The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) announced its association with Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) with an aim to provide students (UG and PG) with internship opportunities and build entrepreneurial skills.

The programme was started with welcome address of dignitaries by Dr Amit Kumar Srivastava, Director, Student Development Cell, AICTE New Delhi. Prof. Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE, and Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chairman, KVIC, announced the partnership during a webinar that was organised today by AICTE. The webinar was organised with an aim to understand the role of KVIC in making India and its villages self-reliant and how faculty members of the AICTE and the students can become entrepreneurs at a local level and provide employment to thousands of skilled and unskilled labour in the vicinity.

For internship opportunities, students can get in touch with KVIC state/ divisional offices and on selection will get to work across different departments of their interest. Additionally, the internship opportunities with KVIC will also be uploaded on AICTE internship portal. Under the programme, the students will also be paid a stipend of Rs. 5,000/ month during the internship period. KVIC is also planning to roll out a scholarship programme for students to undertake research projects on its multiple schemes.

Commenting during the webinar, Prof. Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE, said: “I am delighted to announce our partnership with KVIC would benefit our students. KVIC draws inspiration from Gandhi Ji. We talk about Atmanirbhar Bharat and it shall become Atmanirbhar in true sense when all the villages, talukas, districts, and states become self-reliant. That’s why Gandhi Ji always talked about Gram Swaraj. Today India is a giant in the ITES industry. Now time has come to ensure how we can help villages through ITES and make them more self-reliant and promote entrepreneurship.”

An elated Shri. Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chairman, KVIC, said that the internship programme will help students gain valuable experience through challenging projects. “KVIC has a lot of platforms through which students can connect. I will urge all the faculty members and the students to work towards the upliftment of the country through the multiple schemes that KVIC runs across the country. KVIC has always taken on challenging initiatives. I will urge students not to think too much about being job takers but believe in becoming job givers through their entrepreneurial skills,” said Mr. Saxena. Detailing the process, Mr. Saxena said that interested students can reach out to KVIC State/ Divisional offices in different cities for internship opportunities.

“KVIC is offering a project for internship for all the students. The students can gain access to different departments of KVIC be it marketing or manufacturing as per their interest. The students will be paid a stipend of Rs.5000/month during the internship period. We are also planning to roll out a scholarship programme for research scholars who would work on different projects and schemes of KVIC,” Mr. Saxena added.

At the end of programme, vote of thanks was delivered by Ms. Sanju Chaudhary, Assistant Director, Student Development Cell, AICTE New Delhi.