A one-day workshop on Entrepreneurship and Skill Development was organized by the Department of Commerce, in association with the North-Eastern Small Scale Industries Association (NESSIA) and Jyotiska Art and Industry, Skill Development School, Jorhat, on 9th September 2025 in the Department of Commerce, Jagannath Barooah University.

The primary objective of the workshop was to promote an entrepreneurial spirit among the youth and equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to establish their own enterprises. A total of 108 students from the department participated in the program.

In the first session, Mrs. Alokananda Sengupta, retired scientist of CSIR-NEIST and Managing Partner of The Sewali Home Enterprise, shared her entrepreneurial journey and spoke on various aspects of setting up an enterprise, including idea generation, innovation, and identifying markets for products. She also discussed production and marketing strategies with reference to her own enterprise, which manufactures fragrant candles, mosquito-repellent candles, diyas, and other products. Mrs. Sengupta further conducted a live demonstration, displaying the ingredients and process involved in making these items.

In the second session, Mr. Saurabhjyoti Baruah, Secretary of NESSIA and Founder of Jyotiska Art & Industry, Skill Development School, delivered a lecture on the importance of product design in entrepreneurship. He emphasized that product design is essentially a human-centered problem-solving process, where designers must strive to address real problems faced by real people by combining empathy with an understanding of consumer habits and behaviours.

The workshop proved to be a successful event, marked by the active participation and enthusiastic interaction of the students.

Some glimpses of the event are attached below: