Indian women must have executive positions in companies as they are at the centre of change, says Smriti Irani

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 15 March 2023

Smriti Irani, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, that Indian women are at the "fulcrum of change" and must hold positions of leadership in businesses. That would genuinely revolutionize the nation, she declared.

According to Smriti, growing small enterprises into medium-sized companies is necessary for the nation's economic development.

Smriti was speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) partnership summit's session on "Reinforcing the Strength of Inclusiveness: India's Development Story" in 2023.

She also emphasized the importance of transforming female-led small-scale businesses into mid-size businesses to bring about a "revolution in female-led entrepreneurship".

"How do you find that lady or that business when we look at transferring women from small enterprises to midsize businesses? What is the structure through which a business with a female leadership team may be recognized on several markers and be ready to shift to a midsize company?

She asserted, "I believe you will see the female-led entrepreneurial revolution that we speak about if we start working at the specifics of it. According to Smriti, growing small enterprises into medium-sized companies is necessary for the economy of the nation.

"There is clamour surrounding unicorns, and startups, but we need to acknowledge that, if we develop our ecosystem of mid-size enterprises that is where we will truly kick off a new component of our economic growth," she added.

Disagreeing with the assumption that women are not digitally empowered, Smriti stated, "The epidemic has proven that women know how to utilize digital services and they can become a part of the digital delivery systems. For example, we had more than six million women working as frontline healthcare providers who went door to door and reported on what they observed about the epidemic at the grassroots level. Be it Asha workers, Anganwadi workers, physicians, and nurses. They completed all their job online," she said, adding that their talents may be recycled and enhanced for post-pandemic global chances.

Smriti said that in India, even the Covid-19 vaccination was distributed digitally. "If you look at the figures, Indian women citizens engaged in all of that digital interface with the distribution of the vaccination without any problems. It has once again shown that women are not left behind in terms of digital participation if you offer them the chance to interact, she added.

Smriti emphasized the need of increasing women's digital participation and said that technology must be developed in a variety of Indian regional tongues. She also emphasized that addressing the needs and rights of women is the duty of all significant players. The minister also emphasized the need to instill financial awareness among women and the promotion of women's leadership abilities.