" Promoting Women Economic Empowerment through enterprise Development: ROLE OF SUPPORT

INSTITUTIONS- The Indian Context

Presentation by Dr.Akansha Jain

Nehruji at eve of independence

“You can tell condition of nation by looking at the status of its women”

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar

“I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved”

What is Women Empowerment?

Women's empowerment has five components: o Sense of self-wortho Right to have and to determine choices o Right to have access to opportunities and resourceso Right to have the power to control their own lives,

both within and outside the home o Ability to influence the direction of social change to

create a more just social and economic order, nationally and internationally

Guidelines on women's empowerment, united nations population information network (POPIN) un population division, department of economic and social affairs 1995

a) Lack of confidence – In general, women lack confidence in their strength and competence. The family members and the society are reluctant to stand beside their entrepreneurial growth. To a certain extent, this situation is changing among Indian women and yet to face a tremendous change to increase the rate of growth in entrepreneurship.

b) Socio-cultural barriers – Women’s family and personal obligations are sometimes a great barrier for succeeding in business career. Only few women are able to manage both home and business efficiently, devoting enough time to perform all their responsibilities in priority.

Problems faced by women entrepreneurs in India

c) Market-oriented risks – Stiff competition in the market and lack of mobility of women make the dependence of women entrepreneurs on middleman indispensable. Many business women find it difficult to capture the market and make their products popular. They are not fully aware of the changing market conditions and hence can effectively utilize the services of media and internet.

d) Motivational factors – Self motivation can be realized through a mind set for a successful business, attitude to take up risk and behavior towards the business society by shouldering the social responsibilities. Other factors are family support, Government policies, financial assistance from public and private institutions and also the environment suitable for women to establish business units.

Problems faced by women entrepreneurs in India

e) Knowledge in Business Administration – Women must be educated and trained constantly to acquire the skills and knowledge in all the functional areas of business management. This can facilitate women to excel in decision making process and develop a good business network.

f) Awareness about the financial assistance – Various institutions in the financial sector extend their maximum support in the form of incentives, loans, schemes etc. Even then every woman entrepreneur may not be aware of all the assistance provided by the institutions. So the sincere efforts taken towards women entrepreneurs may not reach the entrepreneurs in rural and backward areas.

Problems faced by women entrepreneurs in India

g) Exposed to the training programs –

Training programs and workshops for every type of

entrepreneur is available through the social and welfare

associations, based on duration, skill and the purpose of the

training program. Such programs are really useful to new, rural

and young entrepreneurs who want to set up a small and

medium scale unit on their own.

h) Identifying the available resources –

Women are hesitant to find out the access to cater their needs

in the financial and marketing areas. In spite of the

mushrooming growth of associations, institutions, and the

schemes from the government side, women are not

enterprising and dynamic to optimize the resources in the

form of reserves, assets mankind or business volunteers.

Problems faced by women entrepreneurs in India

• Highly educated, technically sound and professionally qualified

women should be encouraged for managing their own business,

rather than dependent on wage employment outlets.

• The unexplored talents of young women can be identified,

trained and used for various types of industries to increase the

productivity in the industrial sector.

• A desirable environment is necessary for every woman to

inculcate entrepreneurial values and involve greatly in business

dealings.

Problems faced by women entrepreneurs in India

Why do Women Take-up Employment?

• Push Factors– Death of bread winner– Sudden fall in family income– Permanent inadequacy in income of the family

• Pull Factors– Women’s desire to evaluate their talent– To utilize their free time or education– Need and perception of Women’s Liberation, Equity etc.– To gain recognition, importance and social status.– To get economic independence

Categories of Women Entrepreneurs

• Women in organized & unorganized sector

• Women in traditional & modern industries

• Women in urban & rural areas• Women in large scale and small

scale industries.• Single women and joint venture.

