GENDER EQUALITY an Imperative for ENTREPRENEURSHIP Development in INDIA Strategy & Policy.

Prof.M.M.P. Akhouri
Former Executive Director, National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) & Amway Chair Professor, Delhi University, India. Workshop on Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship (3Es) on India, Indonesia and Peoples Republic of China. 27-28 Feb. 2012, Manila, Philippines.
The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.

Indian Women have proven their great potential as successful entrepreneur

Some Indian women entrepreneurs today lead the biggest shipping companies, trading and export houses, brewing plants, plastic factories and electronic establishments. Garment and handicrafts export are primarily in the hands of women entrepreneurs.

About 2 million ( 1,919,974) women entrepreneurs represents less than 21 percent of the total entrepreneurs in India
Proportionately low percentage of women entrepreneurs is primarily due to existence of GENDER INEQUALITY that refers to socially sanctioned roles that encompasses cultural, economic, political and social aspects of life, resulting in separate roles for men and women and unequal power distribution These proves barriers to women to enter and succeed as entrepreneurs.

Reduction of Barriers to Gender Equality in Entrepreneurship -Indias Experience

This requires understanding at three Levels : 1. Process, Practices & Policies of Entrepreneurship Development in India 2. Gender status in the contemporary scenario and the way it hinders the entrepreneurship emergence, functioning and its growth 3. Policy and public intervention for reduction of barriers to equality in entrepreneurship

1. Process, Practices & Policies of Entrepreneurship Development in India

1.Entrepreneurship Development - a National Movement in India
2. In 1970s the Integrated Entrepreneurship Development approach evolved comprising of three fold strategy Stimulatory, Support and Sustaining activities.
3. Through experimentation Entrepreneurship Development Training Programme commonly known as EDP was evolved giving importance of Pre and Post training work as integrals part. 4. Massive EDP trainings - about 1 million prospective entrepreneurs t rained every year for about 30 years - both by government organizations, thousands of NGOs and VOs for all categories- women, youth, educated unemployed, rural poor, tribal , ex-service men, students and artisans.

Process of Entrepreneurship Development

Arousal of Quality & Motivation for sensing , Seeking (excellence) entrepreneurial opportunity.

Building Capacity of planning, Resourcing & Launching venture

Acquiring Ability to Organize & Manage enterprise

5. Being National Movement people from all walks of life join together and the Governmental effort was multiplied many folds. 6. Although the National level model syllabi was developed for standardizing training for different c categories, a lot of innovative interventions ,and strategy were tried by numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to suit the specific groups. 7. Variety of Capacity Building activities for support agencies & Training of trainers and promoters are arranged throughout the country.

8.Entrepreneurship Development attained maturity in India. Entrepreneurship is viewed as part of process that completes the Education process resulting into human resource development -Providing (i) Ability to Adjust with Nature, Culture and Situations , as well as (ii) Ability to earn Means of Living.

Therefore entrepreneurship development activities in India is spreading to school, college &university System in one side and to illiterate BPL groups on the other.

[1] Development /Acquisition of Knowledge, Skills & Competencies ( as Resource.)

E D U C A T I O N

[2] Building Capacity to

Generate/ Innovate Ideas, Products Processes & Services based

on resources developed at 1 (as Innovation).

[3] Acquiring Ability to organize Social application / use of Ideas Products & services thus developed at 2. ( as Venture/Enterprise)

Entrepreneurship Education

Fig 1. HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS* (Formal Education +Entrepreneurship Education) (Akhouri 1992)

Gender Acted as Barriers to Womens Participation in Entrepreneurship Development

Social Conditioning resulting in Negative Building Negative SELF PERCEPTION SELF PERCEPTION Low SELF-CONFIDENCE Promote DEPENDENCY Enjoying COMPLIANCE rather taking Initiative Low RISK TAKING Accepting separate TRADITIONAL Role for women Intolerance to People CRITICISM Nurturing ,Caring and Sacrificing nature. Creating falls & Negative PUBLIC PERCETION PUBLIC PERCEPTION LOW TRUST in womens capability. Not Meant for HARD WORK Need Male Protection HEART DRIVEN Not Able to TAKE DECISION RESTRICTED MOBILITYa limitation for business Work Stereotype roles for women Institutionalizing Disfunctional Disfunctional SOCIAL PRACTICES SOCIAL PRACTICES Household Womens Prime responsibility and working women has duel responsibility. ASSET NOT BELONGING to Women MIGRATION OF WOMEN after marriage from parent to husbands place. Inheritance of Property unfavorable to women Restricted Social Mobility

