President of India Draupadi Murmu who was on a two-day visit to Gujarat starting on Monday (October 3), laid the foundation stone for various tribal development programs in the state and also along with the same launched 'herSTART' on Tuesday, a platform to support women-led startups. President Murmu is the first person belonging to the indigenous tribal community to hold the President's office.

The initiative supported by Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC) aims to boost the startup efforts of women entrepreneurs by enabling them to connect with various private and government enterprises that will support their startup venture. The digital platform is also designed to provide resources and training modules to enthusiastic women entrepreneurs free of cost.

There are 450 startup projects operational at Gujarat University, out of which 125 startups are inspired by women, the above platform will digitally publish stories of such women to inspire others. The president also virtually laid the foundation and dedicated 11 education development projects worth Rs 164 crore.

The President in her address highlighted the fact that India has gained nearly 40 places in the Global Innovation Index (GII) of 2022 as a result of the startup program started across the country with the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

She lauded Gujarat's inclusive development model and urged states to learn about developmental works from each other to build a better India. She praised the various schemes of Gujarat aimed at reducing the school dropout rate as well as the real-time monitoring of the education system of more than 55,000 schools in the state by the Vidya Review Centre. The President also appreciated a project of upgrading the infrastructure of about 20,000 schools in the state through Mission School of Excellence.