The Hindu Business Line : Meet calls for equal opportunities to women

A CALL to ensure equal opportunities to women in education and training, encouraging entrepreneurship through coordinated action by the agencies concerned were among the outcome of a conference on women entrepreneurship development organised here on Monday.

Organised in the context of the International Women's Day, over a 1,000 participants from industry, government departments, NGOs and students pledged to increase awareness of the benefits of self-employment among women, a press release said.

The agencies concerned would work together to develop training programmes for women, share information on the best way to encourage entrepreneurship and enable feedback of the effectiveness of various approaches to the Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST), which organised the conference.

The BYST is a non-profit organisation that encourages self-employment among women in the 18-35 age group. It offers financial assistance without demanding collateral and facilitates involvement of large and small companies in supporting such entrepreneurs.

The conference was organised in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Corporation for the Development of Women, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Youth Employment Network, a joint initiative of the International Labour Organisation and the World Bank.

Three women entrepreneurs, who won a business idea contest for rural women, were presented with cash awards, the release said.

The contest is an initiative by the BYST in collaboration with the Kancheepuram Collectorate. Ms N. Santhi won the Rs 10,000 first prize for an idea of business venture based on vermicomposting, Ms V. Tamilselvi bagged the second prize of Rs 7,500 for a tailoring project and Ms M. Sumitra, the Rs 5,000 third prize, for an organic manure-based business concept.

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