Telangana Govt, UNICEF Launch Innovation Program for College Students in TS

Hyderabad: In the lines of engaging the college youth of the state for solving rural problems, Government of Telangana through Telangana State Innovation Cell (TSIC), Education Dept., UNICEF India, Inqui-Lab Foundation, and Yuwaah, curated the program Youth for Social Impact. The first-of-its-kind program brings together undergraduate youth to address ground-level social issues of our society through human-centric designs and develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

Shri. Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary, ITE&C, and Shri, Sandeep Kumar Sultania, IAS, Secretary to Government, Education Dept., along with Meital Rusdia, Chief Field Officer for Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, UNICEF India, launched the poster of the program and called out all the students from Technical and Degree colleges to innovate for the grassroots. Also present at the launch are representatives from Telangana State Innovation Cell (TSIC), UNICEF India, and Inqui-Lab Foundation, and Yuwaah.

Shri. Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary to ITE&C, said, “Government of Telangana has always prioritized holistic skilling of college students. Youth for Social Impact is another programmatic approach to empower college students through human-centric design thinking for building solutions for rural people. This collaboration with UNICEF India is a testimony to the State’s efforts in sustaining the culture of innovation at all the levels of a student’s growth.”

Dr. Shanta Thoutam, Chief Innovation Officer to the State, said, “Be it any demographics, school children, college students, rural youth, women, farmers etc., TSIC's aim is to inculcate design thinking and innovation mindset in them. TSIC, along with the Education Dept., UNICEF India, Inqui-Lab Foundation, and Yuwaah, ensures college students both technical and non-technical across Telangana undergo human-centric design thinking in a programmatic way to shift primary focus from merely building products to empathizing with users, identifying issues at grassroots, and ideating, creating, & piloting sustainable innovations for the same.”

Meital Rusdia, Chief Field Officer for Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, UNICEF India, said, "UNICEF is happy to formally launch comprehensive programme to promote innovation amongst the Youth of Telangana in partnership with Higher Education Dept of Telangana State, TSIC, and Inqui-Lab Foundation. The programme is designed based on the learnings from the prestigious School Innovation Challenge across 33 districts of the state. This program will strengthen the Education-Employment linkages for youth in the state alongside building sustainable social enterprises and entrepreneurs."

Vivek Piddempally, Director, Inqui-Lab Foundation, said, "Youth for Social Impact is one of its kind opportunities for the young aspiring changemakers of Telangana. It provides holistic support for students who want to make an impact with their innovative ideas, right from knowledge and skilling courses to mentorship support for building solutions. All these are done in an immersive manner with exposure to the grassroots. We are confident that this program would unleash the innovation potential of Telangana. It is an honor for us to partner with TSIC and UNICEF again, this time to nurture our youth."