TURA: The state government organised an awareness programme on Youth Entrepreneurship and Business Development under a convergence initiative with various departments at Tura Government College here on Tuesday.
Addressing the participants, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said that since the people of Meghalaya were inherently not businessmen, there was a need to inspire and guide our youth to look at the space of entrepreneurship.
The programme aimed at creating awareness among the youth and college students about entrepreneurship and also about the possibilities of self-employment and business under various schemes of the state government and facilitation.
“If we do not prepare our youths to be productive we will end up having liabilities which does not augur well for the state. However, if every citizen becomes productive we can just imagine the kind of strength our state and the country will have,” Sangma said.
He urged both successful and budding entrepreneurs to get together and continually engage with the youth on the unlimited business spaces available before them.
He also highlighted on business potential in the tourism sector, stating that ‘the exclusive stories of our state itself can be our weapon to market ourselves’.
Stating that economic reasons have forced communities to migrate and look for better business opportunities, the chief minister also sounded a note of caution that outsiders would grab the attractive spaces available in our state if entrepreneurship was not promoted among our youth.
He also lamented that a number of projects were getting delayed due to dearth of contractors, particularly in Garo Hills. “We are paying the price because we failed to promote entrepreneurship and we do not have successful builders and contractors,” he added.
West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Pravin Bakshi in his keynote address highlighted the plethora of schemes initiated by the government to help the youth.
Various line departments put up stalls displaying information and awareness about entrepreneurship opportunities as part of the day-long programme.
Besides, successful entrepreneurs, including Dasumarlin Majaw of Smoky Falls Tribe Coffee, Tinash Marak of Tinash Agro Industries and Webstar D. Shira shared their experiences on how they developed their enterprises from humble beginnings.
