60% of youth hold degrees but nothing relevant to market demands: Gujarat Governor

Gandhinagar, Apr 21 (KNN) Degrees do not mean skill and competencies as 60 per cent of youth in India possess degrees but this does not make them relevant to cater to the market demands, said Acharya Devvrat, Governor of Gujarat on Thursday at the anniversary of the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII).

The institute was celebrating four decades of entrepreneurship education, training, research, and institution building on Thursday, at the institute’s campus.

Speaking on the occasion, the state governor said, “There is a great dichotomy between the degrees that universities and colleges give and the requirement of skillsets in the market.”

“But that does not mean that the youth are not creative; they can blossom if they are mentored, counselled, trained, handheld, and oriented well, they need to be aligned with innovations and technical progress so that they deliver tangible performance. I am glad we have institutions like EDII that are complementing efforts in this direction through training and motivation. My compliments to EDII,” he said.

The event was inaugurated in the presence of Rakesh Sharma, President- EDII and MD & CEO, IDBI Bank Ltd; Dr Milind Kamble, EDII Governing Board Member, Chair, 40-year Celebration Committee & Founder Chairman, DICCI; Dr Sailendra Narain, EDII Governing Board Member and Former Chairman & Managing Director, SIDBI, Dr Sunil Shukla, Director General-EDII, and dignitaries from the Government, corporates and the academia.

Commenting on the robust startup ecosystem in India, Rakesh Sharma, said, “We are witnessing a growing trust in entrepreneurship; the willingness of students to break free from the job-seeking mindset, think innovatively and float sustainable startups.”

“Year after year, we see an increase in the number of people enrolling for EDII’s PG and other programmes. Other institutions and universities have also started offering courses on entrepreneurship today, and that speaks volumes about EDII’s contribution towards making entrepreneurship a conscious career option,” he added.

Emphasizing the significance of inclusive growth, Dr Milind Kamble said, “Entrepreneurship helps promote inclusive growth which is a need for India. Successful entrepreneurship does not always mean big industries or manufacturing units in towns and cities, it also means opportunities for the people living in the villages of India, for the marginalized, the differently abled, and the women. Only then a country can progress. Entrepreneurship gives an opportunity to include people in growth. EDII has demonstrated this through its interventions.”  (KNN Bureau)