Categories of Women Entrepreneurs in Practice in India

• First Category– Established in big cities– Having higher level technical & professional

qualifications– Non traditional Items– Sound financial positions

• Second Category– Established in cities and towns– Having sufficient education– Both traditional and non traditional items– Undertaking women services-kindergarten, crèches,

beauty parlors, health clinic etc.

Categories of Women Entrepreneurs in Practice in India (Contd.)

• Third Category– Illiterate women– Financially week– Involved in family business such as

Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy, Fisheries, Agro Forestry, Handloom, Powerloom etc.

Supportive Measures for Women’s Economic Activities and Entrepreneurship

• Direct & indirect financial support• Yojna schemes and programmes• Technological training and awards• Federations and associations

Direct & Indirect Financial Support

• Nationalized banks• State finance corporation• State industrial development corporation• District industries centers• Differential rate schemes• Mahila Udyug Needhi scheme• Small Industries Development Bank of

India (SIDBI)• State Small Industrial Development

Corporations (SSIDCs)

Technological Training and Awards

• Stree Shakti Package by SBI• Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India• Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and

Development (TREAD)• National Institute of Small Business Extension

Training (NSIBET)• Women’s University of Mumbai

Federations and Associations

• National Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (NAYE)• India Council of Women Entrepreneurs, New

Delhi• Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)• Association of Women Entrepreneurs of

Karnataka (AWEK)• World Association of Women Entrepreneurs

(WAWE)• Associated Country Women of the World

(ACWW)

Some examples

• Mahila Grih Udyog– 7 ladies started in 1959:

Lizzat Pappad• Lakme

– Simon Tata• Shipping coorporation

– Mrs. Sumati Morarji• Exports

– Ms. Nina Mehrotra• Herbal Heritage

– Ms. Shahnaz Hussain• Balaji films

– Ekta Kapoor

The Lijjat Papad story

• Are you aware of the story of seven illiterate and poor women who borrowed Rs 80 to start a papad business?

• Its turnover from Rs 6,196 in the first year went upto Rs 300 crore in the next four decades

• 40,000 women on its revolutionary march. • The story which reads almost like a fairy-tale chronicles the growth of

an exclusive women's organisation• Jaywantiben Popat, one of the women involved with this phenomenal

spirit, was honoured last year at the ET Awards for her outstanding achievements

• The Lijjat Papad story is an inspirational one,

The real Shakthi of Sakthi Masala

• The success story of an Young Couple – committed for Quality and Social Responsibility

• Grown up from a small Flour mill to a Market Leader• Employing the highest number of Physically

challenged people• Rs.3000/- to Rs.600 Crores in Three decades

Top Women EntrepreneursSource - http://sneakpeaks.blogspot.com/2008/03/its-their-business-top-women.html

                   Entrepreneur Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director of Bioon Ltd., who became India's richest woman in 2004 (an estimated Rs.2,100 crore )~US$480 million), was educated at the Bishop Cotton Girls School and Mount Carmel College in Bangalore. She founded Biocon India with a capital of Rs.10,000 in her garage in 1978 - the initial operation was to extract an enzyme from papaya. Her application for loans were turned down by banks then - on three counts - biotechnology was then a new word, the company lacked assets, and (most importantly) women entrepreneurs were still a rarity. Today, her company is the biggest biopharmaceutical firm in the country.

Problems

• Dual role to play at workplace & at home place

• Subordinate to men• Just that her being women• Non-awareness of facilities provided by

government• Competition with large scale units• Problems related to marketing

Suggestions

• Procedure of getting finance should be simple

• Effective propagation of programmes and yojna

• Linkages between product, services and market centers.

• Encouragement to technical and professional education.

Suggestions

• There is a need to form Combine platform or a cooperative society which has Skill development, financial assistance, market accessibility Technology that ultimately will lead to enterprise development.

i.e. Skill development+ financial assistance + market accessibility+ Technology) = enterprise development

• Crowdfunding is need of the hour

Thank you