Centre Releases Start-Up Policy, Gives Student Freedom To Incubate Ideas

The Centre has come up with a ‘national innovation and start-up policy’ to encourage development of a healthy start-up ecosystem in higher educational institutes in the country.

A 15-member panel, which drafted the policy, has underlined that the aim is to create an educational framework which is guided towards creating opportunities for start-ups and entrepreneurship both for students and faculty members.

The panel, headed by IIT Madras professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala, said that India needs to nurture its present demographic dividend into high quality technical human resource if it aspires to become a five trillion-dollar economy by 2024.

Students as entrepreneurs:

One of the key recommendations of the committee is that if a student is pursuing a start-up simultaneously with academics, he/she should be allowed to sit for the examination, even if their attendance is less than the minimum permissible percentage.

The institute should allow their students to take a semester/year break to work on their start ups and re-join academics to complete the course. Student entrepreneurs may earn academic credits for their efforts while creating an enterprise. Institute should set up a committee for the review of the start up by students, and based on the progress made, it may consider giving appropriate credits for academics.

The institute should also explore the provision of accommodating the entrepreneurs within the campus for some period of time.

Faculty members as entrepreneurs:

The committee has recommended allowing the faculty and staff a year sabbatical or  unpaid leave, casual leave, earned leave for working on startups. Institution should consider allowing use of its resource to faculty/students/staff wishing to establish start up as a fulltime effort. The seniority and other academic benefits during such period may be preserved for such staff or faculty members.

Introducing start-up enabled courses:

A key recommendation for the institutes is to start part-time or full-time MS, MBA or PGDM in innovation, entrepreneurship and venture development where one can get a degree while incubating and nurturing a startup company.

Significantly, the committee has said that an institute may take 2 per cent to 9.5 per cent equity or stake in the startup company in return for the services provided for incubation of the venture on the campus.

Observation: 

“The best universities around the world have evolved sound mechanisms for promoting and managing innovations. I believe that the ‘Guidelines on National Innovation and Startup Policy 2019’ will provide the required direction and support to a large number of universities and its affiliated institutions in India on handling Intellectual Property Rights, innovations and startup related issues,” UGC Chairman D P Singh was quoted as saying by media.