SCENARIO OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN INDIA

In the words of “Empowering women is a prerequisite for creating a good nation .when women are empowered society with stability is assured .empowerment of women is essential as thoughts and their value system lead to the development of good family good society and ultimately a good nation”

By APJ Abdul Kalam

The entrepreneur is an economic man ,who rise maximize his profits by innovations. Innovation involve problem and entrepreneur get satisfaction from using capabilities in attack in problems.

Women entrepreneur is the process whereby the women take the lead and organize the business or industry and provides employment to others ,though it is a new phenomenon in India ,still women are extending out and developments is taking place not only in urban areas but rural and semi urban areas as well.

Women entrepreneurs are key players in any developing country particularly in terms of their contribution to economic development .In recent years , even among the developed countries like USA and Canada , women ‘s role in terms of their share in small business has been increasing.

Government of India has defined women entrepreneur as controlled by a women having a minimum financial interest of 51% of capital and giving at least 51% of employment generated in the enterprise to women . Like a male entrepreneurs a women entrepreneur has many functions. They should explore the prospects of starting new enterprise undertake risk , introduction of new innovation coordination, administration and control of business and providing effecting leadership in all aspects of business .

OBJECTIVE OF STUDY:

1. To identify the purpose of women entrepreneur.

2. To identify the problemsof women entrepreneurs.

3. To identify the role of women entrepreneur .

4. To identify the steps taken by government policy.

5. To find out prospects of women entrepreneur.

METHODOLOGY:

This research study is based on secondary data.

LIMITATIONS:

This study is to narrate the existing condition and to assess and evaluate the future prospects of women entrepreneurship in India.

PROBLEMS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS:

There are up teen problem faced by women right from the idea of initiating an enterprise till the enterprise lives some problem have been identified during the study which has been follows-

1. Absence of entrepreneurial aptitude

2. Partriarchal society

3. Financial problem

4. Family conflicts

5. Credit facility

6. Shortage of raw material

7. Marketing problem

8. High cost of production

9. Social barriers

10. Problems of middlemen

11. Lack of information

12. Lack of self confidence

13. Lack of access to technology

14. Lack of training

15. Heavy competition

NECESSITY TO EDUCATE WOMEN ENTREPRENEUR:

“when women moves forward the family moves the village moves and the nation moves “is right said by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru .employment gives status and economic independence to women leading to an empowered women .

Women entrepreneur are those women who think of a business operate the business take risk and handle economic uncertainties involved in running business with education and training the women have gained confidence to do all work which was the privilege of man and do it excellently than man. Educate women have become ambitious, acquired experience and basic skill of competency and self assurance.

ROLE OF WOMEN AS AN ENTREPRENEUR’S:

· 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.

· 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..

· Persistence: Women entrepreneurs must have an intention to fulfill their dreams. They have to make a dream transferred into an idea enterprise.

· Ability and desire to take risk the desire refers to the willingness to take risk and ability to the proficiency in planning making forecast estimates and calculations.

· Profit earning capacity: she should have a capacity to get maximum return out of invested capital.

· A Woman entrepreneur has also to 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.

GOVERNMENT POLICY:

As far as the development of women there have been various shifts in the policies of the Government for the last fifty years -from the concept of 'weltare' till the 70's to 'development' in the '80's and now to 'empowerment' m the 90's. A number of Non- Governmental organisations (NGOs) are also working to improve the Lot of women in the country. Employment, credit facilities, training, awareness generation, income-generating activities etc. have been the major interventions for improving the position of women. The need of the hour is economic independence for women. To translate this hope into reality, the Department of Women and Child Welfare has taken up various projects directed towardsadvancement of women.

SUPPORTIVE MEASURES OF THE GOVERNMENT- OF INDIA

Governments at the Centre as well at the State designed a number of schemes and programmes for the support of entrepreneurs in general and for women entrepreneurs in particular. The schemes of the Govt. of India include the Support for Training and Employment Programme (STEP) aims to raise the incomes of women by updating their skilland in the traditional sectors, such as dairy development, animal husbandry,sericulture, handloom and social forestry.

Assistance extended by Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD) for training and skill development, and also for promotion of self-reliance through the generation of income for women in non- traditional trades.

The Department of Rural Employment and Poverty Alleviation under the Ministry of Rural Development have initiated several schemes in which 30 to 40 per cent of the benefits are reserved for women below the poverty line. The underlying philosophy of these schemes is to encourage entrepreneurship and self-help among women.

Swarna Jayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana Scheme (SGSY), the amended and merged version of the erstwhile Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA), Integrated Rural Development program (IRDP) and Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment (TRYSEM), was launched in April 1999. It is a holistic credit-cum-subsidy program, covering all aspects of self- employment. The stipulated 40 per cent reservation for women will be implemented through the Panchayat Samitis (local self- government).

The Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) provides facilities for women through training and employment. The Indira Awas Yojana, a part of the JRY, aims at providing houses free of cost to poor people. The houses are allotted to female members, or in the joint names of the husband and wife to enable women to own assets.

The Government in 1998 launched a new scheme, called the Trade-Related Entrepreneurship assistance and Development (TREAD). It was designed to generate self-employment for 45,000 women in rural and urban areas. The package involves financial assistance and services through NGOs in the non-farm sector

The National Bank For Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), with the objective of meeting the credit needs of the poor inks banks with self-help groups.

The Scheme for setting up Women's Development Corporations in States was formulated ,in 1986-87 with a view to identifying women entrepreneurs, providing them with technical consultancy, facilitating availability of credits, promoting marketing of products, strengthening women's cooperatives, arranging training facilities, etc. The scheme was transferred to the State sector during 1992-93, as per the decision of the National Development Council.

