KISS-DU Organizes Session on ‘Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Tribal Areas
Biju Patnaik Research Chair and Centre for Indigenous Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship, KISS-DU, organized a session on ‘Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Tribal Areas’ to pay tribute to legendary Biju Patnaik on his death anniversary on 17th April 2022.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Dr. Prashanta Kumar Routray, Registrar, KISS-DU, said that entrepreneurship is the actual requirement in the ecosystem of KISS-DU. He also explained the aims and objectives behind establishing the Biju Patnaik Research Chair at KISS-DU. Paresh Sabar, a Post Graduate student of KISS-DU, shared Biju Patnaik’s legacy at the inaugural session.
Addressing the Technical Session, Dr. Subrat Kumar Biswal, Regional Head, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), spoke about entrepreneurship in the context of the tribal population. Supporting his deliberation with statistical data, he shared that till now, only 2% of the tribal population has registered in UDYAM. He highlighted the contributions of Biju Patnaik, as an architect of modern Odisha. Agriculture, Food Processing, Art, Culture, Crafts, Tourism, Forest-based Entrepreneurship, and Mines and Minerals are some of the possible areas for developing an entrepreneurial ecosystem in tribal regions, Dr. Biswal said.
Mr. Subashis Das delivering at the Techincal Session 
Unveiling the books authored by Dr. Preetinanda Roy 
Dr. Subrat Biswal being felicitated 
Dr. Snigdharani Panda offering a Vote of Thanks 
Snippets from the Session 
Students attending the session
In an interactive session with the students, Mr. Subhasis Das, Branch Manager, National Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe Hub (NSSH), National Small Scale Corporation Limited (NSIC), spoke about the requirement of entrepreneurship in tribal areas, which included the possible areas of scope and partnership. He stressed women entrepreneurship and highlighted some of the schemes and policies related to start-ups and entrepreneurship.
Earlier, two books titled ‘Poetry for Language Learning’ and ‘Language through Literature – A Pragmatic Approach for Tribal Learners’ by Dr. Preetinanda Roy, Assistant Professor, English Programme, School of Comparative Tribal Languages and Literatures, KISS-DU, were released by the guests and senior functionaries. Both the books have been written in the context of KISS, wherein the focus is to develop teaching pedagogy for tribal learners. Further, these books will provide valuable information regarding the linguistic problems of the tribals in learning English and their elimination. Professor Ashok K. Mohapatra, Senior Professor English Programme, KISS-DU made a formal introduction on the books written by Dr. Roy.
The Technical Session witnessed an inspiring question and answer by the students, which was moderated and facilitated by Dr. Snigdharani Panda, Director Centre for Indigenous Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship, KISS-DU.