Transforming India Initiative: Niti Aayog’s social entrepreneurship fellowship programme

Under the IRMA and the Development Management Institute certified programme, 60 candidates will be shortlisted and mentored over two years with focus on experiential learning

Transforming India Initiative (TII), a unique two-year social entrepreneurship fellowship programme was recently introduced by ALC India (www.alcindia.org), a social enterprise. The programme is eligible for fresh graduates, who nurture entrepreneurial aspirations and young professionals who wish to make an impact in the country.

The programme has been designed to give the students in-depth entrepreneurial experience and practical knowledge of running a venture before they start their own undertakings. After completion of the programme, the fellows will receive incubation and funding support for a period of six years to set up profitable social enterprises. TII has received support from the National Institution for Transforming India, or NITI Aayog, and will be offered in partnership with the prestigious academic institutes—Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), and Development Management  Institute (DMI), Patna.

Talking of the fellowship programme, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, shares that entrepreneurship is an engine of economic and social change. It opens up opportunities for job and wealth creation for those in need. Hence, it is important that we equip the youth of this country to build social enterprises that will create value for the economy and the country. “I am sure that TII will be a pioneering initiative, which will encourage talented young people to join this programme. I am hopeful that initiatives, such as TII will set an example and will inspire them to contribute to the country and the larger society,” he says.

ALC India, a 12-year old social enterprise, has been incubating companies belonging to the economically marginalised sections. It was recently recognised by the NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission as an established incubation centre and received scale-up support of INR 10 crore to nurture social enterprises, and also the Transforming India Initiative (TII).

Announcing the launch of TII, Krishnagopal Grandhi, CEO, ALC India said, “In the current economic scenario, entrepreneurs are key to job creation. At the same time, they need to evolve solutions to address the most pressing challenges facing the country today. With the Transforming India Initiative, we are looking for talented youngsters, who have the passion and grit to become social entrepreneurs. We will help them with not just education but also with incubation support to set up their enterprises on completing the fellowship.”

USP of TII
•    Six month facilitated learning module, certified by IRMA, including practitioner interactions and reflection workshops
•    18-month experiential learning module certified by the DMI, Patna, where the fellows will work directly with the founders of social enterprises
•    End-to-end incubation support, including seed funding for setting up an enterprise, post fellowship. At the end of the programme, select entrepreneurs, as decided on merit by an independent committee, will receive a financial grant totaling INR 15 lac as seed fund for their social ventures
•    Each fellow will be placed with an enterprise in their preferred sector and be paired with a mentor, who is aligned to their interests and aspirations.
•    Fellows will be placed with a social enterprise, where they will work towards solving the enterprise’s real-world challenges and accelerate its growth. These social enterprises will be located in cities, such as Mangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Tirupathi, Bhubaneshwar and Visakhapatnam.
•    Post fellowship, ALC India will provide access to seed fund of INR 40 Crore, incubation space of 20,000 sq.ft, over 30 industry experts, and 350 partners.

The first batch will have an intake limit of 60 candidates. A graduate degree is the minimum requirement to apply for the programme. Graduates from any discipline, and professionals with work experience are eligible to apply.  Interested people of any age group are encouraged to join, and their experience will be taken into account during placement with an enterprise as part of the experiential learning module.

Each applicant will go through a four-step process involving online application, psychometric & aptitude test, telephonic interview and a two-day direct assessment. Interested candidates can learn more about the programme and apply online, on or before July 22.