If we want India to become global economic power, we need to realise the entrepreneurship potential in villages and smaller cities, Rahul Dev; adviser to Speakers' Research Initiative of Lok Sabha said during the inaugural session of 'Empresario' the annual start-up conclave of Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
"70 per cent of country's startups are located in Banglore. IT revolution of India is has affected only 0.5 per cent of the work force, which has good command over English. If we can de-bottleneck the potential of the rest of the countrymen, we can truly become top economy in the world," said Rahul Dev.
He lamented on the fact that lack of working knowledge of English has deprived a significant majority of people of the support system available to their 'English speaking peers'. Citing Indian history, he said that India's share in global trade was about 25 per cent before British occupation of India but dropped to about half a per cent at the time of India's independence from British rule. "This was inspite of people not knowing English like the way Indians have command over English nowadays. They knew their language, they knew the language of their clients. But now, if someone does not know English, he or she will face inferiority complex," he said.
Co-founder and CEO of Surat-based Harikrishna Exports, Savjibhai Dholakia said that employees are key to success and if entrepreneurs take proper care of employees, the later will take care of the company. He urged students and startup gathered at EDII to be decisive and not bogged down by the burden of what others will think or whether they will succeed or not. "See whether it hurts the country. See if it hurts the community. See if it hurts you. If the answer is no, take a plunge. You will definitely succeed," said Dholakia. He also urged youth to have one skill and the job, business and money will come searching for them.
