ORANGEBURG, S.C. — A new program in Orangeburg aims to help women entrepreneurs in India.
Claflin University has partnered with Visva Bharati University in India for a project intended to promote women's family-based entrepreneurship.
“A lot of women, they have already skills there, but they’re more like artisans rather than entrepreneurs," said Claflin professor Dr. Harpal Grewal. "So, we found that there’s a big opportunity where they can actually, we can teach them to be entrepreneurs, to manage the funds, to manage a business."
100 women in West Bengal, India, went through the training program and became certified business owners.
Grewal says in May, Claflin will launch a month-long pilot program offering five free online training modules.
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“In rural areas, families, they have very low income. Then there are a lot of constraints," Grewal said. "So this kind of not only helps the families to improve their income, but also empower the women."
Professor Amit Kumar Hazra led the training in India and says he's seen its success.
“I think in the near future, we can see our women artisans as becoming entrepreneurs, and they can display their products, they can get a global market," Hazra said.
There will be about 65 participants taking part in the pilot program. These participants were selected through an assessment survey.
The program is planned to start on May 15 and go through the month of May.