The third and final Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) concluded on 18 October 2024 at the Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) of Nagaland University’s Kohima campus. The valedictory session was honoured 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.
NU PRO Peter Ki informed in a press release that the three EDPs were conducted over September and October where 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 the month of August 2024.
The third and final event, a non-residential EDP, which took place over five days from 14-18 October 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 line-up of distinguished resource persons from various institutions in Kohima, including Prof. K.D. Singh, Head of the Department of Management at Nagaland University and 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 Dept of Commerce, Nagaland University. Imtisangla Jamir from IDAN, Sapulu Krocha from IIE Kohima nodal office, Wekhrope Akami from DIC Kohima, Moatemsu Sangtam, Sr. Tourist Officer, Directorate of Tourism, Govt of Nagaland, S. Senka Jamir, Jt. Director, Directorate of Horticulture, Govt of Nagaland, Er. A Morimenba Amer, Dy Director, NIELIT, Kohima and Dr. Ilang, Jt. Director, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Govt of Nagaland.
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 last one year.
Out of the 39 shortlisted candidates, 36 eventually 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 start-up grant of Rs. 5 lakhs each to support their incubation at the Centre, which is designed to help transform business plans into successful enterprises.
