chapter iii women entrepreneurship in india –...

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CHAPTER III

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN INDIA – MOTIVATION, OPPORTUNITIES AND PROBLEMS

3.1 Introduction

Women-owned businesses are highly increasing in the economies of

almost all countries. The hidden entrepreneurial potentials of women have

gradually been changing with the growing sensitivity to the role and economic

status in the society. Skill, knowledge and adaptability in business are the main

reasons for women to take up entrepreneurship. They span generations and are

there in every field, from tractors to television, from biscuits to banking, from

HP to hospitals. Denied entry into a male bastion, they create another industry

like Kiran Mazumdar Shaw of Biocon. This chapter draws a brief discussion

on growth of women entrepreneurs, factors motivate them and opportunities

available for them to succeed.

3.1.1 Women Entrepreneurs in the Global Economy

As technology speeds up lives and the new millennium is now upon us,

it is useful to take time to reflect on what surely be one of the driving forces of

the global economy of the 21st century. Women are an emerging economic

force that policymakers cannot afford to ignore. However, governments and

institutions promoting democratic values make a real difference in women's

business organization in newly emerging market democracies.

In the global economy of the 21st century, international trade will be a

key source of economic growth and development. A recent survey conducted

in several countries by the National Foundation of Women Business Owners

(NFWBO) indicates that women-owned firms involved in the global

marketplace.

Women Entrepreneurs in the Global Economy have greater revenues,

are more optimistic about their business prospects and are more focused on

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business expansion. Obviously, expanding into international trade can pay off

for women-owned firms. However, it is not clear that smaller enterprises are

benefiting from these potential as much as larger firms. Women's business

associations can and should ensure that their members are equipped to reap the

rewards of expanding into the international arena. Women must learn how to

play the international trade game, and a global network of women's business

associations can help them do that. Information technology can help identify

markets, provide information and spotlight trends about what the role of

women in national economies can play in coming years.

Today, women in advanced market economies own more than 25 per

cent of all business and women-owned businesses in Africa, Asia, Eastern

Europe and Latin America are growing rapidly. In some regions of the world,

transformation to a market economy threatens to sharpen gender inequality.

Some of these changes are simply the legacy of a gender imbalance that existed

prior to political and economic reforms. Other changes reflect a return to

traditional norms and values that relegated women to a secondary status.

Women's business associations play a vital role in identifying

appropriate and/or emerging sectors where women entrepreneurs can succeed.

The areas that are likely to take off quickly during a nation's market

revitalization are public relations, transport, delivery, producing and marketing

consumer goods, commercial banking, financial services, insurance and other

service-related industries. In this process, women business owners are

innovators, job creators and providers of economic transition.

Apart from profit making business organization, women as founders of

nonprofit organizations have catered to the needs of the poor and marginalized.

This kind of activity gave women in India an opportunity to enter the social and

political spheres in ways often denied to them due to their gender. Most of the

non-profit entrepreneurs as run by women for women, as many women who

seek to redress the inequities in society see themselves in India.


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3.2 Overview of Women Entrepreneurship in India

In India women entrepreneurship is a recent topic, which started only

after the 1970s with the introduction of the women’s decade (1975 to 1985)

and which mostly picked up in the late 70’s and 80’s. Research and

publications in India in this new area are very meagre. The little that is

available is the pioneering work done by certain organizations and institutions

engaged in the promotion of entrepreneurship.

The situation of the labour market for women has not improved either,

mainly because most parts of India are still underdeveloped with respect to the

necessary contributory factors to labour market development like increased

literacy, education and health standards. Under such circumstances women are

often found to be occupied in low productivity operations in agriculture and

other household-based sectors. In other words, they tend to operate in a world

of limited options devoid of meaningful alternatives and opportunities for

mobility into the more productive and skill-intensive sectors of the economy.

3.2.1 Women Entrepreneurs in India

Women entrepreneurs may be defined as a woman or a group of women

who initiate, organize and run a business enterprise. In terms of Schunpeterian

concept of innovative entrepreneurs, women who innovate, initiate or adopt a

business activity are called business entrepreneurs. The Government of India

has defined women entrepreneurs based on women participation in equity and

employment of a business enterprise. Accordingly, a woman entrepreneur is

defined as an enterprise owned and controlled by a woman having a minimum

financial interest of 51per cent of the capital and giving at least 51per cent of

the employment generated in the enterprise to a woman.

