Should Not Create Crutches, Allow Community To Be Self-Reliant: Dr Shalini Sarin, Phillips Lighting
At the ThinkBig 2017 Conference organized by Thinkthrough Consulting and WEConnect International at Kingdom of Dreams in Gurugram, there was a session on ‘Access to Entrepreneurial Ecosystems as an Enabler’, with the moderator being Roshika Singh, Employer- Supported Childcare Lead- India, IFC, World Bank, who said, “There are challenges with lack of access to finance, lack of mentorship, but today we are here to talk about solutions. Only 33% of the start-ups in India are by women entrepreneurs.”
Dr. Anindya Chatterjee, Regional Director- Asia, International Development Research Centre, said, ”Women face many overlapping constraints, so both micro related interventions like training and macro-level changes like changing norms and policies are equally important. If we look at women-owned businesses, we have seen legal barriers, women don’t have access to global value chains, so we help women in India connect to global value chains”. Chatterjee also added, “The Canadian government has branded its international development policy as Feminist International Development Policy. So this is a great step.”
Speaking about the government’s initiatives in creating an enabling entrepreneurial ecosystem, Sunita Sanghi, Advisor- Skills, E & MU, NITI Aayog, said, “The National Skill Development Policy was made, with a focus on entrepreneurship. And it is necessary that the population of India is wage-employed or self-employed. I personally believe that entrepreneurial ability is in the DNA of India, whether or not we recognize it. There are challenges when it comes to financing, incubation and mentorship, a gap we are trying to bridge”. She also added, “The government has set-up a credit guarantee fund, so the lender is assured of getting 85% back of what he has lent. So we are setting up and supporting 900 Atal Tinkering Labs across India. Through the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog is supporting incubators. We also have a mentoring program within the Atal Innovation Mission. There are 40 more programs, which Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of SMEs, has started to facilitate an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country which can serve as an enabler”.
Anita Gupta, OSD, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of Sikkim, spoke about the situation in the North East, saying, “If women are not empowered, they cannot be entrepreneurs. There are indicators of empowerment, like female literacy rate, enrolment rate, and female participation in the labour force and as far as studies go, these indicators are positive in the North East. But it’s not perfect.” She continued by saying, “The drop-out rate of women is very high. Women in North-east are very hardworking and dedicated, but when it comes to strategic gender needs, they are not very fulfilled. Only 13% women are engaged in Small and Medium Enterprises, and in Sikkim, it’s lesser at 9%. We have an Entrepreneurship Development Program, our own department is running it, where training in entrepreneurship is provided and we have partnered with the hospitality sector. Agriculture and agro-based products have a lot of scope in our state, which has been declared 100% organic.” She also added, “There are challenges in the North East like the implementation of these skills and programs is not easy, many benefits of these programs are not being availed in the North East particularly women. An awareness building mechanism is very essential. The socio-cultural barriers faced by women is another problem, and studies say there is a psychological myth against entrepreneurs in Sikkim. Education is very important like how to start a start-up, get loans, how to manage, and form linkages and so on.”
“Our foundation gives access to lighting equipment in places where it is not there. For that, it’s important there is a product, and where there is no grid, solar lighting reaches there. For distribution, we partner up with social enterprises and NGO and implementation partners and women entrepreneurs are very successful in this realm, for example, our partnership with Barefoot College, which gives training to create solar lamps”, said Dr. Shalini Sarin, Chair of Foundation Board, SVP Human Resources & Solar Global Business, Phillips Lighting, adding that, “Training becomes very important, not only for installation and commissioning, but also the end-of life, and there is an exit clause in our dealings, so we don’t make them dependent on us, but make them self-reliant. Our focus areas are women, women entrepreneurs, and our studies show that where financial management done by women are sustainable and there is a lesser drop-out rate.” Dr Sarin concluded by saying, “We should not create crutches and create sustainability and allow the community to develop on their own.”
Geetika Dayal, Executive Director, TIE Delhi- NCR said about creating an enabling entrepreneurial environment that, “Every successful entrepreneur will create multiple opportunities. TIE has spread across 62 chapters in 18 countries, slogging and working towards enabling the next generation. We have a special interest group for women entrepreneurs as well. The fact that you are in this room, means that you are already empowered, and are on your journey to be empowered”. Dayal went on to add, “We all know what the challenges for women, it’s up to us for finding solutions together. It’s a great cusp in our lifetime, where we have opportunities to be the flag bearers for the next generation. Whatever encouragement we give to women today is the legacy we will leave behind for our daughters. Many women in the grass-root level do not have the access, and it’s up to us to help them in our own way”.
