Odisha Economic Forum

Welcome to the seminar named Pride of Odisha Women entrepreneurs are being held in Bhubaneswar. It is a half day seminar on 9th March 2017 at Bhubaneswar. In that connection We would like to invite you to present a paper on the eve of the seminar titled Pride of Odisha-Women Entrepreneur to be organised by Odisha Economic Forum. In the seminar Pride of Odisha-Women Entrepreneur we will distribute award to deserving women entrepreneur so that others will be encouraged to go into entrepreneurship.

Wednesday, 1 February 2017

rural devlopment program

government at both the regional and the
national levels has increasingly identified
a potential role for SHGs in rural finance:
in particular, the new Swarna Jayanti
Swarozagar Yojana (SJSY) initiative of the
Government of India to replace existing
poverty alleviation programmes such as
Integrated Rural Development Program
(IRDP) is primarily based on SHGs

agricultural credit

NABARD has provided more than 69 per
cent refinance to commercial Banks, RRBs,
cooperative banks and primary
agricultural credit societies for loans
disbursed to SHGs at a subsidized rate
which has created necessary confidence
among financial institutions regarding
financing of SHGs.

variety of activities

Wenger points out that communities of practice develop their practice through a variety of activities like problem solving, requests for information, seeking and sharing experience, reusing assets, coordination and synergy, discussing developments, documentation projects, mapping knowledge and identifying gaps. The methodology used in the capacity building workshops attempts to foster a community of practice of women in higher education. However, the very characteristics that make communities of practice a good fit for stewarding knowledge—autonomy, practitioner-orientation, informality, crossing boundaries—are also characteristics that make them a challenge for traditional hierarchical organizations.

human endeavor

Etienne Wenger says that Communities of practice are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor. Members of a community of practice are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems in short a shared practice. This takes time and sustained interaction. The development of a shared practice may be more or less self-conscious. In the course of conversations, members may develop a set of stories and case studies that have become a shared repertoire for their practice. This is especially true of the community of women in higher education who value their collective competence and learn from each other.

SHGs formation

NGOs has reached almost a saturation
point and their participation in new SHGs
formation has been constricted due to
inadequate inflow of funds (mainly
donations and grants) from outside
sources and stringent government

regulations.

women's community in higher education

A women's community in higher education, by virtue of its intellectual and public domain, could, look forward to establishing alternative modes of knowing and doing, stake its claim in bringing about change not only in terms of entering an exclusive domain, but by turning on its head the very concept of an exclusive pyramidal governance structure to replace it with inclusive, participatory, empathetic, supportive, egalitarian and feminine practices of governance.

women's studies

The unlearning is often painful and disillusioning and occasionally some women are unwilling to take the plunge. Yet, the therapeutic efforts of this process are startling pain is exorcised followed by healing, and then transformation all because of a liberating bonding that promises to be the emotional ballast that could keep one afloat. In spite of the fact that the movement had initially originated with the support of Women‟s Studies Departments of India, there was a fall out in the later stages as this UGC sponsored community building was regarded as activism and not in the true

grain of women‟s studies, which is an academic discipline.

managerial training programme

As a facilitator in SAM workshops, I have almost always encountered difficulty in justifying a women-only managerial training programme as many participants are of the view that efforts should be directed towards sensitization of male administrators. Another problematic area is the breaking down of reservations to speak about personal experience. A natural reluctance to bare one?s soul to the public eye, even in an all-women group, to speak about insecurities and fears, to admit weaknesses or rememory traumatic experiences have held some participants back. It was realized that this experience may not be liberating for all women even though they could be points of entry into enclosures. Even more difficult for women academicians who have reached certain statures and positions of respect is the relinquishing of inherited knowledge and traditional learning.