They have made their marks in business because of the following reasons:

• They want to improve their knowledge in innovation and competitive

jobs.


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• They want the chance to control the balance between their families

responsibility and their business levels.

• They want new challenges and opportunities for self fulfillment.

3.3 Role of women as an Entrepreneurs

The role of women entrepreneurs in Indian context is discussed briefly:

i. Imaginative: It refers to the imaginative approach or original ideas with

competitive market. Well-planned approach is needed to examine the

existing situation and to identify the entrepreneurial opportunities. It further

implies that women entrepreneurs have association with knowledgeable

people and contracting the right organization offering support and services.

ii. Attribute to Work Hard: Enterprising women have further ability to

work hard. The imaginative ideas have to come to a fair play. Hard work is

needed to build up an enterprise.

iii. Persistence: Women entrepreneurs always have an intention to fulfill

their dreams. They have to make a dream transferred into an idea enterprise.

Studies show that successful women work hard.

iv. Ability and Desire to Take Risk: Women always desire to take risk and

ability to the proficiency in planning making forecast estimates and

calculations.

v. Profit earning capacity: Woman as entrepreneur has a capacity to get

maximum return out of their invested capital. For the same woman

entrepreneur also perform all the functions involved in establishing an

enterprise. These include idea generation, and screening, determination of

objectives, project preparation, product analysis, determination of forms of

business organization, completion of formal activities, raising funds,

procuring men machine materials and operations of business.


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3.3.1 Fredrick Harbiscon has enumerated the following five functions of a

women entrepreneurs

• Exploration of the prospects of starting a new business enterprise.

• Undertaking a risk and handling of economic uncertainties involved in

business.

• Introduction of innovations, imitations of innovations.

• Co-ordination, administration and control.

• Supervision and leadership.

In a nutshell, women entrepreneurs are those women who think of a

business enterprise, initiate it, organize and combine the factors of production,

operate the enterprise, undertake risk and handle economic uncertainties

involved in running a business enterprise.

3.4 Characteristics of Women Entrepreneurs in India

Indian women of today have taken many strides towards business

ownership. The broad classification of women business owners include women

who establish, inherit, or acquire a business; women who start businesses with

spouses or business partners but are either at the forefront or behind the scenes;

and finally, women who start fast-growing or part-time or slow-growing firms.

Although earlier researches on women entrepreneurs have suggested that

significant differences existed between female and male entrepreneurs.

However, more recent studies have shown that there are far more similarities

than differences between women and men entrepreneurs in terms of

psychological and demographic characteristics. The dominant predictors of

success in the case of women entrepreneurs are work experience and years of

self-employment.

Generally, women view their businesses as a cooperative network of

relationships rather than as a distinct profit-generating entity. This network

extends beyond the business into the entrepreneur's relationships with her

family and the community. Certain cross-cultural studies on women


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entrepreneurs have reported that their management styles emphasize open

communication and participative decision-making, and their business goals

reflect a concern for the community in which the business operates.

The majority of women business owners operate enterprises in the

service sectors, whereas the majority of male business owners operate

enterprises in non-service sectors, particularly manufacturing. Women are not

only achieving economic independence and wealth creation for themselves, but

through job creation, they are also providing opportunities for others,

particularly for other women.

A series of researches have shown that the workforce of women-owned

businesses tend to be more gender balanced than the workforce of men-owned

businesses, although women business owners are more likely to hire women.

Put simply, an investment in women's entrepreneurship is an investment in the

economic independence and well-being of all women. In comparison to their

women counterparts who established their businesses two decades earlier,

women who have started their businesses sometime during the past decade are

more likely to have the following qualities:

� A higher level of education, previous professional and managerial

experience, as well as executive level experience

� A greater appetite for capital, both credit and equity

� A strong motivation for autonomy and achievement

� A dynamic personality

� A passion for what they do

� Creativity to innovate and implement

� Independence and self-reliance

� High self-confidence

� Willingness and ability to take risks

� Alertness to opportunities

� Ability to marshal resources


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� Ability to respond to market and environment signals

Thus, from the above discussion, it can conclude that the following traits

of personality of women entrepreneurs: Risk-taker, Proactive Opportunist

Visionary, Inventor, Tolerance of ambiguity, Commercialiser, Desire for

independence, Trader, High energy, Innovator Ability to bounce back, Flexible,

Results oriented, Need for achievement, Allrounder, Internal control Decisive,

Self-confident, Self-Motivated and Pragmatic Flair.

