Boston Pledge announces young entrepreneurship awards

Kolkata, Sept 05 (UNI) Boston Pledge, a USA-based non-profit organisation, today awarded ten young entrepreneurs, two of them women, for providing unique business proposals in a nationwide competition, organised by various Indian Chambers of Commerce.

Speaking at the award presentation ceremony, organised in association with Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry(BNCCI), Boston Pledge Chairman Partha Ghosh said the ten best entrepreneurship proposals, each carrying a cash prize of 5,000 dollars, were selected from more than 50,000 entries received from all across the country during the past one year.

Claiming that each of the awarded business plan was unique in their own way, Mr Ghosh said the five-member jury, all noted industrialists from India and the USA, had a tough time in picking up right candidates for the top ten positions.

Elaborating further, he said while one entrepreneur from Burdwan district in West Bengal had put up a unique proposal for alternative use of plastic bags, a 22-year-old farmer from Andhra Pradesh suggested a very useful gotary programme and another from Jharkhand had made detailed presentation of his idea on better use of ayurvedic and herbal produces.

Of the two women, chosen for the coveted awards, one was from Kolkata - Krishna Saha - who had suggested diversified use of solar energy, including that for production of ayurvedic medicines. The other lady hailing from Mumbai and presently run a small scale handicraft unit employing more than 50 women in her enterprise, suggested a unique programme for the printing industry through better use of colours and ink.

Also speaking on the occasion, West Bengal Minister for Self Help Group and Self Employment lauded the pioneering efforts of Boston Pledge in bringing out the best of entrepreneurship ideas from the unsung heroes of the country.

She also called for similar efforts from other organisations both in the country and abroad to boost the sense of pride and entrepreneurship among the general public and take up similar programes in association with various state governments.

Among others, state Tourism and Small Scale Industries Secretary G D Goutama and BNCCI president N Pal Chowdhury spoke on the occasion.

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