St. Xavier’s students pitch for social entrepreneurship at Hult Prize OnCampus Program

More than 100 students from various departments of St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata, came up with ideas, strategies and pitches for social entrepreneurship at the Hult Prize OnCampus Program 2022. The Telegraph Edugraph was the digital media partner for the virtual event.

Third-year BCom students Utkars Arora, Ashwini Kedia and Aakash Rathi won the competition with their idea — LetsPaathshaala. They pitched for the growth and expansion of an e-learning platform that will focus on vocational learning.

Second-year students Shahira Helal Arzoo and Sadia Sanawar and first-year student Maria Sherlie Anthony from the education department of St. Xavier’s were declared runners-up for their idea Pinkshield, which aims at removing the stigma associated with sex workers.

“LetsPaathshaala is an e-learning platform that offers unorthodox skill-based courses. We wanted to create an unforgettable impact and I believe we were successful in doing that. The platform will not only teach skills but also teach how to make money and build a business around those skills. We strongly believe that no matter how successful you get in life, you should always keep learning something new, and this is your place to learn something new,” Utkars said.

Going by the theme of Hult Prize Challenge 2022, ‘Getting the world back to work’, the teams pitched for sustainable and long-term enterprises, which would cater to the global employability disruption faced in the wake of the pandemic. The teams were required to present unique ideas to find a solution to employability measures. They were judged by a panel of industry experts based on team mechanics, solution viability, problem and customer definition and impact.

“We wanted to carry our idea from our vision board into reality. We aim to ensure a social change and remove the stigma associated with sex workers. Our plan resonated well with the judges and they appreciated our efforts. This boosted our confidence and, hopefully, we will be able to make a bigger impact in the long run. Our vision is to create a change in society by removing the prevalent social stigma about sex workers through awareness and education, providing them with a dignified job and employment connectivity and a respectful living,” Shahira said.

Hult Prize OnCampus pitches were evaluated by 14 industry experts — Pritika Burman, senior brand executive at ITC; Aniruddha Banerjee, senior vice-president and head of sales and operation at Spencer’s Retail Ltd; Avelo Roy, tech entrepreneur and investor; Rajesh Beriwal, vice-president of corporate banking at HSBC Bank; Karabi Bhattacharya Rao, head of admission and branding at IMI, Kolkata; Debaditya Chaudhury of Chowman and Nikhil Chawla of Marbella’s.

“The 24 teams participating teams made it clear that they were here to make a change. They want to make an impact on society. The experience was surreal not only for the participants and attendees but also for the entire organising committee as we got to know the crux of working efficiently and making sure that whatever we do, we do it for the betterment of society,” said Aryan Singhvi, a final-year BCom student and campus director of Hult Prize OnCampus Program.