Karnataka - Bangalore   

`Encourage entrepreneurship spirit among women'

Staff Reporter

Those who possess skills should be properly guided, says AWAKE chairperson

Bangalore: There is a need to emphasize more on the "women factor."

Women are now targeted by various sectors and efforts are on to enhance their condition and support them as entrepreneurs.

At a seminar organised on "Innovating- in India, for India, by India", Vinita Rao, Chief Executive Officer of Grameen Koota, said that 2005 being the international year for microcredit, women had been linked to microcredit as it was a powerful tool to reduce poverty.

As those in the bottom of the pyramid had no access to banking, Grameen Koota had helped women below poverty line get loans with no collateral, both in urban and rural areas. Ms. Rao stressed the need for correcting the historical incompleteness of the financial system.

Ms. Rao said Grameen Koota aimed at reaching out 10 per cent of the poor households in Karnataka by 2010.

According to Uma Reddy, Chairperson, AWAKE, a majority of women who wished to grow remained saturated in the unorganised sectors. There was a need to empower women at the start-up level and also guide those who had the skill to become entrepreneurs.

Surveys had revealed that women were interested in food processing, and though they had the required skill working capital had become a big issue. Banks hesitated to lend money on perishable products. Hence, AWAKE had established a "business incubator" which helped women to make as well as market their products in their brand name.

`Bias should go'

Founder and CEO of Innoviti Embedded Solutions Rajeev Agrawal, speaking on women as consumers, said that IT products were usually designed and marketed keeping men as the target consumer. This strong bias had to disappear as the percentage of women using such products was increasing.

The products manufactured by many did not suit women and this needed to be addressed by the designers.

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