THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 21 FEBRUARY 2019 (What stops rural women from getting involved in entrepreneurship? (Indian Express)

What stops rural women from getting involved in entrepreneurship? (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3: Society
Prelims level: Women empowerment
Mains level: Role of women and women's organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.

Context

•  The need to improve women’s participation in the economy has been a long-standing priority and is also crucial towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, too.
•  In recent years, entrepreneurship has emerged as an ideal way for rural women to contribute, by taking a few hours out of their day they can engage in small businesses and bring home additional income.
•  There are multiple programmes which offer support to such women such as the Start and Improve Your Business Program (SIYB) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the government’s Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD).
•  However, recent data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation shows that women constitute only 14 per cent of the total entrepreneurs in the country.
  Barriers for rural women from getting involved in entrepreneurship
•  Through its pilot programmes with rural women under the Disha Programme, UNDP India has come to realise that one of the reasons for this lack of uptake is the absence of mentorship for women entrepreneurs.
•  Women in rural areas face multiple barriers to pursuing income-generating activities, with patriarchal family and societal norms being the primary hurdle. Renu was of course lucky to have a very supportive husband.
•  Other issues include lack of awareness about opportunities, difficulty in accessing formal financing and poor customer management skills.
•  It is clear that providing opportunities isn’t enough these women need to be made aware and guided through the process to ensure they are successful.
•  Trained by Disha Project a partnership between UNDP India, IKEA Foundation and India Development Foundation, the Biz Sakhis are women from rural communities who guide budding female entrepreneurs through multiple processes and provide both practical and psychological support to them.
•  As a first step, they encourage rural women to start their own businesses by making them aware of entrepreneurship as a realistic opportunity, and, by informing them of the benefits of starting their own small businesses.

Conclusion

•  However, the most important role that Biz Sakhis play in the lives of rural entrepreneurs is to be the source of emotional and psychological support.
•  It helps these women to become more confident in their abilities and have the determination to continue with their businesses.
•  Family pressures and societal norms discourage women from engaging in such activities or cause them to abandon their business in the wake of community backlash.

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General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Prelims Questions:

Q.1) Consider the following statements:
1. Sanitary napkins have been exempted from taxes altogether.
2. Goods & Services Tax Council is a constitutional body.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) Women constitute only 14 per cent of the total entrepreneurs in the country, what is stopping more rural women from getting involved in entrepreneurship?