To create awareness amongst the State’s educated youth about Punjab Government’s policy for start-ups—Startup India and Stand up India Schemes, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday flagged off the Startup India Punjab Yatra.

Capt Amarinder lauded the efforts of the Punjab Startup Cell to strengthen the Startup ecosystem in the State by offering attractive incentives to startups besides creating incubators with plug and play facilities, said the spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office.

The Chief Minister, who flagged off the yatra from Punjab Bhawan, hoped that it would go a long way in galvanizing the youth to take up self-employment ventures, which would eventually help in creating enormous job opportunities for the unemployed youth.

Additional Chief Secretary (Industries and Commerce) Vini Mahajan apprised the Chief Minister that the State Government, in collaboration with the Central Government, had organised the Startup India Punjab Yatra across the State to spread awareness about the Startup Ecosystem and scout aspiring and grass root entrepreneurs, especially in tier II/III towns.

“This yatra would act as a platform to bring awareness about the government policies and incentives under the startup scheme, besides providing an opportunity to the youth to turn their innovative ideas into reality. The yatra was expected to reach out and sensitize more than 25,000 students across Punjab,” she added.

The Startup Yatra includes 19 van stops and 9 boot camps at various educational institutions in Rajpura, Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala, Bhatinda, Faridkot, Moga, Sarhali, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Phagwara, Ludhiana, Balachaur, Ropar, Tangori and Mohali.

Subsequently, cash awards worth Rs 40,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively would be given to the three leading aspirants for their best startup ideas in each of the five sectors—social, IT-plus-digital marketing and e-commerce, health and wellness, agriculture and manufacturing.