academic leadership

The most challenging part of the workshop strategy is the sensitization aspect. Motivation in terms of equipping women in the system with conviction and confidence to take up academic leadership has gradually been accomplished as women have begun to overcome inhibitions, prioritise their jobs and professional requirements, accepted the positive aspects of ambition and achievement and learnt to network and lobby in order to build support groups. Awareness raising in terms of knowledge about contemporary issues, the situation of women in society, family and workplace, problems of women in society and within the system possible research areas in women?s studies.

finacial capabiliti

The financial capabilities and self-confidence
among the deprived, through sustainable
development of SHG-Bank linkage was
first initiated in 1992. Since then, the
growth is significant, and benefits are
widely acclaimed.

problems of women in society

state participated in the workshops

The coordinator workshops held in the state, I had the privilege of carrying forward the movement in Upper Assam. Participants from far flung corners of the state participated in the workshops. I have since witnessed the growth of a community of women who are committed to the agenda of making Higher Education in Assam gender friendly and equitable. At least 60% of participants in each workshop have been motivated to take up research and further studies — to equip themselves with the eligibility criteria required for promotion to higher positions. The emerging paradigm is that in each successive workshop, the number of academically accomplished women have increased, making the task of the motivators easier as already a potential resource group of eligible women were ready to be sensitized and step into roles of decision making and policy implementation.

bank linkage in india

The micro-finance scene in the country is
dominated by SHG-bank linkage.
NABARD is the nodal apex government
financial institution to provide microfinance
services to the very poor through
the existing banking network and NGOs

conceptual frame work

The first sensitization workshop was an eye opener in many ways.The sessions were structured according to the conceptual frame work of the programme. The mode of training was facilitative and learner-centered, which allowed maximum involvement of the participants of the several issues that were fore grounded major concerns converged on the “woman question” the positive and negative aspects of a gender neutral approach, the possibility of looking at gender consciousness as an initial practice that needed to be outgrown, whether this could amount to a lack of feminine awareness or contact with reality.

self-worth and an empowering

There was a freedom in being with each other a rediscovery of self-worth and an empowering, non competitive participation. For academicians working usually within the structured boundaries of classroom and intellectual platforms—the workshop came as a cathartic release followed by rejuvenation of confidence on our own abilities and mutual respect and trust in the group. In practice it resembled the ritualistic group communions of women?s communities and to me, carried with it the cadenza of as many untold her stories as there were participants. I had never before felt such identification with a group or so empowered in being with other women.

women business income

microfinance interventions in Ghana and South Africa
by Afrane(2003) strongly confirms that
microfinance interventions have achieved
significant improvement in terms of

increased business income, improved
access to life-enhancing facilities, and
empowerment of people, particularly women.

financial decision making power

microfinance programme of
SEWA Bank in India on women’s financial
decision making within the household
confirms that clients have gained from
programme membership which has
improved their knowledge, skill, attitude
and financial decision making power.

personal revelations

There was scope for intellectual sharing beyond workshop hours. Debates and discussions initiated in the business sessions were extended and carried over to pre and post dinner talks, breakfast sessions, experience sharing, walks and the encounters we had together. We shared, listened and connected, bonded and initiated friendships that were to last. We glimpsed and gained insights into each other?s worlds—were inspired or shaken up by personal revelations. We felt pampered and genuinely valued. It felt good to be able to talk about ourselves with the surety of knowing that our experiences would not be devalued or belittled, that we were being listened to empathetically, that nothing was „too personal? or „too trivial? to be voiced.

THE ACADEMIC IMPROVMENT

The academic researches (Falaiye, 2002;
Hema, 2003; Afrane, 2003; Doocy, 2004)
in some developing countries confirm and

acknowledge the positive impact of
microfinance. Falaiye(2002) in his study
on the impact of micro credit on rural
Nigerian women finds that the micro
credit has positively changed the clients’
self-esteem and confidence, leadership
abilities and decision-making process;
contributing to their household’s wellbeing
and increasingly seeking out solutions
to their own problems and the community.

