DTU to represent India at Enactus World Cup

Delhi Technological University emerged as the National Champion at the Enactus India National Competition for their winning outreach projects, Project Chhaap, Project Ann and Project Unmoollan. The Enactus team at DTU will go on to represent Enactus India at the Enactus World Cup at Cancun, Mexico between 29th September and 1st October 2013, featuring around 37 countries.  

Gracing the occasion was Dr. Alvin Rohrs, President & CEO, Enactus Worldwide; Mr. Farhan Pettiwala, President, Enactus India and Mr. Richard Rekhy, Chairman Enactus India National Advisory Board and CEO of KPMG in India. 

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Dr. Alvin Rohrs, President and CEO – Enactus Worldwide, said “India is one of the newer countries to enter the Enactus network. However, in the short span of 10 years, they have grown into 57 colleges with 1600 active students and over a million lives impacted across the country. Given the talent I’ve seen today, I’m fully confident Enactus India will scale greater heights and become the best platform for youth development and community involvement in India.”

Over 35 Enactus teams across the country participated in this unique competition to showcase how entrepreneurial action is enabling human progress and shaping a better more sustainable world. Enactus teams from across the country presented their projects before over 200 esteemed Chairman, CEOs and MDs from the corporate world serving as judges. 

The Enactus India National Competition saw renowned top-level executives like Richard Rekhy (KPMG), Mr. Ravi Kant (Tata Motors), Sameer Arora (Syntel), Siraj Chaudhary (Cargill), Deepak Jolly (Coca-Cola), Preet Dhupar (COO, BBC News), Nishchae Suri (KPMG), Ketan Dalal (PwC), Kamal Singh (Rolta Group),  Sudha Ravi (PHL Finance), R. Srinavasa Rao (Munich RE), Rajiv Kaul (CMS Info Systems) Ramesh Padmanabhan (NSE), RK Mehra (Bharat Petroleum), Aseem Dhru (HDFC Securities) and many more interact with Enactus students. 

Speaking at the award ceremony, Mr. Farhan Pettiwala, President – Enactus India, said “The amount of talent and passion that these students have shown in each project is commendable. We are very lucky to have so many talented teams participate this year. I would like to congratulate the Enactus students at Delhi Technological University and wish them all the best for the Enactus World Cup. I’m confident that they will make India proud.”

The winning team presented their projects to more than 75 C-level executives from the top 100 firms in India who were invited as Final round judges. They were judged on the basis of triple bottom-line sustainability (people, planet, profits) of their projects, the subsequent number of lives impacted and long-term sustainability of their Enactus projects. As the official sponsor of the Enactus India National Competition, all scores were tallied and verified by KPMG team who were the official scorers of Enactus Worldwide.

The Enactus team at Delhi Technological University presented three projects: Project Chhaap, Project Ann and Project Unmoollan before renowned judges. The team was led under the able guidance of faculty advisor, Dr. Samsher and Student President, Vrinda Gupta. 

For the first time ever, the Enactus India National Competition also featured two blockbuster panel discussions on “Industry-Academia Collaboration” and “Food Security and Malnutrition in India”.  

The first panel on ‘Industry –Academia Collaboration’ was moderated by Preet Dhupar, COO, BBC News and comprised of Dr. Mukund Rajan (Brand Custodian & Chairman - Tata Council for Community Initiatives at Tata Sons), Dr. Alvin Rohrs (President & CEO, Enactus India) and Nishchae Suri (Partner & Country Head 'People & Change', KPMG in India).  This discussion primarily highlighted the pressing need for recruitment practices to evolve across corporates so that the gap between the demand for talent and availability of skilled professionals could be met. 

The second panel discussion on ‘Food Security & Malnutrition in India’ was moderated by Mr. Siraj Chaudhary, CEO, Cargill India and saw prestigious leaders such as Mr. R Mukundan (MD – Tata Chemicals) Manish Saigal (Partner – KPMG), and Rajesh Srivastava (CMD of Rabo Equity Advisors) addressing an audience of students, business leaders, faculty advisors as well Deans of leading institutions from across the country. 

The eminent panel spoke of the measures being taken to strengthen food security in India by private and governmental institutions.  The panel also stressed the need for every individual as members of society to take ownership of this problem and actively seek to find solutions. 

During the Enactus India National Competition, special prizes were also awarded to participants. 

As part of the Walmart Women Economic Empowerment project, the Walmart Foundation Worldwide awarded through Enactus India three Enactus teams: Hans Raj College (Delhi), Rajalakshmi College of Engineering (Chennai) and K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, for their year-long sustained on-ground efforts to empower women. 

Leadership Development Project award presented by Unilever was awarded to the Enactus team at HR College of Commerce and Economics along with a free trip to the Enactus World Cup for one student from the team.

Enactus Global Championship Award is among the highest honors given by Enactus to any individual or organization that has supported Enactus in a momentous way. At Enactus World Cup 2012, Enactus presented this special award to KPMG for being the single largest financial contributor to Enactus around the world, as KPMG supports Enactus in more than 30 countries. 

At the Enactus India National Competition, a replica of that award was presented by Dr Alvin Rohrs and Mr Farhan Pettiwala to Mr. Richard Rekhy  (CEO of KPMG in India), Mr. Dinesh Kanabar (Deputy CEO – KPMG in India) and Mr. Pradeep Udhas (Partner and National Head at KPMG in India for IT-BPO sector). 

Enactus India National Competition 2013 was a resounding success and many students and prestigious business leaders across the country look forward to the next one.