Indira Mahila Yojana (IMY) was launched in 1995 in over 200 blocks of India, for the holistic empowerment of women.

Swa-Shakti Project (earlier known as Rural Women's Development and Empowerment Project) was sanctioned on 16 October 1998 as a centrally sponsored project for a period of five years. The objectives of the project are:

1 Groups (SH. Establishment of self-reliant women's Self-Help Gs);

2. Sensitising and strengthening the institutional capacity of support agencies to proactively address womens

3. Developing linkages between SHGs and credit-lending Institutions;

4. Enhancing Women's access to resources for better quality of life; and Increased control of women, particularly poor women, over income and spending, through their involvement in income-generation activities.

The Project was launched in 1998, initially introduced in six States (Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, M.P, and U.P) through the establishment of self-help groups The project is jointly supported by International Funds for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International development Agency (IDA) .

Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK), a national credit fund extends credit facilities to poor and needy women. The RMK has extended loans to 20,000 self-help groups of women and has a membership of over 3,00,000. It is instrumental in encouraging women to take control of their own development, and has helped build confidence and political awareness.

A task force has been constituted in 1999 to review all existing legislation and government schemes with a view to enhancing the access of women to national resources and ensuring that they take their rightful place in the mainstream economic development. The task force will also chalk out specific programs for observing the year 2001 as "Women's Empowerment Year". This is one of the most crucial areas of work,that has been taken up by the Government. The primary aim is to make women economically independent and help them gain full confidence in themselves .

The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the Indian Constitution have served as a breakthrough towards ensuring equal access and increased participation in political power structure for women. The Panchayatiraj institutions will play a central role in the process of enhancing women's participation in public life. The local self Governments will be actively involved in the implementation and execution of the National Policy for Women at the grassroots level .

The objective, therefore, of the Government is to initiate and accelerate action to improve access to and control of resources by women so that they can take their rightful place in the mainstream of the nation's social, political and economic life.

SUGGESATION:

Right efforts on from all areas are required in the development of women entrepreneurs and their greater participation in the entrepreneurial activities. Following efforts can be taken into account for effective development of women entrepreneurs.

1. Consider women as specific target group for all developmental programmes.

2. Better educational facilities and schemes should be extended to women folk from government part.

3. Adequate training programme on management skills to be provided to women community.

4. Encourage women’s participation in decision-making.

5. Vocational training to be extended to women community that enables them to understand the production process and production management.

6. Skill development to be done in women’s polytechnics and industrial training institutes. Skills are put to work in training-cum-production workshops.

7. Training on professional competence and leadership skill to be extended to women entrepreneurs.

8. Training and counselling on a large scale of existing women entrepreneurs to remove psychological causes like lack of self-confidence and fear of success.

9. Counselling through the aid of committed NGOs, psychologists, managerial experts and technical personnel should be provided to existing and emerging women entrepreneurs.

10. Continuous monitoring and improvement of training programmes.

11. Activities in which women are trained should focus on their marketability and profitability.

12. Making provision of marketing and sales assistance from government part.

13. To encourage more passive women entrepreneurs the Women training programme should be organised that taught to recognize her own psychological needs and express them.

14. State finance corporations and financing institutions should permit by statute to extend purely trade related finance to women entrepreneurs.

15. Women’s development corporations have to gain access to open-ended financing.

16. The financial institutions should provide more working capital assistance both for small scale venture and large scale ventures.

17. Making provision of micro credit system and enterprise credit system to the women entrepreneurs at local level.

18. Repeated gender sensitisation programmes should be held to train financiers to treat women with dignity and respect as persons in their own right.

19. Infrastructure, in the form of industrial plots and sheds, to set up industries is to be provided by state run agencies.

20. Industrial estates could also provide marketing outlets for the display and sale of products made by women.

21. A Women Entrepreneur’s Guidance Cell set up to handle the various problems of women entrepreneurs all over the state.

22. District Industries Centres and Single Window Agencies should make use of assisting women in their trade and business guidance.

23. Programmes for encouraging entrepreneurship among women are to be extended at local level.

24. Training in entrepreneurial attitudes should start at the high school level through well-designed courses, which build confidence through behavioral games.

25. More governmental schemes to motivate women entrepreneurs to engage in small scale and large-scale business ventures.

26. Involvement of Non Governmental Organisations in women entrepreneurial training programmes and counseling.

CONCLUSION:

Empowering women entrepreneurs is essential for achieving the goals of sustainable development, Women entrepreneurship must be moulded properly with entrepreneurial traits and skills to meet the changes in trends, challenges in global markets and also become petent enough to sustain and strive for excellence in the entrepreneurial arena. Apart from training programs, Newsletters, mentoring, trade fairs and exhibitions also can be a source for entrepreneurial development. Henceforth, promoting entrepreneurship among women is certainly a short-cut to rapid economic growth and development.

REFERENCES:

Arora Renu and Sood S.K(2009)- Entrepreneurship development ,kalyani Publishres

Bhargava, S. (2007). 'Towards Entrepreneurship Development in the 21st Century,' in S.Bhargava (ed.), Developmental Aspects of Entrepreneurship, Response Books, Business Books from Sage, New Delhi.

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/367/12/12_chapter4.pdf

http://mbanotesravi.com/tag/role-of-women-as-an-entrepreneursproblems-of-women-entrepreneurs-in-india/

Received on 19.01.2014 Modified on 28.01.2014

Asian J. Management 5(2): April-June, 2014 page 125-128