“Economic revolution is only possible when people are confident” as said economic development is ascribed to people’s confidence where they are the key players. Their aspiration and will to progress is an essential factor that triggers the change of social and economic revolution. From the past practices, it shows that in any state of economy’s ups and downs, market can be stabilized only by the efforts and confidence of the public. To make an economy sustainable, you don’t have to inject additional funds or resources, you have to use the available human man power or skills and use the resources available gaining the confidence of people in creating better job opportunities. Especially, in a condition like Nepal where we are squashed in between two economic giants, the prospect of progress is inevitable but due to lack proper policies and ridged system, Nepal’s economic condition is depleting making it list in the world’s least developed countries which focuses toward the uncertainties and lack of proper leadership and vision.
Like such, these days a new school workshop has started which is setting new standards of challenging the years of theoretical book knowledge with just five days of enriching capsules of practical knowledge.
Arthalaya a dose of entrepreneurial training deals with the practical aspect of normal business world entailing the concept of reality in action. It is a five days workshop residential school organized by Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation where 24 participants ranging from 18-28 years are selected through open application with minimum a commitment fee of NRP 4999 (USD 75 Approximate).
The five days of session includes practical elements involved in pursuing a business encompassing varieties of activities like guest lectures, outdoor games, debates/discussion, documentary screenings, field researches, simulation exercise and mock businesses. The school also highlights practical topics like Rule of Law, real life business pressure, role of government, policy issues and investing opportunities. Another major objective of Arthalaya is to establish Entrepreneurs’ Club in schools and colleges. The club is a group of students who have the eagerness to learn and stay updated on contemporary issues of entrepreneurship. It is also about developing capacity among the students and the club members to be a successful entrepreneur in future. Most often, it is a follow up to Arthalaya to institutionalize and give continuity to the learning and knowledge gained during Arthalaya.
Gaurav Rijal, 11 batch graduate of the Arthalaya, said, “I’m an IT student before I joined Arthalaya, I had no idea about how business was done or what wore its pros and cons. The basic thing about entrepreneurship is not just theoretical knowledge, its practicability and adaptation with the available resources and that’s what is taught in Arthalaya. One of the most important things that I learned from there was I learned the time value of action and how and when it should be initiated. Right Time and action is everything in business. Everything has a right time if it’s ignored or lacked it loses its opportunity value where the key point of understanding the problem and initiating are the playing factors. It is said that everything is possible when you believe in one-self and your skills and it comes true. May be or not that’s a crucial question that can have both pros and cons but when you seriously think about it, then its true that your capabilities are your strength. When you are confident you can perform the necessary actions for achieving your goals.”
“Freedom of thinking is very important when you do anything; the perspective of looking at things differently is an important aspect. Like said every problem has its solution just like that every problem can be made a solution in terms of entrepreneurship which needs to be well understood and worked on,” added Rijal.
Nepal is currently going through an economic depletion where most of the industries are facing problems either due to political instability or lack of effective policies, the situation is worsening. Moreover, the unions and labor problems have further obliterated the situation. In a situation like this entrepreneurship in Nepal with traditional approach and orthodox thinking is certainly struggling and searches for new radical approaches where Arthalaya with its practicality certainly rules in.
Pratima Pathak, 10 batch graduate of Arthalaya, says “I was unaware of the fact about how the real world worked. Arthalaya gave me a proper vision to see through where today I stand tall with pride to see the opportunities scattered and I want to bring change in my society on my own terms and conditions. Currently I’m doing my BSC but I aspire to be a social entrepreneur where Arthalaya certainly has given me an edge. Previously before joining Arthalaya, I was naïve and unaware of the conditions and situations. I had limited thinking and I knew what books had told me and I was very limited but Arthalaya gave me a new practical approach towards life and toward the way I looked at things, my life changed instantly. It brought dynamics to my thinking capacity and now I’m more of an open person who can and has the ability to understand and interpret the happenings around. The greatest knowledge that I received from Arthalaya was you don’t have to think big, it can be a small that can help you prosper but you have to be smart in allocating and manipulating the resources accordingly.”
“To address problem is creating opportunity. For conducting business you need to have a different approach that’s what I learnt in Arthalaya,” added Pathak.
