Call for promoting women entrepreneurs

There is a need to promote women entrepreneurs as they look at things differently. Professionally qualified women are graduating in umpteen numbers every year, yet their immense potential was not being utilised to the optimum levels, said professionals at the International seminar on “Women Entrepreneurship – A global perspective” organised at Kakaraparti Bhavanarayana College here on Wednesday.

Krishna University Vice-Chancellor V. Venkaiah, who was guest of honour, said it was essential to ensure equal opportunities for both men and women, besides measures for providing financial independence of women.

There was no gender difference in business and women were reported to be better managers than men. For any business to survive and reap profits four aspects i.e. attitude, passion, persistence and creativity and innovation were key, he explained.

B. Ratna Kumari, Head, Economics Department, Andhra University emphasised the need to set up women studies cell in all colleges for empowerment of women. They were faced with many challenges including inexperience, limited knowledge, limited resources, poor motivation, financial support etc, special measures should be taken to overcome these challenges, she suggested.

Head of Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), a self-help group which works for the uplift of Indian community in Singapore, Renjala Balachandran, said Indian community women in Singapore were facing a lot of challenges.

There was an increase in divorce and decrease in number of marriages in the Indian community. As a result there was a pressure on women for financial independence. A research project Athena was conducted and 50 per cent of women, who participated in the project, were single mothers from low income groups and shared that they were troubled with family violence, lack of support, limited knowledge resources etc, she informed.

After the project, participants said they had attained better managerial skills, knowledge about career options, besides better parenting abilities. Such projects should be conducted regularly to help women overcome their fears, she added.