Over 120 organisations participate in ‘PRAYAAS’ to build new pathways for youths in India

New Delhi (India) : Udhyam Learning Foundation (Udhyam) held an invite-only conference on January 31 in New Delhi titled “Prayaas – Young Minds, New Possibilities” with the goal of releasing the potential of India’s youth. Prayaas aimed to inspire a shared awareness of the problems our country faces and a determination to work quickly to create new opportunities for our young people. Amazon and YuWaah both provided support for the event.

Some leaders including Mekin Maheshwari, Founder, Udhyam Learning Foundation; Priya Agarwal, Co-Founder & Director, Antarang Foundation; Akshay Saxena, Co-Founder, Avanti Fellows; Raj Gilda, Co-Founder, Lend A Hand India, and Aakash Sethi CEO, Quest Alliance addressed the media. Attending the event were change-makers, practitioners and leaders from over 120 of India’s top organisations including The Nudge Institute, Magic Bus, J-PAL, Tech Mahindra Foundation, STIR education, Nalanda Way, India Literacy Project, Dream-A-Dream, Kshamtalaya, Aflatoun, ACT grants, IndusAction, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Omidyar, Veddis, Urban Company, Harappa, Sattva, Commutiny, LabourNet, Dalberg, Meghshala, Amazon, Head Held High, The Education Alliance, Reap Benefit, Kaivalya Education Foundation, StateStreet, Delhi government school students, teachers and other independent people passionate about youth.

Speaking at the event, Hon. Shri. Manish Sisodia, Education Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, said, “Indian youth holds the key to the nation’s advancement. Motivating and enabling young people to become lifelong learners is of paramount importance. Pay attention to them and put your faith in them because they are the future innovators who will alter the course of human history. Those of us in enabling roles need to be more willing to take risks and try out novel approaches to transforming education before implementing them on a national scale. Leaders in all levels of government, as well as political leaders, must make education a top priority.

Prayaas is an initiative to bring together individuals and groups who share a concern for the lack of opportunities and pathways for young people in India to reach their full potential. The end result should be a thriving and supportive ecosystem in which everyone has the freedom to chart their own course. Mr. Mekin Maheshwari, Founder, Udhyam Learning Foundation, said, “At this event, we came together to reframe the issues related to education, skilling, and employment and commit to creating opportunities for our young people collectively.” Before “our demographic dividend disappears and turns into a demographic disaster,” he said, “more than ever, we need to accelerate change at scale: impacting 20-30% of India’s youth, and do it NOW.”

Udhyam Learning Foundation (Udhyam) vision is to “Co-create a caring world, where people fearlessly pursue their potential.” Udhyam believes that entrepreneurship is a powerful way to channelize an individual’s potential. Entrepreneurship enables agency and allows an individual to work on their strengths while creating value for the world.

The goal for Udhyam is to build a thriving and supportive ecosystem, where every individual feels empowered to define their path.