EXHIBIT: 3.1 CHARACTERISTIC OF WOMEN AS ENTREPRENEURS

Women entrepreneurs tend to be highly motivated and self-directed.

They also exhibit a high internal locus of control and achievement, possess

certain specific characteristics that promote their creativity and generate new

Entrepreneurial Characteristics

High energy level

Personal Motivations

Self-employed father

General business management skills

Social adroitness

Interpersonal skills competence in finance, and in managing relationships

Risk- taking propensity

Focus


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ideas and ways of doing things. Some generally observed characteristic

tendencies.

3.5 Factors Influencing Indian Women to Undertake Entrepreneurship

In spite of the growing number of female entrepreneurs, the share of

female entrepreneurs is still significantly low when compared to their

participation rate. However, there are several factors responsible for increasing

the level of female entrepreneurship in India.

i. Nature of Entrepreneurship: Women enter into entrepreneurial activity

because regular employment does not provide them with the flexibility,

control or challenge offered by business ownership.

ii. Motivation: Several evidences suggest that women do not lack the

motivation to enter into business ownership. They are often highly

motivated than their male counterparts to overcome the barriers to business

start-up.

iii. Empowerment: Indian women are becoming more empowered now-a-

days. Legislation is being progressively drafted to offer them more

opportunities at various levels.

iv. Social Conditions: Population growth results in a strong positive

relationship on entrepreneurial activity. Across genders, the increase in

demand and competition for jobs push more people into necessary

entrepreneurship. For women, in particular, the relatively high involvement

in necessary entrepreneurship indicates that self-employment is used as a

way to circumvent institutional and cultural constraints with respect to

female employment, as well as a way to provide supplemental family

income.

v. Economic Conditions: Auspicious economic conditions favour the

participation of women in entrepreneurial activity. The smaller amount of


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financial capital requirement and higher proportion of available bank loans

positively correlates the level of female entrepreneurship to economic

condition. In fact, in a country like India, the relationship between the size

of unofficial economy and entrepreneurial activity is positive.

vi. Literacy and Education: Increased levels of education have played a

crucial role in initiating the process of entrepreneurship. It is not only the

illiterate that are starting the businesses but those with education and skills

are also exploiting profit opportunities.

3.6 Needs of Women Entrepreneurs in India

Some of the basic reasons identified that could be stated as the reasons

for women to start-up entrepreneurial activities are:

� More and better access to finance/credit is mentioned very frequently.

Give a woman 1000 rupees and she can start a business. Give her

another 1000 rupees and she will be able to feed not only for her family,

but for her employees as well.

� Access to business support and information, including better integration

of business services.

� Training on business issues and related issues

� Better access to local and foreign markets.

� Day care centres and nurseries for children, and also for the elderly.

� Positive image-building and change in mentality amongst women,

whereby women see themselves as capable achievers and build up

confidence.

� Breaking through traditional patrons and structures that inhibit women's

advancement.


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� Role modeling of women in non-traditional business sectors to break

through traditional views on men's and women's sectors.

� More involvement and participation in legislation and decision-making

processes.

� Removing of any legislation which impedes women's free engagement.

� Awareness-raising at the governmental as well as private level to truly

and really create entrepreneurial opportunities and not just programs that

stay on paper.

3.7 Growing Role of Women Entrepreneurs in India

Growing role of women entrepreneurs' in India can be summarized as:

i. Rapid Development

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approval of the head of the family. Entrepreneurship has traditionally been

seen as a male preserve. All these put a break in the growth of women

entrepreneurs.

iii. Lack of Education: Women in India are lagging far behind in the field

of education. Most of the women (around sixty per cent of total women) are

illiterate. Those who are educated are provided either less or inadequate

education than their male counterparts partly due to early marriage, partly

due to son's higher education and partly due to poverty. Due to lack of

proper education, women entrepreneurs remain in dark about the

development of new technology, new methods of production, marketing

and other governmental support which will encourage them to flourish.

