range to increase awareness about environment issues. SKIT hired autos to make public announcements about E Week in busy markets and tourist spots.
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More articles on www.nenonline.org. Content provided by NEN

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