Hailing women in business as a great opportunity for economic growth, former Union minister Smriti Irani said they can also serve as engines of growth for India's economy.
During a fireside chat at the forum with ET's Nidhi Sharma on 'Empowering Half the Nation: Women, Work and India's Growth Story', Irani spoke about a new initiative 'Spark 100k' which will train 100,000 women leaders across 300 cities.
"For too long, women have been told they should be grateful enough to have a seat on the table. Today, if you have to reimagine power, you need not back it with funds, freedom and capacities to scale. I am extremely proud that today on this platform, I get an opportunity to collaborate with well-meaning institutions who want to engage with women from an economic perspective," she told the gathering.
Spark 100k is a flagship initiative under 'India's Alliance for Global Good-Gender Equity and Equality', conceived by the Women's Collective Forum, in collaboration with the CII Centre for Women Leadership and supported by the Gates Foundation, Deloitte and The Times of India. The programme will be implemented across 300 cities, selected through a data-driven methodology based on census trends, gender participation rates and enterprise density.
Irani said, "If you look at the landscape of women in India today between the ages of 16 to 60-what we call the working age-we have 450 million women: which is 450 million ideas, opportunities and capacities which need to be leveraged. If you are talking about emboldening our economic prospects, then the nation's economy cannot reach its full potential if half of the population is reduced to the sidelines."
"So what we hope to unleash today through Spark is to ignite a few ideas, to support a few more and to take the pipeline of women-owned businesses that we have in our country to the next level of economic engagement."
Making a case for training women in businesses, the former cabinet minister said, "If you look at data which has come forth on women-owned businesses in our country, 58% have shown an inclination to adapt their businesses to AI. But they do not know what service can be provided through technology."
In each of the 300 cities, the programme will entail a bootcamp with immersive sessions to help the women upskill themselves. "If you are hoping to leverage the economic prowess of India should we not own this technological moment in our history and ensure that more and more women get included in it," she said.
Asked whether economic empowerment was more important than political participation, Irani explained, "There are too many issues which are put in one basket when it comes to women's empowerment. It is an issue of either-or nothing at all... Both are distinct needs because women politicians will not serve the cause of only women.
"They will also serve the cause of the male constituents. Women in business end up becoming a great opportunity for economic growth not only domestically but also as growth engines of the economy," Irani added.
During a fireside chat at the forum with ET's Nidhi Sharma on 'Empowering Half the Nation: Women, Work and India's Growth Story', Irani spoke about a new initiative 'Spark 100k' which will train 100,000 women leaders across 300 cities.
"For too long, women have been told they should be grateful enough to have a seat on the table. Today, if you have to reimagine power, you need not back it with funds, freedom and capacities to scale. I am extremely proud that today on this platform, I get an opportunity to collaborate with well-meaning institutions who want to engage with women from an economic perspective," she told the gathering.
Spark 100k is a flagship initiative under 'India's Alliance for Global Good-Gender Equity and Equality', conceived by the Women's Collective Forum, in collaboration with the CII Centre for Women Leadership and supported by the Gates Foundation, Deloitte and The Times of India. The programme will be implemented across 300 cities, selected through a data-driven methodology based on census trends, gender participation rates and enterprise density.
Irani said, "If you look at the landscape of women in India today between the ages of 16 to 60-what we call the working age-we have 450 million women: which is 450 million ideas, opportunities and capacities which need to be leveraged. If you are talking about emboldening our economic prospects, then the nation's economy cannot reach its full potential if half of the population is reduced to the sidelines."
"So what we hope to unleash today through Spark is to ignite a few ideas, to support a few more and to take the pipeline of women-owned businesses that we have in our country to the next level of economic engagement."
Making a case for training women in businesses, the former cabinet minister said, "If you look at data which has come forth on women-owned businesses in our country, 58% have shown an inclination to adapt their businesses to AI. But they do not know what service can be provided through technology."
In each of the 300 cities, the programme will entail a bootcamp with immersive sessions to help the women upskill themselves. "If you are hoping to leverage the economic prowess of India should we not own this technological moment in our history and ensure that more and more women get included in it," she said.
Asked whether economic empowerment was more important than political participation, Irani explained, "There are too many issues which are put in one basket when it comes to women's empowerment. It is an issue of either-or nothing at all... Both are distinct needs because women politicians will not serve the cause of only women.
"They will also serve the cause of the male constituents. Women in business end up becoming a great opportunity for economic growth not only domestically but also as growth engines of the economy," Irani added.
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