This document discusses women empowerment through entrepreneurship in India. It provides definitions of empowerment from dictionaries and Wikipedia. It discusses the status of women in India historically and currently, including their roles in society, participation in independence movements, and current levels of literacy, work participation, and representation in government. Key figures who advocated for women's rights and empowerment are mentioned. The document outlines components of women's empowerment and examines current government programs and initiatives as well as success stories of individual women entrepreneurs in India who have started successful businesses. Areas for further action and empowerment are suggested.

1. Women Empowerment Through
Entrepreneurship
- The Indian Context
Presentation by
KRG
Vice President – TANSTIA
CEO – AATHMA
December 2014

2. What is Empowerment
• According to British
Dictionary
• give (someone) the authority or
power to do something:
• members are empowered to audit
the accounts of limited companies
• make (someone) stronger and
more confident, especially in
controlling their life and claiming
their rights:
• According to Wikipedia
• Empowerment refers to
increasing the
spiritual, political, social
, educational, gender, or
economic strength of
individuals and
communities.

3. Women Empowerment
the status of Women in India
• Are women really the oppressed community
in India?
• Was it the case right from the beginning or is
it the handy work of outsiders who came to
rule us?

4. Faces of Indian Women
• One of the most enduring cliches about India is
that it is the country of contradictions.
• Like all cliches, this one too has a grain of truth in
it.
• At the heart of the contradiction stand Indian
women: for it is true to say that they are among
the most oppressed in the world, and it is equally
true to say that they are among the most
liberated, the most articulate and perhaps even
the most free.
• Can these two realities be simultaneously true?”

5. Place of women in Indian society:
A (cultural) historical perspective
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Goddess (Devi)
The mother
The sister
The wife
Modern women affix their Father/Husband’s name
But, out Gods have prefixed their Devi’s name
• Uma Maheswar, Gowri Shankar,
• Janaki Raman, Seetha Raman,

7. Woman empowerment in Pre –
independence era(1921-47)
• Under the leadership
of Gandhiji , women
participated in social
movement against
dowry and child
marriages
“If by strength is meant moral power, then
woman is immeasurably man's superior”.
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8. Nehruji at eve of independence
“You can tell
condition of nation
by looking at the
status of its
women”
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9. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
“I measure the
progress of a
community by the
degree of progress
which women
have achieved”
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10. What is Women Empowerment?
Women's empowerment has five components:
o
o
o
o
Sense of self-worth
Right to have and to determine choices
Right to have access to opportunities and resources
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
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11. What do you want
• Respect or Rights?
• When one will get Respect?
• When you have the Rights, what is that you
will forgo?
• It is up to you!!!!!

12. The real worth of a woman
“The origin of a child is a mother, a woman.
….she shows a man what sharing, caring, and
loving is all about. That is the essence of a
woman."
Sushmita Sen, Miss Universe 1994

13. Current status of women
empowerment in India
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14. Women in the population
o Total population - 1210.2 million (2011)
{Almost equal to the combined population of
U.S.A., Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan put
together}
o Women population - 586.5 million (48.5%)
o Sex ratio (0 – 6 years) – 914 (women/1000 men)
{Lowest since independence}
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15. Educational status of women
Literacy rate
Census data 2001,2011, RGI, GOI
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Department of education, Ministry of Human Resource & Development
2006-07
15

16. Economic independence of women
 Work participation of women(2001)
– 25.63%
 Urban: rural ratio of work
participation of women - 11.88:
30.79
 Women working in unorganized
sectors – 80%
 Women economically active at 15
years (2009) – 33%
Source: Google images
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17. Women at decision making level
• Participation of women in
58.2
48.0
elections increased over the
years
• Proportion of women
turnout for voting (2009) –
58.2%
Source: Election Commission of India
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18. Women at decision making level
• Proportion of women in national
Proportion of women in national parliament
parliament dipped till year 2007
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• “Women Reservation Bill” is still
pending in the parliament
18

19. Holistic approach to Empowerment
Health
& Nut.
Water & San.
Political
Participation
Education
Asset base
Skills
Marketing
Technology
Credit

20. The way forward
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21. Factors influcing women
empowerment
Women literacy
Wisdom
Economically
independent
women
Industry
Women
Empowerment
Women
participation in
election
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Proportion of women in
parliament, local bodies
Strength
Empathy
21

22. A triangle that can move
the mountain….
Universal
primary
education
Emphasis on
girl child
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Economic
equality
22

23. Action Areas
• Women availing services of public utilities like
road transport, power, water and
sanitation, telecommunication etc.
• Training of women as highly skilled workerstop end skills
• Research/Technology for women
• Women in the work force
• Asset ownership by women
• Women as Entrepreneurs

24. Women who proved themselves

25. Mallika Srinivasan
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Economic Times Businesswoman of the
year 2006.
Director of the Rs 2500 crore
Amalgamations Group Tafe.
In 1986, she joined the family business as
the General Manager of Tafe
When she took over the turnover of the
Company was Rs 85 cr.
At present, the Company is earning a
business over Rs 1,200 cr.
On 26th January, 2014, on the eve of the
65th Republic Day she has been awarded
‘Padmashri’ the coveted award of the
Indian Government.

