Expert Talk : It’s time women get their dues

Nirmala Sitharaman is a woman of tough action. Recently, at the Moneylife Foundation’s event in Mumbai, the feisty Minister of State for Commerce and Industry spoke at length about the increasing contribution of women in the Indian economy and the obstacles that they have to surmount. Corporate Citizen brings you her comprehensive insight into the reality of India’s working women

Women are climbing corporate ladders everywhere, but we don’t even seem to talk about them. This is a situation that needs to be addressed. Sometimes blank statistics may help us to understand the gravity of the situation. It’s no good saying women make 50 per cent of the population. A few years ago, the 68th round of NSS survey talked about employment. It provided data about the number of people employed and in which sector. According to it, from among those people who were totally unemployed only 8.9 per cent are rural women and 1.9 per cent are urban women. Not more that 10 per cent self-employed people are women and this number is very low. What kind of assistance is provided to them by the government or how are we enhancing their role so that they become motivators, who in turn would motivate other women?

It is the government’s responsibility to step up and bring about a change. Unless we provide help, we are not improving or not making the economy vibrant. To do that, we have to extent facilitation, the kind of facilitation the finance minister Arun Jaitley talked about during the budget. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana was meant to reach out to those who need financial help and to get them into the banking circuit. They need to have access to at least the basic banking facilities. The government is working on attractive loan schemes for women, and we are committed to providing every bit of assistance we can.

Earlier, women in villages were demure and passive, but today they are asking the right questions. And because they are asking these questions, the panchayat level development agenda in itself serves a larger purpose. In my experience of adopted villages, you don’t have to announce that you have come there, women themselves come and tell you a few hard facts and go away. I am planning to implement some new policies in these villages, where women can come themselves and say in what way the plans can be implemented. I find working with these women absolutely clear and fruitful. Empowerment of women is important, because women do the cost benefit analysis in a ruthless manner. I think the clarity of thinking of women comes through in the passionate way they lay facts before you and say that nobody taught them business. They are from the grassroots and therefore they can say what they feel.

Politics, for a long time, was a man’s domain. There were exceptions when women initially said they only got into politics for their husband, forefathers, brothers. My experience is that women are not treated equally. A person like me could come into a political party only because of the reservation quota for women, and that makes me feel odd. It may have been due to the quota that I came into a political party but post that it is performance that defined my role within the party. Women are redefining perceptions in politics. They play second fiddle to no one. I encourage women to actively enter politics, and level the playing field.

When it is a question of going and approaching banks it’s not a comfortable situation. Women entrepreneurs in metro cities may be comfortable, but when it comes to rural areas, the approach that commercial banks take is with a question mark. “Are you ok?” “Is your husband ok?”, “Why do you need the money?” etc. That sets a lot of hurdles in the mindset of people when they work with women and these are things on which institutions should make a difference. People should be judged based on their expertise and not their sex. But the Government and corporates will have to reach out to all those women who have proved that it is their substance which allowed them to be selfemployed. Women are enthusiastic, passionate, and always ready to work for business. It’s high time they are given their due.

By Neeraj Varty