AAP govt in Delhi to give ₹2,000 ‘seed money’ to over 3 lakh school students

The money, which has been increased from ₹1,000, will be given to each student as part of Delhi government’s ‘Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum’ launched in 2019.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Monday announced seed money of ₹2,000 for 350,000 students in as many as 1,000 government schools in the national capital under the ‘Seed Money Project’, an initiative by the Union territory’s government to build business skills in students.

Delhi Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said that the ‘Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum’ has made a huge difference in the last two years. (HT Photo)

The announcement was part of Delhi government’s ‘Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum’ that was launched in 2019 with the goal to prepare school-leaving children as job providers rather than job seekers.

“This curriculum has made a huge difference in the last two years. A child started making masks, another started teaching yoga. A 12th pass girl, Kajal has created her own accounting company and is giving jobs to 20 people, she has a turnover of ₹15 lakhs. An important component of this curriculum is the Seed Money Project,” he told news agency ANI.

Sisodia, who is also Delhi’s education minister, said that the project was started in a school in Khichdipur. He noted that a total of 41 children of the school commenced seed money investment by forming nine groups and all of them are “running in profit.”

“This is important because, in our country, the solution to unemployment is found politically,” he was quoted as saying.

When the initiative began in 2019, the students of the Khichdipur school were given ₹1,000 each as ‘seed money’ under the pilot project. On Monday, Sisodia announced that the amount has been increased to ₹2,000 each and that it will be implemented in all government schools.