Discussion on Equal Pay & Opportunities for Women Held at Rising Bharat Summit 2025 Women's Panel

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 9 April 2025

• Rising Bharat Summit 2025, held in New Delhi, featuring Leaders & Visionaries
• Panel Discussion on ‘Her Story: Smashing the Glass Ceiling’ focuses on Women’s Economic Contributions

The Rising Bharat Summit 2025, held on April 8-9 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, brought together a diverse group of leaders and visionaries to discuss India's future. While the summit revolved around the theme "Youthful Aspirations - Aspire. Acheive. Ascend." featuring numerous sessions, it organized a powerful panel discussion titled "Her Story: Smashing the Glass Ceiling".

Prominent women leaders, including Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint MD, Apollo Hospitals Group & Chair - G20 Empower India; Debjani Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow, NITI Aayog; and Sindhu Gangadharan, Chairperson, NASSCOM & MD, SAP Labs India, shared their insights on economic justice, inclusion, and innovation. The panel was moderated by CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan.

Dr Sangita Reddy highlighted underrecognized women's economic contributions in the unorganized sector, urging for equal pay and opportunities in the care economy to boost GDP by over $770 billion.  She notes, "World over, 438 million women in the working age group contribute about 18 per cent to GDP. Are they sitting at home? Are they relaxing while the husband goes to work? No, they are not. 343 million women are working, but in the unorganized sector." She adds, "We do not recognize and acknowledge the care economy, the work that women do at home. What if you just quantified that and said, if they had a nanny, what would they pay? And if they had a cook, what would they pay?"

Sindhu Gangadharan highlighted the "drip effect," where women often leave the workforce mid-career, urging for structural changes to ensure career continuity. She mentions, "Technology is an equaliser. Back in 2022, we had close to 10.8 per cent of women in the workforce when it comes to technology. Now, that's already moving up to close to 15 per cent." She further added, "India is the largest when it comes to tech graduates - women coming out in STEM. But as these people move up the ladder, you see that drop-off."

Debjani Ghosh emphasized the importance of inclusion and the need for international leadership to acknowledge and reward women's talents, not just their gender.