iv. Social Barriers: The traditions and customs prevailed in Indian

societies towards women sometimes stand as an obstacle before them to

grow and prosper. Castes and religions dominate with one another and

hinders women entrepreneurs too. In rural areas, they face more social

barriers. They are always seen with suspicious eyes.

v. Shortage of Raw Materials: The scarcity of raw materials, sometimes

notavailability of proper and adequate raw materials sounds the death-knell

of the enterprises run by women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs really

face a tough task in getting the required raw material and other necessary

inputs for the enterprises when the prices are very high.

vi. Problem of Finance: Women entrepreneurs suffer a lot in raising and

meeting the financial needs of the business. Bankers, creditors and financial

institutes are not coming forward to provide financial assistance to women

borrowers on the ground of their less credit worthiness and more chances of

business failure. They also face financial problems due to blockage of funds

in raw materials, work-in-progress finished goods and non-receipt of

payment from customers in time.


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vii. Tough Competition: Usually women entrepreneurs employ low

technology in the process of production. In a market where the competition

is too high, they have to fight hard to survive in the market against the

organised sector and their male counterparts who have vast experience and

capacity to adopt advanced technology in managing enterprises

viii. High Cost of Production: Several factors including inefficient

management contribute to the high cost of production which stands as a

stumbling block before women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs face

technology obsolescence due to non-adoption or slow adoption to changing

technology which is a major factor of high cost of production.

ix. Low Risk-Bearing Capacity: Women in India are by nature weak, shy

and mild. They cannot bear the amount of risk which is essential for

running an enterprise. Lack of education, training and financial support

from outside also reduce their ability to bear the risk involved in an

enterprise.

x. Limited Mobility: Women mobility in India is highly limited and has

become a problem due to traditional values and inability to drive vehicles.

Moving alone and asking for a room to stay out in the night for business

purposes are still looked upon with suspicious eyes. Sometimes, younger

women feel uncomfortable in dealing with men who show extra interest in

them than work related aspects.

xi. Lack of Entrepreneurial Aptitude: Lack of entrepreneurial aptitude is

a matter of concern for women entrepreneurs. They have no entrepreneurial

bent of mind. Even after attending various training programmes on

entrepreneurship women entrepreneurs fail to tide over the risks and

troubles that may come up in an organisational working.

xii. Limited Managerial Ability: Management has become a specialised

job which only efficient managers perform. Women entrepreneurs are not


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efficient in managerial functions like planning, organising, controlling,

coordinating, staffing, directing, motivating etc. of an enterprise. Therefore,

less and limited managerial ability of women has become a problem for

them to run the enterprise successfully.

xiii. Legal Formalities: Fulfilling the legal formalities required for running

an enterprise becomes an uphill task on the part of a woman entrepreneur

because of the prevalence of corrupt practices in government offices and

procedural delays for various licenses, electricity, water and shed

allotments. In such situations women entrepreneurs find it hard to

concentrate on the smooth working of the enterprise.

xv. Exploitation by Middle Men: Since women cannot run around for

marketing, distribution and money collection, they have to depend on

middle-men for the above activities. Middle-men tend to exploit them in the

guise of helping. They add their own profit margin which results in less

sales and lesser profit.

xvi. Lack of Self-Confidence: Women entrepreneurs because of their

inherent nature, lack of self-confidence which is essentially a demotivate

them from running an enterprise successfully. They have to strive hard to

strike a balance between managing a family and managing an enterprise.

Sometimes she has to sacrifice her entrepreneurial urge in order to strike a

balance between the two.

In general the important problems faced by women entrepreneurs in

India can be summarised as:

� Women hardly interact with other women who are successful

entrepreneurs. This results in a negative impact on their networking

skills.


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� The areas, where one can see women acting as entrepreneurs, are in the

very typical women's sectors of 3Ps. This is also the area, where women

are accepted in society to be experts in and thus have the capacity for

entrepreneurial activities.

� It is clear that women have the responsibility of getting children and

taking care of them. Very few societies accept fathers taking over the

role of staying home and taking care of the children. Once these children

are old enough to take care for themselves, they have to bear an

additional responsibility of taking care of elder parents. If they want to

become entrepreneurs, the society expects them to be able to do both:

take care of the family and home and do business.

