15th edition of Jagriti Yatra will have participation of 510 youth and it will begin on 24th December at Mumbai
Bengaluru / Mumbai, NFAPost: Entrepreneur and PXL Athletics India Performance Manager Vignesh Vadivel (left) is on cloud nine to join the 15th edition of the annual Jagriti Yatra, which is said to be the world’s largest entrepreneurial journey that criss-crosses 12 cities and towns to ‘inspire the youth to find their calling and purpose in life’.
Jagriti Yatra, starting on 24th December, is an ambitious train journey of discovery and transformation that takes hundreds of India’s highly motivated youth, from all over India and world, on a 15 day, 8000 km national odyssey to meet the role models – social and business entrepreneurs – of the country.
Talking to NFAPost, PXL Athletics India CEO Bala Raju (right) said he is proud of Vignesh’s efforts to promote fitness wherever he goes. He is thrilled that Vignesh is joining the select group this year and of the very motive of the vision of Jagriti Yatra of ‘building India through enterprise’.
“Jagriti Yatra is a confluence of change-makers, leaders, problem-solvers and innovators. It focuses on the themes of Agriculture, Health, Technology, Handicraft and Apparel, Women Empowerment and Urbanization and interlinking entrepreneurship with nation-building,” said PXL ATHLETICS INDIA CEO Bala Raju.
Jagriti Yatra is gaining momentum at a time when India is going through a disruptive phase via technology innovation led by startups and entrepreneurs. Jagriti Yatra journeys along much of the outline of India revealing enterprising gems from tier I to tier III cities and promoting startups to unicorns.
Entrepreneur Vignesh is eagerly waiting to experience this 15 days trip across the length and breadth of the country.
“It gives an opportunity for youngsters LIKE ME to REFLECT on our career Choices and take Better decisionS. We will meet Fellow Yatra colleagues and role models who will inspire us throughout life. I am excited that we yatris will be celebrating this new year as part of a unique train journey – a very special moment to look forward to” said Entrepreneur and PXL ATHLETICS india performance MANAGER Vignesh.
The largest entrepreneurial journey Jagriti Yatra is taking place in its first physical format after two years. The 19-bogie special train will carry 510 young changemakers from across India. The journey will start on Saturday December 24, 2022 from Mumbai and is expected to touch Kanyakumari, Madurai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Berhampur, Rajgir, Deoria, Delhi, Tilonia and Ahmedabad, finally returning back to Mumbai on Sunday January 8, 2023.
Expressing his views on the journey, Jagriti Yatra Chief Operating Officer Chinmay Vadnere said Jagriti means awakening and the journey is to help them discover their calling.
“We are happy to onboard talented youngsters with An entreprenurial bend of mind as part of this exciting journey. Also, this is happening after a lull crearted by the pandemic. The train travels across India, but the passengers barely get to see the tourist spots. Instead, they meet changemakers at every stop,” said Jagriti Yatra Chief Operating Officer Chinmay Vadnere.
Set up under the non-profit Jagriti Sewa Sansthan in 1997 by Shashank Mani, Jagriti Yatra was conceived as a transformational journey to ‘build India through enterprise’ with a focus on the largely untouched demographic in the tier II and III cities.
The programme’s aim is also to make a difference in agriculture, education, healthcare, arts and sports through its participants – 7,000 plus so far. According to its impact study, 28 per cent of the yatris have turned entrepreneurs in the last 15 years, as the programme aims to generate 10 lakh jobs through one lakh enterprises by 2023.
Jagriti Yatra Chief Operating Officer Chinmay Vadnere said the selection process to discover gems from small India was highly elaborate this year.
“It is very exciting to note that we are receiving overwhelming response for Jagriti Yatra from across the country. This time we received around 25,000 applications and then came up with a final selected list of 510 candidates. Our selection process really made it possible to keep the diversity of age, competence, education, gender (40% women), socio-economic status, etc. so that we present an Indian microcosm,” says Jagriti Yatra Chief Operating Officer Chinmay Vadnere.
With this mission of ‘Building India through Enterprise’, Jagriti Yatra has created a unique model of bringing a national enterprise ecosystem to the service of entrepreneurs in Tier 2 & 3 districts of India, facilitated by an on-ground army of youth, called Udyam Corps along with the local physical infrastructure.
The development model is based on three pillars of Jagriti Yatra (JY), Jagriti Enterprise Network (JEN), and Jagriti Enterprise Centre (JEC).
The organising team members said a typical day begins with an early breakfast followed by a briefing of the day. By 10 am, they are meeting changemakers at different destinations. Post-lunch, they are back on the train and the participants divide themselves into groups to come up with solutions for problems and discuss them with 75 facilitators and 100 mentors. In the evening, the participants brainstorm and network.
This year, the yatris will meet Anshul Gupta, founder of Delh-based NGO Goonj, to learn about their fundraising process, and the team at Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, to understand how it manages to run a cross-subsidy system of eye care.
