I had the privilege of teaching Sri Kanth and his brother Chandra Kanth during a Nenasala operator training sometime back and I am delighted about this achievement.

Village youth like Sri Kanth with entrepreneurial skills should be handpicked, trained and given responsibilities to manage rural level ITES business ventures. Success of Sri Kanth shows he was one of the ideal candidate to run a Nenasala, and I am sure he was one of the few selected through the proper interview process in the beginning of the Nenasala programme. This process has picked up the very best leaving out those are incompetent but still want to get in using their political connections. It is a pity that this selection process of Nenasala operators was not adhered always. Had it been we could have seen many more success stories like this by now.

There is a huge difference between letting business minded competent individuals running the village level initiatives and giving the task to political henchmen, with religious backgrounds or otherwise, purely on political connections just like offering bar licenses. Sri Kanth could never have got this opportunity if he too were selected based on political connections.

Nenasala model is often critisised for its possible unsustainability, but Sri Kanth has proved that need not apply to ever case. He has gone the extra mile to make sure the venture will not be over the moment the donor money runs out.

While congratulation Sri Kanth and his family on this venture, I emphasise the need to free ICT from party politics and selection of Nenasala operators purely on their entrepreneurial skills and not on political connections.