� Women are very critical when it comes to themselves – "can I really do

this, am I good enough, maybe I have to learn more, others can do it

better". It is quite interesting that many successful women have been

educated in only girls colleges and schools, which often deliver a safe

environment to try out one's personal strengths, learn to overcome

weaknesses and be proud of oneself.

� Discrimination is hard to believe but women are still treated differently

in Indian society. Women do get lower salaries compared to men doing

the same job, women do not have access to men-dominated networks

who take their decisions about successors in the company.

� Missing networks, through centuries businessmen have built up their

networks but women still have to learn to catch up.

� A lot of women tell stories about not being taken serious by bankers,

when they wanted to get a loan for their business. Often enough, they

have to bring their husbands or fathers to be able to be heard and receive

financing. So, the domination of men in the banking world is a problem.


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3.10 Challenges Faced by Women Entrepreneurs in India

One of the major obstacles faced by women entrepreneurs has been that

they are not taken seriously. Even though women have achieved credibility as

competent entrepreneurs in areas such as retail, personal services and business

services, perceptions that women-owned businesses are less successful, credit

worthy and innovative continues to be a barrier.

Besides this, there are several other challenges being faced by Women

Entrepreneurs:

i. Lack of Visibility as Strategic Leaders: Changing the perceptions about

the likely success of women-owned businesses depends on increasing

women's visibility in leadership positions within the greater business

community. In an assessment of women's presence as CEOs or Directors of

large business enterprises, it has been anticipated that the exodus of women

to entrepreneurial growth firms might be because women believe that they

have greater representation in strategic leadership positions in privately-

held or family-owned firms as they provide better opportunities for

leadership than available to women in publicly-traded companies.

ii. Differential Information and Assistance Needs: Another significant

need of many women business owners is obtaining the appropriate

assistance and information needed to take the business to the next level of

growth. Women entrepreneurs, those who were just starting their ventures,

requested assistance and training in implementing the business idea,

identifying initial sources of financing, and advertising/promotion and they

tend to collect information about these factors. The entrepreneurs who were

already established had a somewhat different set of needs including

financing for expansion and increasing sales.

(a) Using cash flow to make operational decisions

(b) Financing growth


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(c) Increasing the value of the business

(d) Compensation for self and associates

(e) Hiring, training and motivating for growth

(f) Succeeding in a rapidly changing world

(g) Successful selling

(h) Sales force management

(i) Management success

(j) Problems and pitfalls of growth

Unfortunately, these differences in information and assistance needs can

be found across cultures as well as:

iii. Family Influences on Women Entrepreneurs: The overlapping of the

family and the firm is not significant for women business owners.

Unfortunately, little research has been conducted on the dynamics of

family-owned firms headed by women. As the boundaries between the firm

and the family tend to be indistinct, women operating family businesses

face a unique set of issues related to personal identity, role conflict,

loyalties, family relationships, and attitudes towards authority. Additionally,

family businesses owned by women are at a disadvantage financially and

are forced to rely on internal resources of funding rather than outside

sources. The critical role of family in business also emerges in cross-

cultural studies which show women relying heavily on the family for start-

up capital.

3.11 Steps Needed to be Initiated for Women Entrepreneurial

Development in India

A possible set of three inter-linked and inter-dependent clusters of

recommendations can be aimed at "pushing" a larger number of women

entrepreneurs towards growth opportunities, unlocking their potential as


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creators of wealth and jobs, and providing a more conducive legal and

regulatory framework. These recommendations can also ensure the proper

positioning of "pull mechanisms" to enable the growth-oriented women

entrepreneurs to expand and grow in terms of investments, markets and profits.

i. Prioritizing and Pushing at the Micro-Level: There is a large and

seemingly ever-increasing number of women entrepreneurs operating in

micro-enterprises and in the informal economy. They can be facilitated to

grow into sustainable, formally registered and large enterprises with the

help of the following actions:-

� Conducting gender analysis for all entrepreneurial support

programmes

� Gathering data on women and men entrepreneurs

� Applying "target group segmentation" to women entrepreneurs

� Using targeted approaches for priority categories in order to provide

additional "push" to women entrepreneurs to the next level of growth

� Promoting mobilization and organization of representative

associations

� Examining differential impacts of governmental policies, programmes

and actions

� Promoting development of demand-led supports for women

entrepreneurs

� Promoting more flexible and innovative financial products by banks

ii. Unlocking and Unfettering Institutional Framework: Policies, laws

and overall regulatory environment are frequently seen as barriers and


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disincentives to expansion and growth. However, they need to be promoted

in such a way that women entrepreneurs see the advantages of starting

business venture and the benefits that come with compliance.

� Reviewing impact of existing and new instruments on women

entrepreneurs

� Identifying those instruments that act as barriers to expansion and

growth

� Modifying or dismantling these instruments

� Taking account of the social and cultural contexts affecting policy

implementation and redress inequalities and abnormalities

� Making use of IT and associations so as to minimize the

administrative burdens on women entrepreneurs

� Holding regular consultations with key factors like women

entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs' associations, financial

institutions, etc, to review progress and identify new bottlenecks

iii. Projecting and Pulling to Grow and Support the Winners: The first

two sets of recommendations are aimed at trying to "push" more women

entrepreneurs into growth situations as well as ensuring that laws and

regulations do not stand in their way. The third possible recommendation

relates to facilitating and "pulling" the women entrepreneurs into situations

where they can actively pursue growth strategies.

� Providing incentives for expansion and growth after removing

barriers and disincentives

� Encouraging and rewarding dynamic representative associations

of women entrepreneurs


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� Promoting strong links and synergies with existing major

economic players

� Profiling the economic and social contributors among women

entrepreneurs to the national economy

� Promoting and rewarding programmes that serve women

entrepreneurs

� Making full use of data gathered to inform new policies,

programmes and supportive actions

� Ensuring synergies between (a) women related ministry (b)

economic ministry (c) welfare and social development ministry in

the government

3.12 Measures taken by Government of India for Empowerment of

Women Entrepreneurs

There is growing evidence all over the world that Small and Medium

Enterprises (SMEs) play a significant role in the national economic

development of any country. They provide majority of new jobs and produce

much of the creativity and innovation that fuels economic progress. The extra

growth over the past several years throughout the industrialized countries has

been due to the growth of SMEs. In India, the Ministry of Micro, Small and

Medium Enterprises (MSME) is implementing the promotional schemes for the

development of micro, small and medium enterprises. The schemes and

programmes generally focus on capacity building in states and regions,

nevertheless, there are a few schemes and programmes, which are individual

beneficiary-oriented.

While there are no specific reservations for women, in the latter, there are

some concessions/incentives available under these programmes for the benefit


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of women entrepreneurs. In respect of entrepreneurship/skill development

training programmes, under the National Awards for Entrepreneurial

Development (Quality Products) and Trade Related Entrepreneurship

Assistance and Development (TREAD) Programme for women, the necessary

guidelines have been issued and specific reservation provided for women.

Similarly, under two employment generation programmes being

implemented by the Ministry like Rural Employment Generation Programme

(REGP) and Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana (PMRY), some concessions have

been provided for women beneficiaries. Besides, the Coir Board is

implementing the Mahila Coir Yojana, which is a women-oriented self-

employment programme.

a. TREAD

The Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development

(TREAD) scheme for women envisages economic empowerment of women

through development of their entrepreneurial skills in non-farm activities. The

government’s grants up to 30 per cent of the total project cost is provided to the

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) for promoting entrepreneurship

among women. The remaining 70 per cent of the project cost is financed by the

lending agency as loan for undertaking activities as envisaged in the project.

Further, the government grants up to Rs.1 lakh per programme is provided to

training institutions/NGOs for imparting training to the women entrepreneurs.

Under this scheme, proposals involving grant of Rs.51.65 lakh to 16 NGOs /

institutions have been approved for benefiting 1700 women.

b. REGP

Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP) is a flagship scheme

of the government for employment generation programmes in the unorganized

sector. Though there are no specific reservations for women entrepreneurs

under this scheme, still there has been substantial participation (around 30 per


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cent) of women as a result of the promotional efforts undertaken in this regard.

Under this programme, 3,656 projects of women entrepreneurs involving a

margin money of Rs. 6800 lakhs has been distributed as government grant

during 2008-09.

c. PMRY

During 2006-07, the participation of women in terms of employment

generation under Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) was 16.5 per cent.

