Ministry of Skill Development, entrepreneurship and Wadhwani Operating Foundation sign contribution agreement

Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and the Wadhwani Operating Foundation (WOF) announced a partnership aimed to empower Government of India's Pradhan Mantri Yuva Udyamita Vikas Abhiyaan on entrepreneurship.

Jyotsna Sitling, Joint Secretary, MSDE and Dr. Ajay Kela, President and CEO, Wadhwani Operating Foundation signed the MoU in the esteemed presence of Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge), Government of India.

The Government will leverage Wadhwani Operating Foundation's decade long experience and investment in entrepreneurship training in the Pradhan Mantri Yuva Udyamita Vikas Abhiyaan to scale entrepreneurship education in colleges and also provide exposure to entrepreneurship education to secondary and post-secondary students.

Jyotsna Sitling, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, while talking about the partnership, said, "The invaluable contribution of Wadhwani Operating Foundation as a knowledge partner towards implementation of the Pradhan Mantri YUVA scheme would go a long way to help inspire and impact the youth of our nation to realise their entrepreneurial dreams. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is deeply committed to this partnership."

"During the next five years both the Centre and State governments are going to experience increasing pressure for jobs from the youth population and their parents. The Foundation applauds the Centre and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for their foresight in drafting this ambitious scheme to create entrepreneurs and start-ups, at scale. Wadhwani Operating Foundation is committed to catalyse Govt. of India's efforts on entrepreneurship leading to high-quality jobs for Indian youth under 'Pradhan Mantri Yuva UdyamitaVikas Abhiyaan'," said Dr. Ajay Kela President and CEO, Wadhwani Operating Foundation.

"We have developed highly interactive online multi-media content to massively scale entrepreneurship education and exposure in India. I am delighted that this partnership between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and the Wadhwani Operating Foundation will go a long way in meeting our shared objective of combining job growth with economic growth," added Kela.

The Central and State Governments have been engaged in sporadic initiatives to integrate entrepreneurship in schools and institutions of higher education. With this partnerships, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship will now be able to provide support in a more organized and structured manner and on a larger scale for different entrepreneurial-led initiatives of Government of India.