Regional Co-Ordinator and Core Group Resource

The programme was initiated in the northeast in 2003 by the Regional Co-Ordinator and Core Group Resource the Director of WSRC, Guwahati and with her team from the centre and a support group of teachers from the university. Since then in the course of five years 12 workshops were conducted in Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur.Become a part of a nationwide movement of women for women in higher education - a women?s collective that was unique and the first of its kind because it sought to combine the experiential with the intellectual.

women's collective action

A participatory training methodology is used, which is essentially experiential.The emphasis is on group building, encouraging involvement and initiating dialogue.Methodological tools for unconventional, learner-centred training are used.Ice breakers, case studies, role plays, panel discussions, group exercises, games, brainstorming, group discussions, experience sharing group reporting are some of the techniques used to draw out the group and facilitate identification and sharing, as also non-threatening, co-operative engagements in the context of higher education. In this context, women?s collective action and collaborative efforts in terms of mobilizing resources to achieve the common goal of fostering gender friendly workplaces could be viewed as an alternative possibility of empowerment.

cross-section of colleges and universities

Train Motivational workshops are conducted at different levels and with various combinations linking a cross-section of colleges and universities. A select group of talented and committed participants who are willing to give their time are identified as potential trainers and trained at the Regional level Training of Trainers workshops. The ambit of the movement is widened with every consecutive round of SAM and ToT workshops and the community of sensitized women in the system grows by ripple effect.

DEVELOPMENT OF BANK

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)

through its ‘Foundation for Micro Credit’

since January, 1999 has sanctioned

aggregate assistance of more than

Rs.1100million to about 180 micro-finance

institutions (MFIs), benefiting over

7,00,000 poor, mostly women IN SIDBI

Tuesday, 31 January 2017

mass of trainers

The major strategy is to develop a critical mass of trainers, so that all the universities and colleges of the country can be brought into the fold of this movement of women for women in higher education. Unlike other UGC schemes, this movement is carried forward through a series of workshops, which are conducted by an organizational structure—Local Co-ordinators and Trainer Associates, Resource Persons, Regional and Sub- Regional Coordinators, core Group Resource Persons who are the Manual writers and Master Trainers.

women helps the group to network

Minority members of the academic community in terms of senior positions, there may also be negative feelings of social isolation and intimidation Training with other women helps the group to network with each other and address issues of gender inequities. Women only groups further help women to share strategies, to increase confidence, as also to lobby and network with decision makers,who may often be men.

MICRO FINANCE

MICRO FINANCE

Recognizing the substantial impact of
micro-finance on poverty alleviation, both
governmental and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) have been
prioritizing micro-finance schemes. In
June 1998, the Micro-credit Summit tallied
14,808,871 borrowers and the World Bank
chairs a coalition of lenders whose
objective is to extend Micro Credit to 100
million borrowers by the year 2005
(Panjaitan et.al.1999).

CORPO RET TAX

CORPO RET TAX

The Tribunal noted that the non-compete agreement was
executed on 1 April 2001 while the private limited company
was incorporated on March 2001. The Tribunal hence observed
that when the Partner had already undertaken a similar job
to be done in the company in the capacity of the Director, if
that be so, then he may not be able to fulfill his promise given
in this non- compete agreement.

GUJURAT WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Women of India have conventionally been engaged in doing house hold work and looking after the comforts and well-being of the family. The corporation plays a vital role in creating awareness in such women mass and content them to suitable economic activities.

In the process, the Corporation has developed various training modules in different trades and a massive training activity is carried out throughout the year in the state. The Corporation has also identified as many as 217 different economic activities either in manufacturing or in service sectors. The women applicant can choose any of these and apply for our bankable finance scheme “Ghar-Divada” in which they get a finance up to Rs.50,000/- through Nationalized Banks, including a subsidy ranging between Rs.7,500/- to Rs.12,500/-.

