IT man returns, vows to help youth, farmers

Vijay C Roy in Chandigarh

Call it his  love for the motherland or his mission to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities, this Indian-Australian is spearheading what is claimed to be the most comprehensive venture to deploy his Australia expertise to train India’s huge unskilled youth. Having impacted lives of 14,000 unskilled youth and farmers across five states by skilling them through his social enterprise, UDAY, Param Singh, a 36-year-old Stanford graduate in social entrepreneurship from Central Queensland University has bigger plans for Punjab.

“When I sold my first business — an International College —to an ASX listed company in Australia (2015), I invested half of the sales proceeds and our family wealth in UDAY, a social enterprise to empower disadvantaged youth, rural women and farmers in India — the country I love for its mystical secrets,” says Singh. “What I believe is that 21st century belongs to Punjab, and we need to do in a generation’s time, what South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong did in 20th century.” 

Singh is now pooling his own resources — the proceeds from the sale of an International College at Perth — to set up North India’s first social impact incubators in Punjab. Initially, he plans to set up one such facility in Amritsar followed by Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Bathinda in next three years. The proposed centres will be set under the PPP (public-private partnership) mode.  “We need to leverage our strength, human capital as well as natural resources. We want to develop quality human resource by imparting valuable skills to youth and turning them into entrepreneurs,” he said. 

Social impact incubators

“We have a vision for Punjab and believe that the solution to social issues can be achieved through social enterprises, that is, businesses that impact a large section of society,” says Singh. He has signed an MoU with the state government for setting up social impact incubators. The incubator will select, support and scale impact-driven entrepreneurs to solve society’s most pressing challenges. Aiming gender equality, the impact incubator will also encourage women social entrepreneurs.

The entrepreneurs will tackle social issues such as raising farmers’ income, agriculture (ensuring zero farmer suicide in Punjab before 2022), food processing, livelihood, child education, health and nutrition, women empowerment, clean energy, water and soil health and sustainable development goals.

Singh intends to collaborate and network with highly qualified and successful mentors from around the globe. 

The roadmap

His company, Monsoon Impact Incubator will support, mentor and also fund early stage, innovation-based startups that have an impact on the lives of the people and marginal sections of society in Punjab. “In the next three months, we will set up a board consisting of experts from across the nations for the effective guidance, advisory and mentorship of the incubators. 

Having done Bachelor in IT from Amritsar, the Batala-based Param went to Australia in 2003 for Master’s in Information System. After working as lecturer in University for a couple of years, he started his International College with other stakeholders in 2008. His career highlights include winning the Australian Indian young entrepreneur of the year award, distinguished alumnus by CQ University and Australia Global Alumni. 

In Punjab he is imparting skills in the healthcare sector (Faridkot), building construction & solar sector (Hoshiarpur) and running over half-a dozen rural skill centres. Started in 2017, currently he is training around 800 youths in Punjab. “We not only impart skills but also assist the youth in getting jobs,” says Singh.