CII holds meet on International Women's Day

Kolkata, Mar 8 : The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Eastern Region organized a Conference and Exposition on Women Empowerment celebrating Women's Day on Monday.

The National Policy for Women Empowerment has stated its objective as 'Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social, political and economic life of the nation', which was the key them of the conference.

Various speakers who attended the conference acknowledged the fact that women are increasingly playing an active part of India's workforce.

Women's Day is a reminder that women can live a balanced life and not feel guilty about putting themselves first. They can handle home, family and work with elan and celebrate life, the speakers opined.

Dr MN Roy, Principal Secretary, Department of Panchayat and Rural Development, Government of West Bengal, who was the chief guest, said, "Women empowerment alone does not seem to have solved the problem. What is needed is a change in the mindset of men, which will go a long way in redressing the balance in the gender equation. Low literacy among women in India is the biggest problem."

Jagi Mangat Panda, MD, Ortel Communications Ltd elaborated on issues in the area of women empowerment, like the substantial volume of women who are getting benefited by the system of microfinance, provisioning of marketing outlets, etc.

Managing Director of Nicco Ventures Ltd Pallavi Kaul, in her speech, said, "Share of women employment in organized sector has risen to 19 per cent recently from 14 per cent in 1992 and at this point, the concept of microfinance has come forward to ensure financial inclusion to the grass root level."

To give a boost to this movement of women empowerment, she also informed that under the aegis of CII, Nicco Park along with Ministry of Panchayat and Rural Development will be providing stall spaces for SHG groups within the Park .

Chandra Sekhar Ghosh, Chairman and Managing Director, Bandhan said, "One major area of concern during the recent rise in women's liberation movement is sex discrimination in the labour market.."

Director of Mahiti Infotech Pvt Ltd Chetan ElvisDas said, "Women in developing nations are finding that awareness through social media is very crucial."

Y C Nanda, Former Chairman, NABARD reiterated that 'Women Empowerment' at the conference with an objective to provide a platform for women to share knowledge, facilitate development of their career, broaden perspectives and financial independence and take a global view to justify the improved status of women.