Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission: Aiding SC Students

Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has sprung up with Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission under the roof of Venture Capital Fund to encourage entrepreneurship and promote innovation among the SC youth and the focus on providing special privileges to Divyangs. This scheme launched by Social Justice & Empowerment Minister Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot will be rendering a support system to innovative ideas till 2024.

The Indian government is working on future-oriented strategies with the hope of the establishment of 1,000 start-ups led by entrepreneurs from SCs during the course of three years.

Dalit techies will be getting the golden opportunity to incubate their ideas and concepts through the entrepreneurship programme known as Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission. Under the scheme, the advisory bodies consist of legal advisors, digital marketing experts, chartered accountants, etc. will be lending their respective services.

This scheme will formulate a business incubator hub to render assistance in the realm of finance as well as innovation. Uplifting the socially disadvantaged groups has become the need of the hour in a progressive nation like India. The introduction of Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission would have filled the hearts of Scheduled Castes folks with a rainbow of expectations and desire to live an enhanced life.  Under the new plan, the selection of around a thousand SC category students would take place. The mission’s fund flow will take place via the Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes set up in 2016 with an Rs 500 crore corpus.

Significant Features of Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission

The noteworthy features of Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission are mentioned below-

• 1, 000 Scheduled Caste youth will be taken into consideration after getting recognized in the upcoming 4 Years with startup ideas via the TBIs (Expanded as Technology Business Incubators) in several higher educational institutions.
• They will convert their startup concepts into commercial ventures as they would get funded @ Rs. 30 lakhs in the time frame of 3 years as investment funding.
• Ventures that have attained phenomenal success would make strides and qualify for venture capital funding of around Rs. 5 crores from the Venture Capital Fund for SCs.
• Venture capital is a form of financial tool for companies that venture capitalists invest into those small businesses as well as startup companies that showcase the long-term potential of growth.

Eligibility Criteria

Under Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission, the following scheduled caste youth are eligible to receive support-

• Youth who are recognized by well-established and highly regarded private technology business incubators for incubation.
• Youth who have been picked out by the technology business incubators being encouraged as well as assisted by Department of Science & Technology.
• Students who have been felicitated with awards under the Smart India Hardware Hackathon or Smart India Hackathon being organized and monitored by the Ministry of Education.
• Start-ups nominated as well as assisted by corporates via CSR funds.
• Innovative ideas revolving around the socio-economic advancement of the society got recognized by technology business incubators. 

Objectives of Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission

Endeavoring to nurture the interest towards entrepreneurship in the hearts of socially underprivileged groups, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment brought the innovation-driven initiative known as Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission (ASIIM) under the cover of Venture Capital Fund for SCs.

The major value-rich objectives of this scheme are depicted below-

• To fund implementation of state-of-the-art startup ideas by students that falls under the category of Scheduled Castes and physically deprived students in the higher educational institutes of the nation.
• To foster entrepreneurship among the SC youth with unusual and unique preference to physically challenged ones.
• To incite SC category students with the innovative thought process and make them ride ahead on the chariot of entrepreneurship with confidence.
• To back and lend support to 1,000 innovative ideas till 2024 via a synergetic task with the TBIs (Expanded as Technology Business Incubators) established by Department of Science & Technology
• To promote, encourage, give wings to the start-up ideas and concepts till they move towards the commercial spotlight by granting liberal investment support.
• To generate new jobs and to lend a platform to SC youth to exhibit their entrepreneurial qualities in front of one and all
• To usher India on the route to socio-economic advancement by utilizing the capabilities of gen-next.  
• To grant concessional finance to the entities of the entrepreneurs who belong to Scheduled Castes.
• To transform the mindset of SC students by making them job-givers in place of job-seekers.
• To work as a tonic for the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji’s ‘Stand up India’ initiative.

Stand up India Initiative- A Brief Overview

The scheme anchored by the Indian government, Stand up India Initiative endeavors to grant fund-lending based support to women entrepreneurs and those who belong to SC/ST category of different regions of Indian society. The objective behind the emergence of this scheme is to foster entrepreneurship among women and SCs as well as STs. One of the most notable purposes behind the introduction of this initiative is to assist banks in granting loans between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 1 crore to at least one Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe applicant and one woman entrepreneur per bank branch in encouraging and supporting them so that they can kick start their own enterprises and become self-reliant. 

How to Apply for Loans under the Central Government’s Scheme Stand up India?

In order to apply for loans under Stand-Up India scheme, applicants must visit the nearest bank branch and ascertain whether 1-person quota for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe category or one woman entrepreneur per bank branch is available or not. If yes, he/she may proceed ahead for filling in and submitting the application form and necessary documents to apply for a loan under PM’s Stand-up India scheme. The application form may get downloaded from the link given below-

https://www.standupmitra.in/

Through Stand-up India Scheme, the Indian government is promoting economic empowerment and playing a significant role in job creation. The scheme is all set to benefit minimum 2.5 lakh borrowers through 1.25 lakh bank branches located nationwide. This scheme lends a digital platform to benefit entrepreneurs belonging to SC/ST category and women entrepreneurs through credit guarantee, handholding support and circulating in-depth information on financing. In addition to this, other services offered under the Stand-up India Scheme are training, guidance, mentorship, and skill development programmes for the all-round development of entrepreneurs.

Role of Aatmnirbhar Sena

As an Aatmnirbhar Sena, we are embracing the development-driven initiative known as Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission by Indian Government. With our relentless efforts, we are endeavouring to make this scheme an incredible success. We shall extend our full-fledged support and co-operation by furnishing essential service and creating awareness about the initiative among SCs students belonging to disadvantaged groups.

We shall lend our selfless services in the direction of spreading awareness so that the scheme must come into the knowledge of the maximum number of people. Our associate trainers and mentors would be a source of guidance for those who want to break the shackles of unemployment along with miseries of life.

To Wrap Up

Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission Initiative by Social Justice & Empowerment Minister Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot came into existence to foster entrepreneurship and promote innovation among the SCs youth. The scheme has brought a ray of sunshine in the lives of people belonging to families of poverty-stricken SCs as in the forthcoming years, they can think of making their mark in the world along with enjoying the privilege of being self-reliant.

At Aatmnirbhar Sena, we are endeavouring to make SC Youth understand the worth of Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission. Most importantly, experts and mentors associated with us are readily available to guide the SC youth and women entrepreneurs in the direction of paving their way amid the existing competition.