By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Doon University on Monday organized a one-day Entrepreneurship Orientation Programme for students of the Department of Geography under the Devbhoomi Udyamita Yojana (DUY), encouraging them to explore entrepreneurship, innovation, and self-employment as career opportunities.
An initiative of the Higher Education Department, Government of Uttarakhand, implemented by the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), DUY aims to nurture entrepreneurial thinking among students and familiarize them with the resources, mentoring, and institutional support available for establishing their own ventures.
Prof. Surekha Dangwal, Vice-Chancellor, Doon University, emphasized the potential of Uttarakhand’s youth to transform local challenges into entrepreneurial opportunities and create livelihoods for themselves and others. She highlighted the responsibility of universities to equip students with the knowledge, confidence, and support required to turn promising ideas into meaningful enterprises.
She further emphasized that higher education institutions must prepare students for leadership, innovation, enterprise creation, and problem-solving alongside employment. She reiterated Doon University’s commitment to promoting creativity, self-reliance, and an entrepreneurial outlook among its students.
The programme was organized under the guidance of Prof. B. S. Bisht, Head of the Department of Geography, Doon University. He emphasized the importance of exposing students to emerging career opportunities and connecting their academic knowledge with practical and innovative solutions. Geography provides a valuable foundation for exploring entrepreneurial opportunities in sustainable tourism, geospatial services, environmental management, and rural development.
Prof. Sudhanshu Joshi, DUY Nodal Officer, Doon University, explained that entrepreneurship involves identifying problems, developing innovative solutions, and creating social and economic value. He highlighted that DUY provides students with awareness, guidance, mentoring, and institutional support to help them convert promising ideas into sustainable ventures. He encouraged students to explore opportunities linked to Uttarakhand’s local resources and community needs.
Dr. Pallavi Upreti, Department of Geography, highlighted the relevance of geographical knowledge and skills to emerging entrepreneurial areas and local development challenges. She emphasized that appropriate training, mentoring, and institutional support can help students translate innovative ideas into startups and self-employment initiatives.
The orientation session was conducted by Ms. Sapna Negi, Project Officer, DUY, who introduced students to entrepreneurial thinking, identification of business opportunities, startup development, self-employment, and institutional support mechanisms available to aspiring entrepreneurs.
The interactive session encouraged students to identify local problems and explore innovative solutions with social and economic value. Students actively participated in the discussions and expressed keen interest in entrepreneurship, startup development, and self-employment opportunities.
The programme concluded with a call to strengthen young people’s participation in entrepreneurship and innovation, nurture an entrepreneurial culture within universities, and enable students to become job creators contributing to the economic development of Uttarakhand.