NITI Aayog has announced its decision to launch a dedicated women entrepreneurs’ cell that will facilitate networking for all the stakeholders. The announcement was made by a member of the NITI Aayog, Anna Roy. Currently Ms. Roy is in the United States of America, along with the FICCI (Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) delegation of over 25 women entrepreneurs. The delegation is scheduled to travel to Boston, Pittsburg and San Francisco. The agenda to the ongoing international exchange is to interact with America’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and meeting the members of the USA Chambers of Commerce. The expected outcome is for the women entrepreneurs have a competitive edge (with regards to networking and knowledge acquisition) over the others.
India’s enterprise scenario has largely been male dominant one owing to the fact that men have had better access to health, education and opportunities. Since the last few decades, there have been institutional and social endeavors to make the scale even by creating spaces for women’s development and increased stake in India’s socio-economic change. Last year, almost this time, Facebook in India hosted a seminar SheMeansBusiness – A Facebook Conference in New Delhi. The agenda of the seminar was to bring all the women entrepreneurs together and discuss infusion of technology into business those that are led by women.
Presently, NITI Aayog’s focus is on reinventing the culture of entrepreneurship in India. The ‘Atal Innovation Mission’ seeks to create advanced infrastructure for those ventures that are technical in nature. As an institution, NITI Aayog is also promoting digital financial transactions for enterprises. Keeping in sight the Sustainable Development Goals, NITI Aayog is aiming at equitable and environment friendly economic progress for all.
For further insights into Centre for Social Research’s analysis of women led enterprises, click on the blogs, “Do women choose work or does work choose women?”, “Amazon Saheli – A Step in the Right Direction” and “Lesser Women in the Workforce: Is Entrepreneurship the Answer?”