NEW DELHI, MARCH 07 :

In a unique attempt to nurture the entrepreneurial skills of spouses of its employees, GAIL (India) today launched an incubation cell which is first of its kind in the industry to educate them about the start-up environment and provide mentorship, training and assistance with the necessary tools to begin their own ventures.

Christened 'GAIL Abha', the initiative was launched today, a day ahead of International Women's Day, by Mrs Shakun Gupta, the first lady of GAIL and Mr Sandeep Kumar Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, GAIL in the presence of Mr R K Jain, Director (Finance), Mr Deepak Gupta, Director (Projects), Mr Ayush Gupta, Director (HR) and their spouses.

GAIL attracts employees of high caliber and most often, their spouses are also professionally qualified and talented. However, the presence of GAIL townships mostly at remote locations offers very little scope for such talented lot to utilize and exhibit their strengths and find suitable professional engagements

It was this, as much as anything, that gave people courage, and I suppose the new arrivals from Woking also helped to restore confidence. At any rate, as the dusk came on a slow, intermittent movement upon the sand pits began, a movement that seemed to gather force as the stillness of the evening about the cylinder remained unbroken. Vertical black figures in twos and threes would advance, stop, watch, and advance again, spreading out as they did so in a thin irregular crescent that promised to enclose the pit in its attenuated horns. I, too, on my side began to move towards the pit.

While addressing this need, 'GAIL Abha' is expected to enable the spouses of employees to have a professionally satisfying experience and contribute to the economy and society in a positive way

Speaking on the occasion Mr Sandeep Kumar Gupta said, "This platform will help the spouses of our employees to realise their potential and capabilities and fulfil their dreams of being engaged in some professional or entrepreneurial venture."

"Initial weeks will focus on workshops Mr Ayush Gupta, Director (HR) said, "GAIL has launched its unique Incubation Programme - a five layered program spread over 30 weeks, with the objective to build their ideas into flourishing businesses."

The initial weeks will focus on entrepreneurial workshops and bootcamps which will encourage participants to build ideas and evaluate their value proposition.

The best ideas will be shortlisted through presentations which will be followed by rigorous 21 weeks of building ideas to business.

During this period, fortnightly hand-holding sessions will be conducted and mentorship and assistance on seed-funding, registration of firm, facilitations like Startup India Seed Fund etc. will be done.

"Having a more experienced and successful counselor guiding someone in a chosen profession is wise decision and good career move." ― Jose A. Aviles, Peer Mentorship in High School: A Comprehensive Guide to Implementing a Successful Peer Mentorship Program in Your School

"I never heard that it had been anybody's business to find out what his natural bent was, or where his failings lay, or to adapt any kind of knowledge to him. He had been adapted to the verses and had learnt the art of making them to such perfection. I did doubt whether Richard would not have profited by some one studying him a little, instead of his studying them quite so much." ― Charles Dickens, Bleak House

"Let us do our best whilst we live for another tomorrow is coming when whilst we are long gone, another group of people shall come to either suffer from our worst or enjoy and build upon our best. Let us run whole heatedly today with all alacrity for another generation shall come for the baton from our hands to either blame us or congratulate us on how we lived the dream and journeyed in life through the good and the bad times; another generation shall come to ponder over our footprints as a good or a bad lesson for them! Let us run with all necessary zeal such that when we hand over the baton, our next generation will have no reason but to soldier on with courage, enthusiasm and absolute commitment to get to the finishing line with a great accomplishment and a noble story worth pondering over and over!" ― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah