Mysuru: India’s GDP could increase by 27 percent if only more women got into the workforce, said Founder Chairperson of MYRA School of Business Dr. Shalini Urs quoting the remarks of IMF Chief Christine Lagarde.
Speaking on the topic of “Womenomics: It is not only Empathy and Equity but about Economics” during the conference on “Empowering the Indian Women: A vision to fly higher” organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Mysuru at a private hotel here, Dr. Urs said, “Though the enrolment of women and pass percentage in schools, colleges, and higher education is more than that of men, the worrying factor is that the proportion that gets into the workforce is very less. Even in medical, engineering and management, women are performing better than men. For India to progress further, more efforts should be made to get the women into the workforce.”
Dr. B R Pai, former chairman, CII Mysuru and CMD of VWF Industries said that the inborn qualities of women make them great entrepreneurs.
Kamal Bali, former chairman, CII Karnataka, and Managing Director, Volvo India Pvt Ltd said, “If India wants to be a superpower, women’s work participation is very much needed. The conferences like this should focus on how we can make the best use of women’s talent and how to empower them.”
Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, who was the chief guest, said that to be successful in life one must have self-confidence and know rights and responsibilities. She said, “All women should be given an opportunity to achieve what they desire.” Dr. Pramoda Devi also recounted the famous quote of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru i.e., “When a woman moves forward, the family moves, the village moves, and the nation moves.”
Bhaskar Kalale, Vice Chairman, CII Mysuru and President and General Manager of Theorem Indian Private Limited welcomed the guests and briefed about the achievements of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and his contribution for women including providing the right to vote in 1907, the establishment of Maharani College both at Mysuru and Bengaluru.
As part of the conference, former international athlete and Arjuna Awardee Reeth Abraham, Co-founder of Womantra Mrin Agarwal, Chief Clinical Nutritionist, Apollo BGS Hospital C Champakala, Consultant Psychiatrist Dr. Arti Behl and Delivery Manager, Infosys Limited Shruthi M Ramakrishna spoke on various topics concerning women.