Gender Inequality Preventing Women Performing Entrepreneurial Functions

ENTREPRENEURIAL FUNCTIONS 1. Taking up entrepreneurship as career 2. Sensing & Selecting Entrepreneurial Opportunity 3. Enterprise Creation by planning, assessing and mobilizing Resources including (finance) HINDERING GENDER ISSUES 1 Stereotyped womens Role household work 2. Number of gender generated self perception such as lack of self confidence, low Risk capacity, lack of initiative, low literacy & education, restricted exposure . 3 a) Low literacy & education, not attending training, not permitted to interact freely to outsiders, low exposure . b) Asset less, nothing to mortgage / collaterals c) Support agencies do not easily trust, Even their parent does not feel encouraged to invest particularly on behalf of unmarried girl 4. Lack of technical / vocational education, worker not easily accept women as master. 5 Comparatively low mobility. Not permitted to freely interact with outsider for purchase and sale. Networking with others particularly male prohibited for women

4. Management Functions Production

5. Management Functions - Marketing

Indian Strategy & Policy Interventions to Reduce

barriers to Gender equality In Entrepreneurship
Three prone Strategy and policy interventions to reduce barriers to

gender equality in entrepreneurship in India: 1. Entrepreneurial Quality & Motivation development among women representing all sections of the society. 2. Empowering women to avail all supports needed to setup and mange enterprise successfully. This may include access and availability of non-financial as well as financial resources 3. To enable women to sustain their enterprise by managing Growth and Change. Innumerous activities have been organized in each area. Some very significant from each areas have been illustrated in following slides.

(Akhouri 2012)

Entrepreneurship Quality & Motivation Development

The Cry of gender bias has gradually turned into a feeble one but

certainly not eliminated. The unique feature of women entrepreneurship development in India lies in a fact that number of non- government organizations and V Os are much more than government organizations and most of them are established and run by women. The most effective strategy for motivating women has been training the in groups. As early as 1986, the National Entrepreneurship Development Board of India Launched the model syllabi for training entrepreneurs which has recommended a separate model for women entrepreneurs. One third of this model deals with motivation and quality development. This model is followed by all training institutions and proved to be very effective Besides this many incentives in terms of subsidy, awards, facilities are offered for motivating women to take up entrepreneurship as career.

Empowering Women to avail all supports needed to setup and mange enterprise successfully
The support include access and availability of information,

technology, skills including managerial skills, financial and non-financial resources and building capacity of launching enterprise by assessing, locating and mobilizing resources. A lot of innovations have been made by about 5000 NGOs, Vos and hundreds of government agencies engaged in developing women entrepreneurs. To illustrate broad efforts of financial inclusion of women entrepreneurs are included in the next slides.
(Akhouri 2012)

Financial Inclusion of Women Entrepreneurs

Institutional Finance comes to women entrepreneurs from

various sources mostly in the following forms: 1. Instituting differential rate of Interest for specific group of borrowers in which women entrepreneurs with certain economic conditions get the priority ( like belonging to BPL, tribal and artisan groups) General loan by commercial banks out of the allocated specific % of credit to be dispersed to women (as part of weaker and disadvantaged group. Loan fund under different government scheme. For example under TRADE scheme the MSME ministry 30 % of total cost as approved by the lending agencies given to NGO for promoting entrepreneurship among women and 70% financed by lending agencies. (Akhouri 2012)

Financial Inclusion of Women Entrepreneurs

(continued)

Under TRADE scheme Selected training institution and conducting training for

women entrepreneurs can avail grant of Rupee one lakh per training. Under this scheme grants up to Rs. 500000 is given to the National Level EDIs for research, evaluation study, designing training module for special target group of women. For extremely poor women NABARD offer (through Refinancing) at differential rate of interest (4%). Under priority sector lending norms bank has to lend 1% of loans at DRI. Another feature associated to financial inclusion is creating Credit guarantee scheme on loan up Rs. 2.5million Credit Link Capital Subsidy Schemes are for technology upgrading. These are just illustrative and not exhaustive list of financial inclusion of women entrepreneurs,

(Akhouri 2012)

BEST PRACTICES
India has a list of best practices in the area of women

entrepreneurship. Self Employed Women Association SEWA started as organizing street venders forming union graduated having bank of its own managed by members some of them are totally illiterate, Similarly Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka AWAKE started by women entrepreneurs and could successfully launched thousands of women by handholding and effective EDP. A number of best practices can also be seen in the work done by ICECD , Ahmedabad who did pioneering work organizing widows as successful entrepreneurs.
(Akhouri 2012)

Best Practices

(Continued)

Massive Micro financing & MFI -collateral free funding to SHG groups

benefitting 31 million members -80 to 90 % women a significant strategy & policy by MSME, SIDBI and NABARD enabling women participating in economic /entrepreneurship.
enterprises predominantly owned by women.w.e.i. 1st January 2000. These are just illustrative not exhaustive proving :

MSME & SIDBIs Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for micro and small

Entrepreneurship the most effective way of engendering women for mainstreaming and empowering women to regain their status of equal partner in building peace, progress and prosperity of the nation