Harshav Raj and (above) Ravi Shankar. Picture by Jai Prakash

Two students from Bihar who have made it to IIT-Kharagpur are now on a mission to encourage students in the city to explore entrepreneurship as a career option.

Patna resident Harshav Raj, 20, studies geo-physics at IIT-Kharagpur, while Ravi Shankar, 19, is pursuing BTech in electrical engineering. Members of the entrepreneurship cell of the premier tech cradle, the two of them are exploring the possibility of organising an entrepreneurship awareness camp in the city later this year.

According to the website of the entrepreneurship cell, it is a “non-profit student professor body dedicated to the promotion of student start-ups and promotion of entrepreneurships” at IIT-Kharagpur and outside. The entrepreneurship awareness drive, which began in 2009, is its flagship event comprising 20 guest lectures and workshops across the country in October.

“Students of IIT are considered to be the cream of society. After graduating, once they start working in a company, they hardly get any opportunity to explore or innovate. This awareness drive helps students of IITs and other institutions to start their own companies,” said Shankar, who hails from Motihari in East Champaran.

He added: “Initially, they may face problems but entrepreneurship is a rewarding career choice. The drive has been very successful in Dehradun, Indore, Jabalpur, Guwahati and Rourkela, where students were not aware of entrepreneurship as a career choice.”

Raj said: “Students would get an opportunity to hear entrepreneurs from their city who have made it big in their respective fields.”

The date of the event has not been finalised but it would be held between October 10 and 31 at LN Mishra Institute of Economic Development and Social Change. Last year, the drive was held at IIT-Patna and 200 students had taken part. This year, Raj and Shankar have planned to invite IIT-Kharagpur alumni Manish Kumar, who has started Farms n Farmers, an organisation that helps farmers with end-to-end (field to market) solutions. Another speaker would be Kaushlendra Kumar, a passout of IIM-Ahmedabad and the founder of brand Samriddhi vegetable chain.