Above this, the Corporations organizes “Exhibition-cum-Sale” within and outside state and also help market the articles and goods manufactured by our trained women. This has given ample opportunity to the women entrepreneurs and they have achieved remarkable Sales and Good will in their respective fields.

The Rationale

The justification for offering the programme to women only lies in the need to bridge the existing gap between men and women managers in the system. The conceptual content of the programme may be common for both genders but the interpretations given to concepts in an all women group may have a different emphasis when discussed from the gender perspective. A women only activity often facilitates a dialogue on issues, that might not have been discussed in mixed groups as women are reluctant/hesitant to discuss professional insecurities with men for fear of being regarded as incapable.

issues of gender and the woman question

The primary objectives of the training programme has been to prepare women who have the potential to occupy management positions and to potential trainers from among the participants as also to sensitise women holding administrative positions to issues of gender and the woman question.The programme focuses not only on building administrative skills but primarily on motivating women teachers to see themselves becoming managers in the university system.The manuals offer the following rationale, goal, strategies and methodology for the training programme aimed at fostering a community of women in higher education. This reinforces the hypothes is that this fostered community would be a community of practice by definition and by character.

decision making leadership positions and gender advocacy

A workshop was held at Delhi in 1997 with participants from the UGC Standing Committee for Women‟s Studies and some other women academicians including a few women Vice Chancellors. The programme focused on sensitizing women in higher education to the current situation, raising awareness, and motivating women managers to aspire for decision making leadership positions and gender advocacy. It was then decided that UGC would undertake a similar sensitizing activity for which manuals would have to be framed keeping in mind the Indian context. The manuals presented by CHESS were reworked by a group of authors appointed as a sub-committee to the Standing Committee.

Commonwealth Higher Education Support Scheme

The Higher Education system was no exception to other socio-cultural institutions with their inherent gender bias and deep-rooted patriarchal value systems. It was understood that special efforts needed to be made in this direction. The situation was discussed in the standing Committee of Women‟s Studies of the UGC The Common wealth Secretariat, London, approached UGC to make a presentation of their Manuals, which they had developed under the Commonwealth Higher Education Support Scheme as they had noted the problem of the lack of women in such key positions in higher education in all Commonwealth countries, including the U.K., Canada and Australia.

foster and engender change

The present paper attempts to examine this phenomenon of women‟s collective in the academia to understand how collaborative efforts by women in the higher education system has been able to foster and engender change and how a rare sisterhood and bonding has broken invisible barriers erected by the erstwhile intellectually self-centred ambitions of the academic community to streng then women‟s resources and in turn to pave the path for an egalitarian and gender friendly higher education system. The paper interrogates/examines/analyses dichotomies inherent in the genesis and practice of such a fostered community, which has its roots in the existing system of governance, which may derive qualities of the same and/or replicate similar structures reconstituting power hierarchies and its pitfalls thereof.

pool intellectual resources

Power structures are resistant to penetration or restructuring and as such the higher education system is no different in resisting structural changes that could shift the balance of male domination in the hierarchy or jostle the status quo. Women in the system therefore have had to struggle for an egalitarian system, which would recognize their worth and allow for positive change. Individual efforts by sensitized and gender empathetic women were puny fists pounding against an immovable wall of odds. Increasingly the need for a women‟s collective in terms of networking, connecting and bonding in order to pool intellectual resources and create a power base has been felt by women employees in higher education both at the university and college levels.

institutional policies and practices

The increasing influx of women to jobs in universities and colleges as a result of feminization of certain jobs has led to a clustering of women in the lower rungs of the higher education system, thus generating so-called „pink ghettoes‟ of women educationists who have been unable to break the glass ceiling of prejudice and patriarchal assumptions on account of different factors that need to be investigated. The low visibility of women in the influential positions of administrative hierarchy has admittedly impacted the actual working conditions of women in the system and the need for stimulating change in the institutional policies and practices is now long overdue.

