The third and final Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) concluded on October 18, 2024, at the Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) of Nagaland University, Kohima campus. The valedictory session was honored by the presence of Prof Jano S Liegise, Dean of the School of Humanities & Education, as the Chief Guest, alongside Special Guests Pranab Kumar Sharma and Himanshu Barman from the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati.
This non-residential EDP, which took place over five days from October 14 to 18, 2024, is part of the project “Establish, Develop, and Manage Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDC) and Incubation Centres (IC) in the Educational Institutes of the North Eastern Region.” This initiative is sponsored by the North Eastern Council (NEC), Shillong, and implemented by the IIE, Guwahati. As part of the project, Nagaland University’s Kohima campus has been designated as one of the four Incubation Centres in the North Eastern region.
The third EDP featured a lineup of distinguished resource persons from various institutions in Kohima, including Prof KD Singh, Head of the Department of Management at Nagaland University; Er H Alongse, Deputy Director of DESDE, Government of Nagaland; and Neikepekho Shosahie from Youth Net Kohima.
Noteworthy resource persons also included Prof Joy Das, Dr Jasojit Debnath, and Dr Perumalraja R, all from the Department of Commerce, Nagaland University; Imtisangla Jamir from IDAN; Sapulu Krocha from the IIE Kohima nodal office; Wekhrope Akami from DIC Kohima; Moatemsu Sangtam, Senior Tourist Officer, Directorate of Tourism, Government of Nagaland; S. Senka Jamir, Joint Director, Directorate of Horticulture, Government of Nagaland; Er A Morimenba Amer, Deputy Director, NIELIT, Kohima; and Dr Ilang, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Government of Nagaland.
According to the press release from NU PRO Peter Ki, the three EDPs were conducted over September and October, with the first two sessions held from September 23-27 and September 30-October 4, 2024. A total of 39 candidates were selected for the programmes following three rounds of Entrepreneurship Awareness Programmes (EAPs) held at Mount Olive College, Sazolie College, and St. Joseph College, Jakhama, on three different occasions in August 2024.
Dr Dhrubajyoti Bordoloi, EDC Coordinator, and Dr Ditalak Mpanme, EDC Joint Coordinator, expressed their satisfaction with the outcomes of the three EDPs, noting the positive feedback received from stakeholders regarding the successful activities undertaken by EDC over the past year. Out of the 39 shortlisted candidates, 36 ultimately participated in the EDPs. These participants are now required to submit Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for their proposed or existing business ventures by the end of November 2024. An expert committee formed by the NEC and IIE will evaluate these DPRs, with selected proposals receiving a startup grant of Rs 5 lakhs each to support their incubation at the Centre, which is designed to help transform business plans into successful enterprises.