26. Premalatha Pandiarajan the women behind
'Mafoi' Pandia Rajan
•
•
K Pandia Rajan started it in 1992 with a
capital of just Rs 60,000.
Today it is the largest HR services provider
and staffing company in India, with a
turnover of Rs 435 crore (Rs 4.35 billion).
•
Ma Foi has so far helped generate career
opportunities for more than 169,000 people
in 35 countries.
•
Pandia Rajan was born in Vilampatti village in
Sivakasi district. His father who was a worker
at a match factory died when Pandia Rajan
was just three months old. He was brought
up by his grandparents in a joint family of
about 40 to 50 people .

27. Ms. Chanda D. Kochhar, Managing
Director and Chief Executive Officer
- ICICI
• Mrs. Kochhar joined Jaihind College for a Bachelors
Degree in Arts and after graduating in 1982
• Completed her MBA and Cost Accountancy.
• She did her Masters in Management Studies (Finance)
from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management
Studies, Mumbai and topped her batch and received the
Wockhardt Gold Medal for Excellence in Management
Studies.
• In Cost Accountancy, she received the J. N. Bose Gold
Medal for highest marks in that year.

28. Awards &
Recognitions
• Under the leadership of Ms. Kochhar ICICI Bank had won The Asian
Banker - “Best Retail Bank in India“award for five consecutive years
• Ranked 20th in the Forbe's list of Most Powerful Women in the
World, 2009.
• Ranked 25th in the Fortune’s List of Most Powerful Women in
Business, 2008.
• Featured in the list of 25 most powerful women leaders in Business
Today, 2008.
• Selected as ‘Rising Star Award’ for Global Awards 2006 by Retail Banker
International.
• Awarded Business Woman of the Year 2005 by The Economic Times of
India.
• Selected as Retail Banker of the Year 2004

29. The Lijjat Papad story
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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,

30. Mann Deshi Mahila
Sahakari Bank
• Chetna’s foundation established in 1994 a co-operative bank
that is completely operated by women and serves women
customers.
• The bank was established with help of a group of illiterate
women and has now grown into a $562,000 firm by the end of
2011.
• In collaboration with HSBC, Mann Deshi Bank established the
Udyogini Business School in 2007.
• There are thousands of girls who drop out of school in
Maharashtra every year, and Mann Deshi Udyogini aims at
providing vocational training and financial training to these
young women to enable them to become entrepreneurs,”

31. SEWA (Self-Employed Women's
Association)
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•
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Started as a trade union, registered in 1972, founded by Ela Bhat, it is an
organisation of self-employed women workers who earn a living through their
own labour or small businesses.
SEWA sought a two-pronged strategy of full-employment and self-reliance.
SEWA's membership, which is a nominal Rs. 5 a year, includes women from a
cross-section of society — from vegetable and fruit hawkers to home-based
weavers, potters and manual labourers.
It is SEWA's belief that once women achieve employment and economic
independence, they will improve the quality of not only their lives but also that
of their families.
Year
Number of Members
1973
320
2002
6,89,551
Ela Bhatt has been awarded the
Padmashri, the Padmabhushan as well
as the Ramon Magsaysay Award.

32. 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

33. • Priyanka Agrawal is the co-founder of
Wishberry, a creative crowd-funding platform.
• An alumnus of Wharton/UPenn
• She started her first venture which stemmed
from a senior engineering design project.
• Disheartened that she couldn’t be a part of the
first company, she decided to quit her job and
start something of her own.
• Wishberry was launched in 2010 - online
wedding gift registry platform - as a crowdgifting application in the wedding space in
India.
• In April 2012, Wishberry extended the
platform
to
film-makers,
theatre
groups, musicians, etc. to help fund their
projects.
• Priyanka said that the motivating factor was
that entrepreneurship, in emerging economies
like India, is a long and arduous journey.
• She believes that the Indian market is and has
been very open to female entrepreneurs and
argues
that
the
challenges
women
entrepreneurs face in India are more cultural
than market-oriented.
Priyanka Agarwal

34. Ashwini
Jaisimha
• Ashwini Jaisimha, 24, a certified sports
psychologist and lifestyle coach, is the CEO and
co- founder of A3 performance
• A company she set up, to create an eco-system to
support athletes reach their peak performance in
sport and daily life activities.
• Ashwini says that the idea behind setting up A3
was to build an environment of trust with
athletes to help them cope with highly
competitive situations and work with them to
enhance their optimal performance in training
and in competition.
• She felt the need to set up the company in
February, 2013 for athletes and fitness
enthusiasts, who are often left to fend for
themselves while creating a support team.
• A sportswoman (State player in basketball and
ten pin bowling), she was aware that she would
always be associated with the field, which is what
motivated her to set up a one-stop sports
performance centre.