Under the scheme, preference is given to women beneficiaries. The

government also made several relaxations to women to facilitate the

participation of women beneficiaries.

d. Mahila Coir Yojana

Mahila Coir Yojana is a woman-oriented self-employment scheme in the

coir industry, which provides self-employment opportunities to the rural

women artisans in regions producing coir fibre. The scheme envisages

distribution of motorized ratts (machine) for spinning coir yarns to women

artisans after giving training. Women spinners are trained for two months in

spinning coir yarn on motorized ratt at the Coir Board’s training centers. A

stipend of Rs.500 per month is also paid to the trainees. The Coir Board

provides motorized ratts / motorized traditional ratts at 75 per cent cost

subsidy, subject to a maximum ceiling of Rs.7,500/- for motorized ratts and

Rs.2,925/- for traditional ratts. During 2008-09, 2,042 ratts have been

distributed.

e. Training of Women Entrepreneurs

The industrial policies of the government announced from time to time

have laid considerable emphasis on promotion of women entrepreneurship,

particularly among first generation women entrepreneurs, through various

training and support services. Special attention is being given by organizing

exclusive Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) for women.


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During 2007-08, approximately 15,000 women participated in these training

programmes. In addition to programmes and schemes of MSME, NSIC, KVIC

and Coir Board relating to conduct of EDPs and SDPs for benefit of potential

women entrepreneurs, three national level entrepreneurship development

institutes set up by the Ministry, particularly Indian Institute of

Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati, are also undertaking training programmes

for skills and entrepreneurship development for women. The National Institute

for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD), Noida,

has conducted seven training programmes exclusively for 327 women

participants during 2008-09.

f. Promotional Package

In March 2007, the Government has announced a comprehensive

Package for the Promotion of Micro and Small Enterprises, which comprises

several proposals and schemes having direct impact on the promotion and

development of the micro and small enterprises. These, inter alias, include

credit and fiscal support, cluster-based development, infrastructure, technology

and marketing support. Capacity building of MSME Associations and support

to women entrepreneurs are the other important features of this Package.

g. Enhanced Credit Flow to The MSE Sector

For strengthening the delivery of credit to the MSEs, the Government

announced a ‘Policy Package for Stepping up Credit to Small and Medium

Enterprises (SME)’ in August 2005 for doubling the credit flow to this sector

within a period of five years. This has resulted in a significant increase in the

credit flow from Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to the micro and small enterprises

(MSE) sector — with the outstanding credit of public sector banks increasing

from Rs.58, 278 crores at the end of March 2004 to Rs.1,88, 681 crores at the

end of March 2009.


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h. Skill Development

The Government has taken up skill development as a high priority area

through various measures like enhancing the training capabilities of the Tool

Rooms, MSME Development Institutes and other organizations under the

Ministry of MSME. The agencies under the Ministry of MSME conducted

programmes for skill development for nearly 1.8 lakh trainees during 2007-08

and 2008-09, 3 lakh were trained. The Ministry of MSME provides all such

trainings for SCs/STs, free of cost. Similar programmes are also being

organized for women and other weaker sections of the society free of cost,

besides providing a monthly stipend of Rs.500/- per month during the entire

period of training.

i. Cluster Development Programme

For the last few years, the Government has been focusing on the strategy

of Cluster Development for development of the MSEs - through which

different ‘clusters’ and concentrations of enterprises are given the benefit of a

whole variety of interventions ranging from exposure to skill development,

from credit to marketing and from technological improvements to better

designs and products. About 412 clusters have been approved for interventions

under the scheme (including 50 clusters for hard interventions, 152 clusters for

soft interventions and 210 clusters for diagnostic studies).

j. Rajiv Gandhi Udyami Mitra Yojana

The new scheme was launched on February 7, 2008. The main objective

of the scheme is to promote and support establishment of micro and small

enterprises through handholding of potential first generation entrepreneurs,

who have already successfully completed Entrepreneurship Development

Programme (EDP), Skill Development Programme (SDP) etc.


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k. Sick Small-Scale Industries

The total number of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the country

as on 31st of March 2007 is estimated to be 1,28,46,365. As per data compiled

by the Reserve Bank of India from the scheduled commercial banks, the

number of sick MSEs at the end of March 2009 is 83,077.

i) National Fund For Unorganised Sector

The National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector

(NCEUS) in one of its reports has recommended creation of a National Fund

for the unorganized sector. The Minister for Micro, Small and Medium

Enterprises, created fund for unorganized factor assistance in the Budget 2009-

10. MSME has continued to contribute significantly in the gross domestic

product, industrial production, employment generation and exports and has

acquired a prominent place in the economy of the country.

ii) South Asian Women Leadership Forum (SAWLF)

SAWLF works for the advancement of South Asian women in the

marketplace. It provides educational programmes and networking

opportunities, conducts research and offers outreach that supports the

advancements and undertaking of women at all stages of professional

development.

A vital link to economic decision-making processes, these associations

have made their members' visions and priorities a part of the national, political

and economic agenda. Around the globe many more organizations are

contributing in similar ways.

Associations cover a wide spectrum of activities encompassing credit,

business skills training, technical and technology training, employment

creation, marketing services, legal assistance, psychological counseling, and


69

some social welfare programs. Some organizations, like the Grameen Bank in

Bangladesh, specialize in providing micro credit.

Since associations encourage solidarity and collective action between

the groups they help organize and among the members who join, the increasing

contact between associations and other institutions can help create a

commanding web of alliances dedicated to the political and economic

empowerment of women. Partners in these new social pacts have build on the

survival strategies devised by grassroots associations. Grassroots tactics have

proved successful in many regions: in poor women' cooperatives, in

businesswomen's organizations and in associated movements especially in rural

India.

Also government's support and encouragement of individuals'

entrepreneurial behaviour have positive impact on the country's economy.

However, this behaviour depending upon the influence of economic

development state and cultural values women have gained. A gender split in

terms of motivating factor and individual characteristics provides divergent

views of entrepreneurship. The common way to explaining why women start a

business is associated with the individual needs for independence,

self-achievement and job flexibility.

3.13 Strategies for Promoting Women Entrepreneurship

Keeping in mind the findings made from the extensive literature review

of past literature the research comment that strategies have to be developed and

relevant suggestions are outlined for solving issues faced by women

entrepreneurs. There is no single approach to this issue. Therefore, a

multi- dimensional, flexible, integrated, co-ordinated, area specific approach is

necessary. Promoting entrepreneurship among women is especially important

to tackle the problems of under employment and unemployment in the society.


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There is a need to orient the women towards opting for entrepreneurship

as an attentive and better career option so that the entrepreneurial and

managerial capabilities of women can be exploited to the hilt. It is needless to

mention that the initial pains and hard work in setting up of an entrepreneurial

venture get compensated multi-fold upon successful running of an enterprise.

Further, family members will get an opportunity to become entrepreneurs

besides creation of employment avenues for others.

Education has been instrumental in increasing the participation of

women in entrepreneurial activities. The formal education not only helps in

acquisition of required knowledge for a job, which demands non-traditional

skills but also imparts knowledge about the different occupational

opportunities. Good academic background makes women confident in dealing

with problems in business in an effective manner. Although it is a fact that

entrepreneurship is not a special preserve for the educated but in the case of

women already burdened with many social pressures, education is a powerful

tool in breaking down the barriers to successful entrepreneurship. Thus,

education is a liberating force and barriers of caste and class, smoothing out

inequalities imposed by birth and other circumstances.

The success of women in various fields including entrepreneurship is

considered to boost the morale of enterprising women. As a result they are

coming gradually out of the shadows of their male counterparts and have

started establishing their own independent identities as successful

businesspersons. A perceptible change in the attitude of the society by way of

increased social freedom and liberty to women has also contributed

significantly in their new role as women entrepreneurs.

Positive attitudinal change in the society recognizing the role of women

as entrepreneurs may lead to the development of appropriate environment in

which women will be able to exploit their entrepreneurial talents. A woman

entrepreneur should herself set up an example by being successful and should


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act as a role model. Since children have a tendency to emulate their parents, the

resultant effect would be automatic.

3.14 Conclusion

With relevant education, work experience, improving economic

conditions and financial opportunities, more women around the world are

creating and sustaining successful business ventures. This will not only have an

impact on the economies of the countries in which women own their businesses

but also will change the status of women in those societies. It is likely that, as

we begin this millennium, this will be the century of the entrepreneurs in

general and of the women entrepreneurs in particular. The following chapter

IV and chapter V draws a detailed empirical analysis on the growth,

opportunity and problems faced by micro and small-scale women

entrepreneurs' in Erode district, Tamilnadu.


chapter iii women entrepreneurship in india –...

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