Harvard South Asia Institute, Tata Trusts conclude project on 'Livelihood Creation in India'

The event showcased an overview of ‘Livelihood Creation in India’ that focuses on three key areas: Rural Livelihood Creation in the handicrafts and handloom sectors; Educational, Social and Economic Empowerment of Women; and Science and Technology-based Social Entrepreneurship.

The keynote address was given by Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.

The project aimed at filling the capacity gaps through residential workshops jointly conducted by Harvard Faculty and in-region experts.

The workshop on science and technology based social entrepreneurship was conducted in collaboration with IIT Delhi and focused on diverse themes including business perspectives to social entrepreneurship, perspectives from the government, design for success and impact, perspectives from the industry, and leveraging external resources.

Over 25 social entrepreneurs from 14 states were shortlisted for this workshop.

A vital part of this project was to stimulate interventions and scale up existing initiatives that can lead to greater impact in select geographies. Social innovation grants totalling INR 50 lakhs were given to 12 budding social entrepreneurs and crafts enterprises in India to achieve this objective.

Delhi-based Smart Joules, a social enterprise that aims at eliminating wasted energy in India, was one such grantee that received support and mentorship as part of the project on Science and Technology based Social Entrepreneurship. The organization deploys various energy efficient technologies that reduce energy consumption in commercial buildings.

Shashank Shah, Visiting Scholar, Harvard Business School and Project Director and Fellow Harvard University SAI, who led the project said, “It has been an enriching experience to lead the project. Smart Joules has a vision and commitment in working towards bringing more than 300 million Indians out of energy poverty. Harvard SAI is happy to support them in their passion and technology-based ideas to create a cleaner society.”

Professor Tarun Khanna, Director, Harvard University South Asia Institute; Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School; and Chairman, NITI Aayog Expert Committee on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Government of India, and Faculty Chair of this project, shared the project findings and outcomes, at the event. Speaking on the occasion, he said, “The South Asian Region is a laboratory for entrepreneurship, technological advancement and cultural diversity. The Harvard SAI consistently makes efforts to use its multi-disciplinary faculty expertise to contribute to India and the region with research-based learning and interventions.”

“The core objective at Tata Trusts," said Ganesh Neelam, Head, Technology and Innovations, Tata Trusts; and Director, Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives (CInI) & Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (FISE) “is ‘making a sustainable difference in the quality of life’ for communities we work with. Science and technology play a critical role in resolving the challenges faced by them and the Trusts’ collaboration with Harvard University SAI is a step towards identifying some of the best possible technology solutions, to address barriers being faced in the areas of livelihoods, healthcare and education to name a few. With the key focus being scalable social impact, this programme brings together multi-sectoral strengths to create a platform for capacity elevation and innovation across the country."

“Tata Trusts have historically supported visionary individuals and organizations with the passion to promote India's rich crafts and their potential for creating dignified livelihoods for our artisans. This collaborative effort with Harvard University SAI is an effort to build an engaging network of organizations that share a common purpose to rejuvenate India’s crafts and its practicing artisan communities with the intent to deliver catalytic economic and social impact. Social entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations and artisan collectives came together under this unique program to learn from each other, get mentoring, pitch innovative ideas and receive seed funding to fund a passion project. The intent was to create an enriching experience for key players in the sector to help deliver resilient and sustained impact in artisan communities they work with,” said Reshma Anand, Head Partnerships, Strategy and Crafts, Tata Trusts.

Later, two panel discussions followed. The first one was on Rural Livelihood Creation in the Indian Crafts Sector, anchored by Dr. Vandana Bhandari, Former Dean and Professor National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi. The second on ‘Science and Technology Based Social Entrepreneurship’ was anchored by Professor Tarun Khanna.