Higher Education system in India

The Higher Education system in India has, over the years, witnessed the influx of women as students and teachers for a number of reasons.The traditional power structures of the system have operated in ways that have not only replicated the patriarchal social structures of oppression and thus perpetuated the gender bias and inequity in the system but have also consolidated gender unfriendly institutional practices in the guise of institutional traditions and norms. In other words, “the cultural socialization in a patriarchal society is so deep rooted that even the educated are not liberated until special efforts are made in this direction” Traditional gender roles have been re-allocated even in the work premises, so much so that women are almost invisible in the managerial, administrative and decision-making positions in the higher education system.

women employees in higher education

The need for a women?s collective in terms of networking, connecting and bonding in order to pool intellectual resources and create a power base has long been felt by women employees in higher education. In this context the emergence and subsequent consolidation of a nation wide movement for women and by women in the higher education system, conceived and initiated in 1997 was a pioneering attempt. The present paper attempts to examine this phenomenon of women?s collective in the academia to understand how/whether collaborative efforts by women in the higher education system has been able to foster and engender change.

Higher Education for women's

The Higher Education system in India has, over the years, witnessed the influx of women as students and teachers for a number of reasons.The traditional power structures of the system have operated in ways that have not only replicated the patriarchal social structures of oppression and thus perpetuated the gender bias and inequity in the system but have also consolidated gender unfriendly institutional practices in the guise of institutional traditions and norms. Women in the system therefore have had to struggle for an egalitarian system, which would recognize their worth and allow for positive change.

social problems in india

women represent half of the brainpower available on earth, even then, they remain the most underutilized and suppressed resource of the world. Despite all such social problems, India is having a plethora of women’s success stories. A change in Indian society’s social fabric has increased women’s aspirations for better lifestyle and educational status. They have managed to succeed in such tough and competitive patriarchal society with their perseverance, hard work and diligence. Women’s persuasiveness, ability of learning quickly, open and free style of problem solving, ability to encourage people, ability to take chances, know the ways of winning and losing gracefully are the real strengths of women entrepreneurs in India.

indian women's

The educated women would never like to confine themselves within the boundaries of their house. They want equal rights, respect, and value from their male counterparts. Indian women still have a long way to go in order to achieve better position and equal rights because Indian society have deep-rooted traditions with male dominated sociological set up. Since, women are thought to be weaker sex, they are made to rely on men either inside of a family or outside, during their whole life. In Indian culture, men treat them as subordinates and they are only supposed to execute their decisions, in a typical family structure.

economic growth in OECD countries

Gender equality is both a moral and economic imperative. Closing the gender gap must be a central part of any strategy to create more sustainable and inclusive economies and societies. It is about fairness and equity, the realisation of individual aspirations, economic empowerment around the world and growth.Greater educational attainment has

accounted for about half of the economic growth in OECD countries in the past 50 years and that owes a lot to bringing more girls to higher levels of education and achieving greater gender equality in educational attainment.

Monday, 30 January 2017

DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

Agenda,discussions on women's entrepreneurship should highlight success stories and best practices of related policies and programmes, to feed into the on going debate about the future development framework. A number of lessons have been learned from the evaluations of UNIDO-supported programmes in Bhutan, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique and Pakistan. Specifically, these programmes have shown that educating and investing in upgrading women’s skills can have a knock-on effect on productivity, efficiency and economic growth. For example, activities such as training and providing business support services, or even sustainable energy solutions, to women entrepreneurs can significantly increase the profits of their businesses, help to provide decent work, and improve women’s standing within their families and communities.

shea processing centres

Focusing on empowerment of women and entrepreneurship development, 156 women’s cooperatives are now engaged with three shea processing centres, at least 1,200 women have been trained on production and quality control systems, and an additional 30 tons of shea nuts are being sold to processing centres.Total sales of these cooperative groups doubled between 2009 and 2011, and the total revenue of women within the groups has increased immensely. Not only has product quality and safety improved but household livelihoods have also been strengthened,leading to greater food security and better education opportunities for children.

