IIT Gandhinagar Celebrates Ten Years of NEEV

NEEV, a community outreach program of the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) celebrated the completion of its first decennial at the Jibaben Patel (Kanisa) Memorial Auditorium today. With a special emphasis on fostering local entrepreneurship, NEEV is an initiative that conducts skill development projects, and trains people, especially women, from rural and semi-urban areas to attain self-reliance and financial independence. The program is supported by the Desai Foundation, and includes courses like sewing training, beautician training, chocolate-candle making, website design, graphic design among others. With a humble inception in 2014, the program now serves 6000 beneficiaries spread across 40 plus villages in Gujarat. 

The event was inaugurated by Prof Rajat Moona, Director, IITGN, Mrs Rajni Moona, Head IT in IITBNF, IIT Bombay, Mr Samir Desai, Founder, Desai Foundation and Prof Gopinadhan Kalon, Associate Professor, Physics (Jointly with Materials Engineering Department), IITGN. Noting the significant contribution of NEEV in rural empowerment, Mr Desai noted: “I am truly overwhelmed to witness NEEV’s success and hard work in the last ten years. It is trying to serve villages by helping the villagers help themselves as well as others. It reinforces the belief that everyone in the village can do something – both for their own community and beyond.” 

Over the course of a decade, NEEV has propelled several successful ventures. It has witnessed a security guard opening a canteen, a janitor buying a rickshaw, women launching beauty salons, and students finding jobs within the IITGN campus itself. Today’s event featured a heartening fashion show by the students of the stitching course, who wore clothes designed by themselves.  “NEEV is my guru in the true sense of the word” remarked one of the students. 

Soumya Harish, Coordinator, NEEV, charted the team’s journey so far, which, albeit rewarding, has been fraught with several challenges. She thanked the Director, faculty, staff and students of IITGN for their indelible support, and recounted stories which exemplified the ripple effect of empowerment. “Going forward, we are committed to scaling our efforts, while staying true to our core values. We will continue to innovate, adapt to changing circumstances, but always prioritise direct, tangible and meaningful impact. We will expand our partnerships, leverage technology and empower our beneficiaries to become agents of change.” she said.