Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Kashmir (CUK) Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir Thursday asked the students to think of entrepreneurial ventures instead of only looking for government jobs. He said that students should use their capabilities to become job-givers rather than job-seekers. Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir was speaking at the inaugural function of the two-day Entrepreneurship Summit, organized by the Department of Tourism Studies, Central University of Kashmir (CUK), at the Varsity’s Nowgam Campus-I, here on Thursday.
Appreciating young entrepreneurs of the Valley, which also include students of the varsity, Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir said that these young people deserve special appreciation that, after braving all odds, they started their own ventures and carved out a niche for themselves. He said, “They achieved success in their endeavors because of their dedication, which would not have been possible without the determination and sincere commitment.” Prof. Mir further said, “Due to our mindset, we usually prefer government jobs instead of setting up of own business ventures, that mindset needs to be changed.”
He also thanked the valley based entrepreneurs in the tourism sector for taking part in the two-day summit. The Vice -Chancellor suggested the concerned department to come up with ideas of replacing the theory papers with fieldwork, which will give the first-hand experience to aspiring entrepreneurs.
In his keynote speech, Regional Coordinator, Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute, Arif Ahmad Khan shared statistics of rising unemployment in the state due to lack of entrepreneurial trait among the youth. He said that to identify the problems in the society and come up with a solution is the best way for generating innovative ideas. He also said that there are almost fifty schemes running in the State for providing financial assistance to those who want to be the entrepreneurs but lack financial strength.
Former Director General, Jammu and Kashmir Tourism, Director INTACH (JK chapter), and adjunct faculty, DTS, CUK, Saleem Beg in his speech said that our notion about entrepreneurship is to replace unemployment and to diverge attention of youth from government jobs to entrepreneurship; this, however, should not be the case instead entrepreneurship should be a full-fledged professional field with passion and commitment to make it a career option. He also stressed to find innovative products in tourism sector, like cultural tourism, identifying the villages and towns having a specific identity to offer to tourists.
Head and Dean, DTS, CUK, Prof. Syed Fayyaz Ahmad, earlier welcomed all the entrepreneurs present in the event and thanked the higher authorities of the varsity for supporting in organizing such events. He also said that it is not possible to learn about tourism entrepreneurship without having the academia-industry interface and it is just a step in that direction.
Assistant Professor, DTS, CUK and Program coordinator Faizan Ashraf Mir, briefed about the different technical sessions based on different themes, which according to him will be followed in the two-day summit. The program proceedings were conducted by Assistant Professor, DTS, CUK, Asra Zahoor Wani and vote of thanks was presented by Assistant Professor Shahnaz Akhtar.
Many prominent entrepreneurs of the Valley attended the inaugural function which included Roohi Nazki of Chai Jai, Syed Mujtaba Rizvi of Zero Bridge Fine Dine, Arifa Jan , a woman entrepreneur and Umer Imtiyaz and Kamran of Winterfell Café, Travel Agents Abdul Rashid from Alkhudam, Shamim Shah from Shah Tours, Basharat Rashid from Taj Vivanta and Syed Zulfiqar Ali from Four Points by Sheraton and Irfan Yaqoor Mir from Ahad Hotels, Mehran Aslam from Athwaas Event Co and Mumin Bhatt from Captured Illusions.
