Dalit chamber of commerce signs MoU with EDII to incubate Dalit enterprise
Ahmedabad, July 1: The Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), in a first, has signed an MoU with the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DICCI) to help develop entrepreneurial skills among youth from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the EDII's nineteenth convocation function on Saturday at the institute's campus in Bhat village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
According to EDII officials, the MoU not only aims at evolving an entrepreneurial culture among the Dalit youth but also incubating them to launch and sustain their own ventures.
The EDII itself runs an entrepreneurial incubation centre on its campus since 2016 and has incubated 24 enterprises and helped find seed funding for 11 start-up ventures raising Rs 2.23 crore and 124 jobs.
DICCI founder-Chairman Milind Kamle, who is member of the EDII's governing council, presided over the convocation function.
Even as this MoU was signed, Prof Anil Gupta, founder of Honeybee network of rural innovations and entrepreneurs, spoke of the requirement of socially inclusive business models in the country.
Delivering the convocation address, he said there was need for social inclusion through "cross-subsidisation, innovative business models and public policy institutions".
Referring to Dalits and other disadvantaged sections of the society, he said there was a new restiveness among them and they were not willing to remain neglected or lag behind any more.
"While socio-economic transition takes place, a lot of values come into conflict, some for good, but some for bad. Social inclusion is one such issue which is receiving heightened attention from many entrepreneurs," said Gupta, who is also the chairman of National Innovation Foundation.
As many as 87 students were awarded post-graduate diplomas at the convocation function.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
