NSDC (National Skill Development Mission), in collaboration with Britannia Industries, has recently launched an Entrepreneurship Program to empower women entrepreneurs in India. The Secretary of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Atum Kumar Tiwari, announced many prominent steps to benefit women’s entrepreneurship.
NSDC prioritizes empowering women entrepreneurs in India. The growth of women entrepreneurs can greatly supplement the country’s economic growth. This step is strongly believed to increase gender equality in India.
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Need for Empowering Women
There are significant challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in India. Some of them include:
- Funding—Traditional bank loans and credit facilities are not accessible for many women entrepreneurs in India. This is a significant challenge in raising funds for business among women.
- Legal Support—Inaccessibility to legal discourse is another aspect that hinders women’s entrepreneurship growth. In the present scenario in the country, gender discrimination and discriminatory behaviour towards women are rampant in many company legislation and policies. The new initiative undertaken by the government through NSDC will surely address this issue.
- Technology—Many women entrepreneurs cannot access the technology and infrastructure necessary to enhance their projects. These are critical domains needed for the growth of any project. Ensuring women entrepreneurs gain access to technology and infrastructure is crucial for their advancement. The new initiative by the NSDC is expected to address this digital divide experienced by the majority of women.
- Opportunities—Existing women entrepreneurs in India face the major issue of not getting enough opportunities to showcase their business talents. There practically exists no market linkage for these women to understand the pricing trends, demands, and information about their competitors. This hinders their progress to a high level, limits their market opportunities, and significantly affects their decision-making skills. Under the initiative by NSDC, increasing market linkage is considered to be a top priority.
- Work-Life Balance- Women take up multiple roles in their lives. Unlike most men, women’s time should be divided between caring for their families and business. By caring for their families, they might probably have to care for people from all age groups- children, husbands, old parents, cooking, etc. So, women must find the work-life balance necessary to prosper in both sectors. The entrepreneurship program is believed to help women maintain this balance effectively.
Collaboration
The minister stressed the need for collaboration between various ministries, especially with the ministry of Tribal Affairs and Rural Development, hinting at the prospect of empowering the marginalized women. He pointed out the need for targeted skill training for Self-Help groups, providing them the necessary skills to grow their business.
WEP- Women Entrepreneurship Program
Tackling unique challenges faced by women is the main agenda of the Women Entrepreneurship Program. Free self-learning courses are launched through the SIDH (Skill India Digital Hub ). These courses are available in multiple languages. The courses offered in SIDH teach:
- Entrepreneurship Skills
- Knowledge
- Strategies for the growth of business
The certificates for these courses will be provided by NSDC, NIESBUD, and Britannia. The target population of the initiative is around 2.5 million Indian women.
Financial Grants
The program has scheduled a finale for the top 50 business ideas brought by women. A price money of ₹10 lakh each will be provided for 10 participants. The program is scheduled to be conducted in two phases.
- Phase 1: Self-learning courses in multiple languages are provided in this phase.
Phase 2: This phase is meant to support 10,000 selected women candidates to help their model for business, registration, and guidance for funding.
