SR

The Student READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) program aims to provide rural entrepreneurship awareness, and practical experience in a real-life situation in rural agriculture, and create awareness to undergraduate students about practical agriculture and allied sciences.

The Student READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) programme, implemented by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, aims to provide undergraduate students with rural entrepreneurship awareness, hands-on experience in real-life agricultural settings, and practical exposure to agriculture and allied sciences.

The program will help in building confidence, skills, and acquiring Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) of the locality and thereby preparing the pass-out for self-employment. It also aims to provide opportunities to acquire hands-on experience and entrepreneurial skills. To reorient graduates of agriculture and allied subjects for ensuring and assuring employability and developing entrepreneurs for emerging knowledge-intensive agriculture, it was felt necessary to introduce this program in all the AUs as an essential prerequisite for the award of degree to ensure hands-on experience and practical training.

The Fifth Deans committee has given a detailed curriculum of the student READY program for all the disciplines in agriculture and allied sciences. The course curricula have been restructured to develop much-needed skills and entrepreneurial mindset among the graduates to take up self-employment, contribute to the enhanced rural livelihood and food security, sustainability of agriculture, and be propeller for agricultural transformation.

The following components are proposed for carrying out one year Student READY program in all the Undergraduate (UG) disciplines

• Experiential Learning on Business Model / Hands-on Training
• Experiential Learning on Skill Development.
• Rural Awareness Works Experience (RAWE).
• Internship / In-Plant Training / Industrial attachment
• Students Projects

Student READY program is introduced in fourth year of undergraduate education in the following subjects:

• Agriculture
• Agriculture Engineering
• Bio-Technology
• Dairy Technology
• Fisheries
• Food Technology
• Forestry
• Horticulture
• Home Science (now Community Science)
• Sericulture

Five components of student READY are:

• Experiential Learning with business mode.
• Hands-on training (HOT)/ Skill development training i.e. Experiential Learning without business mode.
• Rural Awareness Work Experience (RAWE).
• Internship/In-Plant Training/ Industrial attachment.
• Students Projects.

Experiential Learning with business mode

Experiential Learning (EL) with business mode helps the student to develop competence, capability, capacity building, acquiring skills, expertise, and confidence to start their own enterprise and turn job creators instead of job seekers. This is a step forward for “Earn while Learn” concept. Experiential Learning is an important module for high quality professional competence and practical work experience in real life situation to Graduates. The module with entrepreneurial orientation of production and production to consumption pattern is expected to facilitate producing Job Providers rather than Job Seekers. The EL provides the students an excellent opportunity to develop analytical and entrepreneurial skills, and knowledge through meaningful hands on experience, confidence in their ability to design and execute project work. The main objectives of EL are:

• To promote professional skills and knowledge through meaningful hands on experience.
• To build confidence and to work in project mode.
• To acquire enterprise management capabilities.

Rural Agricultural Work Experience (RAWE)

The Rural Agricultural Work Experience (RAWE) provides exposure to agricultural students to the natural setting of the village situations, work with the farm families, identify their problems and make use of various extension tools for transferring the latest agricultural technologies. The students also get opportunity to study the various on-going schemes related to agriculture and rural development and participate in their implementation. The students were given rigorous orientation and familiarization on various issues and problems expected on farmers’ field and hence gain competence and confidence for solving problems related to agriculture and allied sciences. It has been implemented in adopted villages under the supervision of scientists. Activities focused on intensive observations/ analysis of socio-economic and technological profile of the farm families in rural areas, participatory extension approach and acquaintance with farming situations, farm practices and interaction with progressive farmers. Soil testing has become the integral part of RAWE. This helps orient our agricultural graduates for participation in various rural developmental programme. The students also gained first hand information on industries during attachment with identified agro based industries.

The stipend rates have been enhanced of ₹3000/ student/ month for a maximum of 6 months for the village/ rural training under student READY programme.

In Plant Training (IPT)/ Industrial Attachment

Technology and globalization are ushering an era of unprecedented change. The need and pressure for change and innovation is immense. To enrich the practical knowledge of the students, in-plant training is mandatory. In this training, students will have to study a problem in industrial perspective and submit the reports to the university. Such in-plant trainings will provide an industrial exposure to the students as well as to develop their career in the high tech industrial requirements. In-Plant training is meant to correlate theory and actual practices in the industries with the following objectives

• To expose the students to Industrial environment, this cannot be simulated in the university.
• To familiarize the students with various Materials, Machines, Processes, Products and their applicatio

• A student, who is pursuing UG programme in SAUs/DUs/CAU/CUs of NARES in courses duly accredited by the National Agricultural Education Accreditation Board (NAEAB) of ICAR, New Delhi
• The student must maintain merit and good conduct as certified by the Head of College/University/Institution. He/ She should not remain absent during the programme without prior permission of the Competent Authority.
• The candidate should not participate in any agitation/ strike and should not take up any job even on part time basis or any other financial assistance for the same activities during the period.

Benefits

The stipend payable to the Student shall be ₹3,000/- (₹2,500/- as ICAR Share + ₹500/- as State Share) per student per month for a maximum of six months. An amount of ₹ 500/- per student/per month will also be provided as ICAR Share towards operational expenses (meeting faculty expenses, contingency, POL, medicines, etc.) during the programme.

Mode of Payment

• The stipend shall commence from the month a student joins the RAWE/In Plant training/ Internship/ Industrial attachment etc. for a maximum period of six months only.
• The University will be paid the money in lump-sum in advance. For this university will have to submit demand to ICAR as per rule well in advance. The University shall transfer the stipend into the student’s bank account and ensure the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) which will be linked to AADHAR (UID) of the student beneficiary. The university will provide a copy of compiled bank statement to ICAR, New Delhi every year.
• The University must provide the State Share (Rs. 500/-per student per month) failing which ICAR may stop grants to the University.
• The student may be paid the stipend on a monthly basis at the end of each month.
• In no case, ICAR will make any payment directly to the student.

Termination of Stipend

The stipend will be terminated if a student will leave the course before its completion. No stipend will be paid if the student changes discipline or the University without any valid reasons and prior permission of the Competent Authority.