Handholding startups imperative for economic growth in JK: Director JKEDI

Jammu, Jan 16: To build a strong and inclusive ecosystem for innovation and celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship in the Union Territory, Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) Monday organized a day-long workshop to celebrate National Startup Day.
Director, JKEDI, Ajaz Ahmad Bhat inaugurated and presided over the event.
Scores of aspiring entrepreneurs, students, startups, experts from industry and academia participated in the day long workshop.
Seven years ago on January 16, 2016, the Indian startup ecosystem got a big policy push from the Government in the name of Startup India, with an aim to drive the economy to the next stage. It proved to be a new beginning with the day now marked as National Startup Day. This effort gave these new-age businesses a massive push, and since then startups have helped the country widen its footprint in the global landscape.
Startups have come up throughout the country even from places that have not traditionally been known for innovation. Most of them come from tier II and tier III cities. J&K is no exception and despite all odds these new age businesses have the potential to provide solutions even to the most critical problems of our society.
Ajaz Ahmad Bhat, Director JKEDI, in his inaugural address, elaborated on the importance of the day. “We are celebrating National Startup Day, the successes of startups and validating their innovative efforts. Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government, intended to catalyze startup culture and build a strong and inclusive ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship,” he added.
He further added that JKEDI emphasizes innovation and technology-based solutions to deal with the challenges of the society. JKEDI has engaged the youth by organizing many hackathons and the Institute has received many innovative solutions in record time. Keeping this in mind, the J & K Startup policy was rolled out in 2018 and JKEDI has been designated as a nodal agency for the implementation of this policy.
He elaborated on the features and benefits of this policy. He encouraged participants to be a part of this policy by providing suggestions. He promised them that every comment would be evaluated and the Institute would try to incorporate these suggestions into the policy. To give a fillip to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, JKEDI is coming up with programs and courses for school and college students. In future, full time professional programs will also be offered by the Institute.
Experts from different sectors also spoke on the occasion. In the forenoon session, Dr Anil Gupta from Jammu University gave a detailed presentation on the power of value creation in business.