shea butter

In an effort to boost output and improve the value chain, UNIDO set up a programme, funded by the Government of Luxembourg, to provide better production equipment for women’s shea butter cooperatives and to help train them in organization and management. It also provided training to raise women’s awareness of international quality standards and helped to support the protection and promotion of rights through the creation of a community-based production system. At the same time, through a successful collaboration with French cosmetics firm, Chimitex, UNIDO helped to improve direct access to international markets especially for higher value products made locally from shea butter.

THE TREASURE OF THE SHEA TREE

Mali is home to one of the largest areas of trees in the so-called shea belt, which spans almost 20 countries across West Africa’s semi-arid Sahel. For centuries rural women across the region have earned a living by producing a butter from the fruit of the tree, which is then used in cooking and on the skin. Traditionally known as “women’s gold”, the butter is hugely important for rural women in Mali, who rely on it for 80% of their income But, despite this, rudimentary production processes have kept production stuck at only around 80,000 tons per year, far behind the estimated potential of 250,000 tons per year.

society and development

Girls and young women are encouraged to take non-traditional entrepreneurial initiative that challenge the stereotypes of society and develop a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship, business and self-employment. By increasing opportunities for both girls and boys to make life choices that go beyond gender-limiting cultural norms, as often seen in education, these courses help to create an environment in which female entrepreneurs can thrive, therefore promoting gender equality. They also support the promotion of youth entrepreneurship in general and the creation of clusters and partnerships to facilitate access to information, technology, and markets
for youth and women.

Education and skills training

Education and skills training are key to unlocking opportunities for all young people, but especially important for girls who are at greater risk of being left behind in many developing countries. UNIDO’s Entrepreneurship Curriculum Programme targets both girls and boys in secondary schools with the aim of giving them skills to develop business ideas and encouraging them to take advantage of business opportunities. Launched in Uganda in 2001, the programme is very ‘hands on’, using a mixture of classroom teaching, participation of prominent business people as role models and practice at starting a business. It has successfully expanded to several other countries, including Timor-Leste, Rwanda, Angola and Tanzania, as well Mozambique. Between 2006 and 2009 courses were delivered to a total of 1,397 schools, reaching out to more than 416,000 pupils.

innovative social and environmental entrepreneurs

In a move which demonstrates UNIDO’s commitment to including women’s empowerment fully in its promotion of inclusive and sustainable industrial development, the Organization joined up with UN Women to sponsor the 2013 SEED Gender Equality Award, supported by international law firm, Hogan Lowells. The SEED Awards is an annual scheme designed to find the most promising and innovative social and environmental entrepreneurs. Following from this, the SEED Gender Equality Award, which includes finance and broader support services, will be made to two women-run enterprises which prioritise gender equality and/or women’s empowerment.

public-private partnership schemes

Another area drawing more attention as a means to promote women’s empowerment in business is that of public-private partnership schemes. UNIDO sees private-sector involvement as vital to global efforts to promote inclusive and sustainable growth. Examples of such partnerships include the UNIDO’s Entrepreneurship Curriculum Programme, which received $1 million from Chevron towards a project to introduce entrepreneurship as a subject to over 10,000 students in Angola.Other examples are the Business Growth Centres in Pakistan set up by UNIDO and First Women Bank Limited to enhance the ability, mobility, visibility and connectivity of women entrepreneurs.

partners in family unions

Policy frameworks should promote societal attitudes that are conducive to women’s entrepreneurship,such as ensuring that women are recognized as equal partners in family unions, and hence have equal ownership rights to joint assets. It is also clear that actions to strengthen social protection and promote social inclusion, including supportive family policies, such as maternity and paternity leave, flexible work schedules and availability of child care services, are crucial if women are to become successful in business.