Prakarti Walia

A majority of the workforce in developing countries is self-employed or engaged in low-paying work. The lack of wage and salary employment opportunities is the cause of expanding unemployment and poverty. 

Entrepreneurship is an obvious solution to address these issues. It promotes employment, improves earning opportunities and reduces poverty. Entrepreneurship makes a positive contribution to economic growth and development, creates jobs and empowers women. Interventions to promote entrepreneurial activities should be implemented with an objective to improve the livelihood of vulnerable sections by teaching them relevant skills to set up their own enterprise and then expand their business. 

Social sector organizations such as Turn the Bus can make an impact by introducing livelihood and entrepreneurship opportunities to the unprivileged. Turn the Bus’s livelihood program focuses on providing the practical skills needed to set up an enterprise. The picture in focus is from the team's Bihar visit in March 2022, in discussion with the Jeevika didis who are successfully running a Solar enterprise in Gaya, Bihar. There needs to be more focus on training people in the skills needed to create a sustainable livelihood for themselves and subsequently for others.