With the economy on a downswing, entrepreneurial opportunities for young and seasoned innovators alike have got further squeezed. Not that the situation was very rosy to begin with, for there was hardly any fund even earlier to invest in creative ideas of students, self-employed people or professionals who had the big ideas, and sometime even the proof of concept that could make a difference. 

Despite numerous attempts, I could not convince members of the National Innovation Council that instead of investing in companies, the proposed India Inclusive Innovation Fund should really invest in early-stage ideas to unleash the power of inclusive and social innovations in the country. Majority of the so-called angel funds have very seldom invested in hard technologies or other such initiatives.

It is obvious, therefore, that every well-meaning and socially committed individual will have to come together to create such a fund. No good idea should remain unexplored.

I have discussed this with some colleagues in Honey Bee Network and outside – about each one of us contributing some amount to create such a fund. It is a pity that in the land of entrepreneurship and major social movements, socially relevant ideas of open and inclusive innovation should find it so difficult to take off. Of more 50 Gandhian young technological innovation awards given by the NGO SRISTI, and handed over by Dr RA Mashelkar, in the last two years, hardly any idea has got traction so far. 

Similarly, there are ideas about creating open source multimedia, multi-language content for schoolchildren. We know that some of the most disadvantaged children go to municipal and government schools in rural and urban areas. While there are many motivated teachers, an equally large number do not pay attention to the varying learning needs of children coming from different backgrounds. We may not be able to get outstanding teachers at every school but we can ensure outstanding content in every school. 

The innovators and entrepreneurs who will get such content made by the students of NID, IIT, IIM, CEPT, PRL, ISRO, GTU and other institutions would need to be supported for ensuring that each school gets open source content of highest quality. It is not enough to just get content uploaded on the website; we need to create games through which children can pursue different topics of various subjects up to different levels of difficulty. For instance, a student of class V may like to pursue curiosity on some topics of science up to class IX but in some other topics she/he may not be able to comprehend details of even fifth-standard level. 

The education system must provide opportunity to sustain the curiosity of every child in each subject, and entrepreneurs who will create such content will need our support.

Similarly, there are different forms of folk arts which will soon vanish unless we create opportunities for those art forms. But in the absence of a market, young people may not be attracted to keep those art forms alive. This again needs new entrepreneurial approaches.

Despite the increase in urban infrastructure, the space for folk artistes is not expanding. One should remember that culture, creativity and conscience are closely related – if you kill one, the other start decaying.

Having just celebrated our 67th Independence Day, let us resolve that from now we will celebrate the independence of our mind, heart and vision. No good idea in education, health, art, culture, technology, energy or any other sector contributing to social development should remain unexplored if a group of knowledgeable colleagues believe in it passionately. Every transaction should be transparent and there should be an open platform for learning, linking formal and informal sectors, leveraging grassroots as well as formal sector ideas and promoting not only individual creativity but also collaborative creativity, as also creativity and innovations of the community as a whole.

I look forward to hearing from you and making this new beginning in investing in ideas of future leaders of the society who have to be nurtured now, and here.