35. • Fouqia Wajid, started a project that turns into a
full-time profession.
• Fouqia (21), a journalism student is the founder
and director of OnFire, an organisation that aims at
providing youth a platform in various artistic fields
- acting, literature, dance and direction.
• She has written and directed plays and published a
collection of poems.
• She is also the editor-in-chief of an online youth
magazine.
• She believes that there are opportunities but they
do not get a platform to make it big.
• To her, the real problem is that the youth have to
compete with veterans to establish themselves and
in the process, their interest wanes.
• She divides her day between college and work.
• She is shuttling between rehearsals of plays, editing
the online publications and interviewing people.
Fouqia Wajid

36. •
•
Sahar Khatija •
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Sahar Khatija, 21, a sociology major, is the owner of Ezina
Redefine Beauty, ensuring that women feel their best on
special occasions.
For Sahar, it all started when she joined Mount Carmel
College (MCC) in Bangalore.
The credit course system offered a variety of courses that
provided practical learning and she thanks her luck that a
beautician course was introduced the very year she joined
MCC.
She then started working with the college fashion team
and has not looked back since.
From there came the decision to become a beautician and
make people look good.
Initial experiments of her skills were on her kin for special
occasions which were perfected through the course at
MCC.
Subsequently, she started getting good offers and did not
want to miss out on the opportunity.
She began her venture with the savings she had and
bought all the essential tools.
Over the years, with the help of her sisters — who sent her
products — she was able to expand both her business and
her collection.
She plans to become a full-fledged make-up artist and
open a studio to cater to the needs of all her customers,
professionally.

37. Sudha Murthy
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Sudha Murthy began her professional career as a computer scientist and
engineer.
She is the chairperson of the Infosys Foundation and a member of public
health care initiatives of the Gates Foundation.
Sudha completed a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from the B.V.B. College of
Engineering & Technology, standing first in her class and receiving a gold
medal from the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
She completed an M.E. in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of
Science, standing first and receiving a gold medal
After graduation, Sudha became the first female engineer hired at India's
largest auto manufacturer TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company or
TELCO.
Sudha had written a postcard to the company's Chairman complaining of
the "men only" gender bias at TELCO.
As a result, she was granted a special interview and hired immediately.
A prolific writer in English and Kannada, she has written nine novels, four
technical books, three travelogues, one collection of short stories, three
collections of non-fiction pieces and two books for children.
Her books have been translated into all the major Indian languages and
have sold over three lakh copies around the country. She was the recipient
of the R.K. Narayan Award for Literature and the Padma Shri in 2006.

38. Chinna Pillai
• Chinnapillai comes from a small village called Pulliseri near
Madurai
• She is one of the five recipients of the Streeshakti award
• Though most of her compatriots would not recognise her,
she has, over the last many years, been quietly organising
poor and illiterate agricultural labourers of Tamil Nadu.
• Chinnapillai, had taken the trouble to wear her best sari
and her only pair of rubber Hawaii slippers -- wornout as
they were -- in honour of the occasion.
• This was why she had, for the first time, travelled so far
from home. It was the first time she was to see Atal Bihari
Vajpayee face-to-face.
• Which could be why she was overwhelmed when she saw
him on the dais. She bent down to touch his feet.
• What happened next came as a complete shock to her.
• The prime minister of India, moved by her simplicity,
touched her feet instead.

39. Action Areas
• Implementation of Laws like
– Equal remuneration
– Minimum Wages
– Factories Act
• Infrastructure for women like
– Water and sanitation at workplace
– Creches
– Working Women Hostels
– Transport services
– Security

40. Economic Empowerment …is it
possible?
Nelson Mandela
( Social Activist and 1st President of South Africa)
“Its always seems impossible until its
done”
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41. Knowing is not enough,
we must apply;
Willing is not enough,
we must do.”…. Goethe
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE (1749 – 1832)
German Writer (Poetry, Drama, Prose, Philosophy & Sciences)
Pictorial artist, Biologist, Theoretical Physicist, Polymath
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42. Become Leaders – Become Entrepreneurs
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•
•
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Don’t be a job seeker – Be a Provider
Be pro-active
Believe yourself
Don’t be just a ..Leader! Be a world class
LEADER!
(Vaiyath Thalaimai koll – Bharathi)

43. Thank You Entrepreneurs!
• Any Questions?
• I will be glad to answer
• I expect many more successful entrepreneurs
from this audience

44. KR. Gnanasambandan
CEO – AATHMA
Madurai-14.
Phone:0452-2680999/9443711495
e mail:
trainingataathma@gmail.com

45. Thank you