The World Bank has projected Nepal’s economic growth to be at four percent this year. The GDP in current prices for Nepal in year 2010 is $15.10 billion. The World Economic Outlook 2011 report shows Nepal’s ranks to be in 108th position in world rankings according to GDP of 2010. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) projected 3.8 per cent growth for 2011. The ADB had projected inflation at 10 percent but the World Economic Outlook 2011 has projected the price-hike to be at 9.9 percent. In such scenario economic revolution can only be achieved by highly esteemed human resource with better visionary capacity and better investing opportunities where the role and scope of government is formidable. But due to priorities of the government’s attention the entrepreneurship sector in Nepal has been limited and transcending accordingly to theoretical text books.
Prakash Karna, Arthalaya graduate of 10 batch said, “I was always confused about my career goals in life where uncertainties and lack of proper supervision always ruled in and I was moving nowhere. Arthalaya happened to me and now my visions are clear. Previously, it was so blurred; Arthalaya taught me that you have to learn from your experiences and further initiate things utilizing time value power.”
Sharing his experience he said, “I had started a business prior joining Arthalaya but it was not doing well. After the classes, I could see technicalities about where I was lacking. Now I have corrected those errors and the business is booming. I know people complain a lot and they talk about what is not there but what about the things that are available. We just need to think positive and go ahead with proper efforts and things do work.”
“Arthalaya helped me to realize the common understanding of spending power and usability of resources where entrepreneurship always leans toward Capitalism rather than communism” added Karna.
The International Financial Corporation and World Bank has ranked Nepal in 116 position this year in its data sheet “Ease of Doing Business" out of 183 economies where Nepal had secured 112 position last year. The depleting position shows the lack of proper human resource, limited business opportunities, stingy rules and regulation, political instability, corporate responsibility etc.
Arpita Nepal, Research Manager at Samriddhi-The prosperity Foundation, said, “Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation being a public policy institute works towards achieving its mission through three-tier approach; Research & Publication, Education & Training, Public Outreach & Advocacy. Our education system is tradition and orthodox and with Arthalaya, we wanted to bring a twist in it. We wanted to give something new to the people that would be practically and benefit them, so we started Arthalaya. Starting Arthalaya was not a problem but turning people’s attitude around was a big problem and we are still working on it. Basically, we believe entrepreneurs are the people who manage resources and who have visions that’s what we focus in Arthalaya. We all have different capacities but we ignore that, at Arthalaya we train candidates to realize their potentiality and to work in coordination with the available resources. The basic idea behind Arthalaya is there are resources and opportunities available everywhere, the question comes about what am I doing about it? In Arthalaya we not only train and teach the candidates to be confidence and to see the opportunities but alternately we also train them to be an entrepreneur and face the problem. Most part of the Arthalaya is focused towards fixed terms like taxation, policy discussion and market situation where they know how hard it is to be an entrepreneur. We also provide our graduates with options of giving opportunity with our connection and also facilitate them within the resources available in our network. Another option that they can opt to is, we offer internships in research policy and interested graduates can enroll themselves for further participation in learning and facilitating their knowledge.”
“Currently at Samriddhi -The Prosperity is working at two levels. At individual level of providing and strengthening the human resource and another level we are working with entrepreneurs to strengthening the policy level. Our activism is not limited, where projects like Livable Nepal Project , Democracy is project are some of the examples of what we are doing in Nepal,” added Nepal.
To be or not to be is not a question but to mark your presence in creating your own option is. Thus, showing new vision to new career options to youth toward entrepreneurship is certainly credible which in long run will give fruitful results. But looking at such prospective and potential field the ignorance shown from the government side is very discouraging. With such prospect and resources scattered if only we could produce an entrepreneur from each household then it would certainly relieve the current problem of unemployment. Following the limited infrastructure and policy mechanism the government of Nepal has certainly neglected this sector which cannot be justified. As said future holds the key just like that being optimistic and hoping for the best is certainly the option where we can praise and cherish the achievement of Arthalaya that it has initiated. It has started a new legacy of entrepreneurs who are equipped and skilled with proper knowledge and visions to deal with problems in justifying their opportunities.
Shreedeep Rayamajhi
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