How Can Women Be the Champion Of Change In MSME Business?

How Can Women Be the Champion Of Change In MSME Business?

According to Swami Vivekananda,” the best thermometer for the progress of a nation is its treatment of women.” Before we know How Can Women Be the Champion Of Change In MSME Business? let us see how they got here. Women were highly honoured in India’s ancient culture and considered as Janani, Devi, the beloved symbol of love and creation. They were allowed to train in warfare and were equal with men. But it was in the Vedic age that women had the freedom to education and to help their husbands in their work.

But the medieval times were a period of regression for women. India went through many conquests which ensued in the deterioration of women’s status. Women were forced to stay indoors during the Mughal period. They started using purdah and this era gave rise to social evils like Sati, Jauhar, Child marriages.

The Present Status of Women in modern India is an anomaly. Compared to circa Medieval era, women have made strides in all fields but still face challenges. In this millennial era, they have accomplished a lot and there is no stopping them.

If women are supported in SMSE’s purely in the economic sense, the Global community would surely gain. Lately, there has been increasing global awareness that women’s entry into the world of finance leads to economic prospects, and free enterprise has given a boost to comprehensive and balanced growth leads to a decline in poverty.

Torchbearers– How Can Women Be the Champion Of Change In MSME Business?

The torchbearers of women empowerment in the country are the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. It is the apostle of growth and the launchpad of women entrepreneurship on the global platform. In2018, Nari Shakti was declared as the word of the year. In the same year, the Ministry of MSME launched Udyam Sakhi, a web portal for encouraging and establishing business models orbiting economic goods and facilities to sort out social inequities.

The business needs of 8 million Indian women have been met from this platform. The role of women in the world of business is encouraged by the government. They dare to take risks, culminate their vision and the sky is the limit.

Women-Heralding Change

Women have now stepped out into the mainstream and walk abreast of their male colleagues. They are carving their own identity in the corporate world and breaking the glass ceiling with their unparalleled success, hard work, and dedication. Venture capital has never seen such women challenging all-male bastions.

The traditional female talents are now becoming a source of livelihood. By starting a home-based, catering, clothing, crafts, pickles, snacks, and more. Look around and you will find women are everywhere, from corporate houses to courts, parliament to public offices, scientists, pilots, social activists, singers, writers, photographers, actors, and directors.

Raining Accolades

On International Women’s Day 2019, the MSME Ministry bestowed accolades on trailblazing women entrepreneurs in diverse fields.  Although it has been a slow journey, the effort to commemorate women who are shattering the regressive restrictions that people and situations have put on them, and are opting to be economically independent, even as they continue in their conventional roles as homemakers.

MSME-Metamorphoses from Homemaker to Entrepreneur

“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman. “Margaret Thatcher.

While the pandemic has turned the world topsy turvy, it has given an astonishing boost to a small but prominent group of India’s working women. Skilled women in middle-to-senior ranks have found job opportunities on the rise in the past year,

This trend is accredited to the change of policy of companies resorting to adopting the work from home culture, during the pandemic.

Women are the pillars of the home and society. When women are encouraged, they take the whole world with them. Through its various schemes, the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is empowering, encouraging, motivating women to ignite their talent and develop their own identity.

5 Points how women were helped by the government

1. Since initiation and up to 23.01.2019, under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) Scheme, 1.38 lakh projects have been put up by the women industrialists. Women have set up around 30% of overall projects set up under PMEGP.
2. Between 25% and 35% subsidies for the project are set aside for women entrepreneurs under Special Category
3. Their contribution is only 5% of the project cost for women beneficiaries whilst it is 10% in the general category. During 2016-17 and 2017-18, women entrepreneurs had set up 30437 projects under the Khadi Programme of KVIC during
4. The Government of India has taken several initiatives like- Stree Shakti Package for Women Entrepreneurs Stand Up India, Mission Indradhanush, Mudra Yojana Scheme, TREAD (Trade-Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development) Scheme, Annapurna Scheme, Dena Shakti Scheme, Udyogini Scheme, Mahila Udyam Nidhi Scheme, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, Bhartiya Mahila Business Bank Loan. These would bolster the education, safety, and awareness of women and encourage them to engage in independent entrepreneurship.
5. The uneducated and semi-literate women entrepreneurs from both rural and urban areas have come forward to avail the benefits of specific schemes under the Indian Govt to start or run a company. Priyashri Mani and Nishita Vasanth’s story is exemplary in the MSME montage. They have carved their company in Pali hills in Kodaikanal. They were successful in doing this by utilizing the loans provided under the Scheme of the Indian Govt. With planning as the main issue, both climbed up the administration ladder by hiring local women and establishing, ‘Hoopoe’- the honey harvesting start-up. Such inspiring stories show that the country is walking towards a glorious future with an army of adept multitasking women joining the workforce, spearheads in small businesses, changemakers, and innovators in capitalism.

Women Empowerment

Swami Vivekananda quoted, “There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved, it is not possible for a bird to fly on only one wing.” Women are the supporting wing of men, and they are proving it to be true. Consequently, the addition of Women’s Empowerment as one of the top goals in the eight Millennium Development Goals highlights the significance of this fact. India is on the threshold of creating a massive women force into an efficient human resource. This has been possible only because of the empowerment of women. {1}

Women who make a mark in their careers after surviving a slew of hurdles become torchbearers and encourage other women to follow their path. In the past 20 years, there has been a drastic change in the status of women in the Indian diaspora. At present, women have played a very important role in the growth of the Indian economy. They have made a massive influence and found success in nearly every sector.

Here are the answers to How Can Women Be the Champion Of Change In MSME Business?

• Businesses run by women generate higher revenues
• Women-owned firms generate more jobs than their male contemporaries
• Female executives considerably enhance start-up company performance
• Females are extra efficient in Senior Leadership positions
• Women are multi-taskers

Here is a list of 5 Women Entrepreneurs, who have given a boost to the Indian economy and motivated other women. {2}

1. Vandana Luthra – The founder of VLCC

An Indian businesswoman, philanthropist, and chairperson of the beauty & Wellness sector skill council. In April 2013, she was awarded the Padma Shree award. She runs an NGO called Khushii, which extends a scholarship for free education to the underprivileged and physically challenged.

2. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – The founder of Biocon Limited

Known as India’s wealthiest self-made women entrepreneur who launched a biopharmaceutical firm in 1978. In 2019 she was ranked as Indian’s 54th richest person and the world’s 65th powerful woman.

3. Aditi Gupta – The Co-founder of Menstrupedia

She is an author and co-founder of Menstrupedia. In 2014, Menstrupedia became a partner with Whisper India for their school contact program and introduced “Touch the Pickle”, this movement occurred in four different cities.  These comics are used by schools like Bright English School Ahmedabad, Ecole Mondiale World School, GlS Primary school, and others.

4. Falguni Nayar – The Founder of Nykaa

 20 years as an investment banker with Kotak Mahindra, she took the plunge to follow her dream and started Nykaa, an online cosmetic and wellness product e-commerce site. In 2017, she was given the title of “Most powerful business“ by Business Today. She was also bestowed with the “Woman Ahead” award at the Economic Times.

5. Ritu Kumar – The Fashion designer

A well-known Indian fashion designer who started her Fashion career in Kolkata. She has been running her business in numerous cities in India, France, and New York. In 2013, she was conferred the Padma Shree by the government of India.

How can women be the champion of change in the MSME business?

References

1. Women Entrepreneurs
2. Top Women Entrepreneurs

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