Next generation should be problem solvers, says Abhay Jere, chief innovation officer

Ministry of human resource development (MHRD) under the innovation cell is in the process of forming students and faculty start-up policy. The policy will give guidelines to all the educational institutions on what they should do if students or faculty members are interested in start-ups. Ministry of human resource development in November 2018 established the innovation cell to promote start-up culture among students.

The policy will be established in the next couple of months, says Abhay Jere, chief innovation officer (CIO) of innovation cell.

Jere said, “We are now coming up with a student and faculty start-up policy. The policy will give guidelines to all the educational institutions on what they should do if students or faculty members are interested in start-ups while he/she is studying or teaching.”

“The policy guidelines will give details about revenue sharing, what kind of incubation support the institutes should provide students, what kind of mentoring they should give to students among others,” said Jere.

“Under MHRD this policy will apply to all educational institutions. It will not be compulsory, but we will recommend all the universities and institutions to adopt this policy,” he said.

There are multiple challenges that the innovation sector is facing, according to Jere, “Due to the rote learning system, we don’t have a culture to appreciate or promote new ideas. Due to this we have knowingly or unknowingly killed the creativity of students and the ability to think out of the box. So to recreate this ability is another task.”

“One of the other challenges is lack of cognitive skills, for this we will be launching an online course,” said Jere.

“Another problem which we are facing is that we don’t have platforms, where experts and entrepreneurs can meet to discuss problems faced by start-ups. So we want to become a bridge between both the parties and create a common platform,” he said.

Jere said, “Our country’s youth should be the part of the solution and not the problem. So they always need to think about how I can provide solutions to millions of problems which our country is facing. Student needs to realise that they should look at the problem as an opportunity.”

“The youth today will be an asset for the country in the long term and work for India anywhere in the world. So we want the next-generation to be problem solvers,” he concluded.

What does innovative cell do?

1. They work on what policy needs to be changed or what policy intervention is required to nurture the innovation culture

2. The cell guides educational institutes about the same

3. They conduct national initiatives where these colleges compete with each other in terms of innovation

4. The cell keeps a track about the progress of the institutes

What is students and faculty start-up policy?

The policy will give guidelines to all the educational institutions on what they should do if students or faculty members are interested in start-ups.