A crowdfunding campaign to develop rural youth into “Entrepreneurs”

This crowdfunding campaign is being championed by me and like-minded friends and colleagues to raise funds that will help create a new generation of RURAL ENTREPRENEURS in the Jabalpur area of Madhya Pradesh & village Asthua in the Darbhanga district of Bihar.

Why the focus on rural entrepreneurship? Because nothing democratises wealth better than micro-entrepreneurship.

No amount of technology, policy and funding support can really resolve the issues at grass-root level in villages unless we have enterprising leaders from the local community, well-trained and motivated to take up the challenges. Look at any successful rural transformation program in our country (contrary to general perception, there are many), and one will find an inspiring leader with a commitment and tenacity to overcome challenges and rally the community on the path of transformative development.

The aim of our Udyam (path-to-entrepreneurship) Program is to develop and nurture a new breed of rural youth who will transform their local economies through entrepreneurship and technology.

Our first Udyam batch has 24 trainees, 9 boys and 15 girls (age group: 19-22 years). Most of them are from rural background, from around Jabalpur, MP (17 numbers) and village Asthua in Darbhanga, Bihar (7 numbers).  Most of them are committed to moving to their respective villages and setting up Gramonnati Kendras (centers) in the next 6 months.  The skills that they are being provided under the Udyam program by  Gramonnati will help them set up and operate these  Kendras. 

We will need to invest around INR 1 lakh (100,000) per trainee over a period of 12 months to develop them into entrepreneurs through our Udyam Program. This amount covers the cost of their trainings and live projects in “path-to-entrepreneurship” Program and stipend, till they start operating their own micro-enterprises in villages.

Developing these aspiring young people into entrepreneur has several benefits apart from making them financially self-sustaining in their own villages. By becoming job creators rather than job seekers at a young age, they become role models for others in their community and will trigger a positive cycle of entrepreneurship in the village over time. This, we believe , will help at first to reduce migration from rural to urban areas and then to reverse the same. 

The Gramonnati team will be sharing details of the progress every quarter. I will, in turn, post  updates on this campaign, to give you details of how these funds are making an impact on the beneficiary.

EXAMPLES OF WHO WILL BENEFIT :  

The aim of the current program is to create a new breed of rural youth who are capable of transforming the rural economies through the use of technology.

The first batch of trainee entrepreneurs in Jabalpur has 17 trainees, who are mostly from villages around Jabalpur. They are being trained in the foundational training of our “path-to-entrepreneurship” program, that aims to develop them as rural entrepreneurs in the coming 12 months. In the next six months, many of them will move to their respective villages where Gramonnati will help them set up and operate Gramonnati Kendra’s (centres) with the skills that they are being provided under the Udyam program.

We have also selected 7 Udyam trainees from village Asthua, District Darbhanga, Bihar, where we will set up a Gramonnati Kendra by Jun 2018 and plan to start training the six trainees from July 2018 onwards.

A total of 24 young rural entrepreneurs need funding. Each entrepreneur needs a INR 1L amount. If my campaign gets past its goal continue funding it so that we can together fund more such entrepreneurs.

ABOUT ME & THIS CAMPAIGN

My name is LALITHA RAMESH

I am committed to rural transformation and realize that unless we tap the talent amongst the youth in rural areas and develop them as grassroots leaders, sustainable change will not happen. If migration from rural to urban areas is to be stopped and then finally reversed, there is a need to create entrepreneurs locally within rural communities. Nothing democratizes wealth better than micro-entrepreneurship. This is the belief with which we have started our journey to develop 10,000 rural entrepreneurs in next five years.

Investing INR 100,000 in an individual to transform her/him into an entrepreneur is, in my opinion, a very fruitful and smart investment. Each rural entrepreneur so developed becomes a role model to many others. Over a period of time, through their micro-enterprises, they will become job-creators in their communities and possibly, help develop many more entrepreneurs locally.

 Our villages are the bedrock of our nation and a stronger rural community is what will make us a nation to contend with, over the next few decades. I strongly believe that we can nurture young rural boys and girls to be engines of hope and transformation in their communities.

Please support my campaign.

ABOUT GRAMONNATI & THE PROGRAM:

We are a not for profit social enterprise that aims to support rural transformation through technology and entrepreneurship. Based out of Pondicherry we plan to operate across the country. The three Co-founders come with over 70 years of rich work experience in the Army and corporate world. Their years of working together at CISCO are the common thread.

THE GRAMONNATI PROGRAM DYNAMICS:

OUR FIRST CENTRE:

LOCATION: WHERE THE FUNDS WILL BE USED

THE PARTNERS:

The funds from this campaign go to Sri Aurobindo Society(SAS) who partner with Gramonnati. All the receipts and 80G tax benefits that you get will be sent to you directly by SAS. They have the necessary 80G certification and also have an FCRA certificate (This means that even funding from foreign sources is accepted). SAS is a global non-profit organization that is based out of Pondicherry and does exemplary work in the transformation of our social fabric.

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HOW YOU CAN HELP AND FUND USE

We are raising money to cover the 12 month education & training cost of this entrepreneurial program to set up Gramonnati Kendra’s for one rural youth.The funds will be used for their training, stipend and live projects in the “path-to-entrepreneurship” program. The smallest amount you contribute will help them on their journey to transform the village. Once the campaign ends updates will be posted to keep the funders abreast of how the funds are being used and their progress.

The total number of Udyam Trainees for this campaign is 24 numbers.

• 17 from Jabalpur and 7 from Asthua village in Bihar.
• 15 girls and 09 boys.

TAX BENEFITS

By funding this campaign, you are eligible for tax breaks. You can avail benefits under section 80G of the IT act. Foreign funding is accepted. If you are an Indian living abroad or a person holding an Indian passport you can EASILY fund this campaign.