As part of the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan campaign, the Department of Information Technology, Electronics & Communications (DITE&C) and the Directorate of Higher Education (DHE), successfully conducted the first phase of Sankalp Nirdhar across engineering colleges in Goa from November 9 to November 13, 2026.
Following Sankalp Setu and Sankalp Manthan, this third initiative aims to inculcate entrepreneurship mindset, transforming students from passive learners into technology-driven problem solvers.
The five-day bootcamp series saw active participation from over 100 students across each of the five participating institutions: Agnel Institute of Engineering and Management (AIEM), Assagao; Padre Conceicao College of Engineering (PCCE), Verna; Goa College of Engineering (GEC), Farmagudi; Don Bosco College of Engineering (DBCE), Fatorda; and Shree Rayeshwar Institute of Engineering and Information Technology (SRIEIT), Shiroda.
Emphasising the state’s broader skilling vision, IT Minister Rohan Khaunte shared: “Our ambition under the Goa AI Mission 2027 and our campus initiatives is to upskill our young individuals. Under Goa AI Policy, we are targeting to train and certify 50,000 people in Artificial Intelligence by 2030. By bridging the gap between industry and academia, we are putting practical innovation directly into our classrooms. These bootcamps give our youth the mentorship and funding awareness needed to build scalable solutions for Goa.”
The interactive sessions were conducted by key resource persons from Goa’s startup ecosystem, including D.S. Prashant, CEO, Startup & IT Promotion Cell (SITPC); Vellan Vaz, Business Head (Goa Region), Xuvian Ventures; Sanjay Mulvi, Head of Seed Fund & Incubation, Centre for Incubation and Business Acceleration (CIBA); Krishnaraj Gauns, Manager, Revenue and Program Initiatives, AIC-GIM Foundation; Vedant Chonkar, Operations Manager, AIC-GIM; Renu Amballoor, Investment Manager, FiiRE; along with other departmental officials and industry mentors.
Throughout the bootcamps, students received hands-on industry guidance aimed at validating early-stage ideas. Students were challenged to draft precise problem statements and submit one-page business proposals to assess the commercial viability and startup readiness. Key presentations broke down flagship national pre-incubation grants like NIDHI-PRAYAS and the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), alongside state initiatives under the Goa Startup Policy 2025, including the Campus Innovation Scheme.
Sharing his experience, Nigel Lobo, a third-year Computer Engineering student from PCCE, said, “We earlier participated in Sankalp Setu with our startup idea and were placed in the top 5 at the Goa AI Conclave 2026. Today’s session was a very good experience. I learned about competitions and platforms where we can participate and get our ideas out to the world. We also gained clarity on how and where to access funding. All in all, it was really insightful.”
Highlighting the practical value of the session, Bhuvanshika, a student from GEC, shared, “A lot of students interested in entrepreneurship don’t look into government schemes. This session was informative, not just for explaining the available schemes, but for demystifying the startup registration process. Many founders are intimidated by the registration, but we saw how quick and easy it actually is. It’s far less scary than most people think. Everyone had plenty of learnings to take back.”
By bringing interactive awareness sessions and expert guidance directly onto college campuses, DITE&C and DHE continue to bridge the gap between classroom theory and real-world execution, empowering Goa’s youth to think innovatively and build ventures of their own.
