The one-day event deliberated on the theme ‘Nurturing Resilience: Championing Rural Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership to shift India’s Poverty Needle’
Bengaluru, NFAPost: Buzz Women, a Karnataka-based civil society organisation that works for the upliftment of rural women, organised a one-day event showcasing their various programmes and to deliberate on issues related to woman entrepreneurship in rural areas for poverty eradication.
Organised in association with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Buzz Women organised at KASSIA auditorium in Bengaluru various panel discussions on ‘Nurturing Resilience: Championing Rural Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership to shift India’s Poverty Needle’ along with their members relishing memories in their life journey. The event also witnessed various plenary sessions, panel discussions, short presentations and a networking session.
Interacting with TheNFAPost, Buzz Women Cofounder and Buzz India Chief Change-maker Buzz Women Uthara Narayanan said Buzz Women’s mission is to enable underserved women to craft their own lives by building their capabilities and leadership at their doorsteps
“It is a reality that India is facing a lot of complexities around the intersection of women’s livelihoods, entrepreneurship, and poverty. It is high time that we should find an opportunity here and intervene for social impact. Buzz Women has been doing it and made a deep impact in this regard in Karnataka,” said Buzz Women Cofounder and Buzz India Chief Change-maker Buzz Women Uthara Narayanan.
Buzz Women Cofounder and Buzz India Chief Change-maker Buzz Women of Buzz India Uthara Narayanan shared the purpose of the Buzz movement – of the women, for the women and by the women.
Speaking at a panel discussion as part of the one-day event, Go Pink United Enterprise Founder Anuradha B M said women are facing multiple challenges in a male-focused society, especially in the mobility and logistics industry.
“Since Go Pink is helping citizens in the commuting business, we know that our women drivers will have to face challenges at home and on the road. It is not an easy task to win a business deal from a company for them. Also, they will have to take care of their family and their own health issues,” said Go Pink United Enterprise Founder Anuradha B M.
Through important and necessary dialogue, the convening identified avenues to foster collaboration, discussions, and strategic partnerships among non-profit organisations, philanthropic, and government stakeholders towards enabling rural women in India.
The convening also celebrated the change that rural women entrepreneurs are bringing about in their lives and communities by running successful businesses. Among those invited were the 200 Buzz rural community women entrepreneurs from Arsikere and Hassan, and many of them started their new businesses only 9 months ago.
With SIDBI’s support, Buzz Women has enabled women in Hassan district by catalysing them as successful women entrepreneurs who can live a life of dignity under their business entrepreneurship programme.
The panel titled, ‘Spotlighting Champions: Stories of Change’ showcased five of these Buzz community women entrepreneurs, including Ashwini, Nandita, Savitha, Leelavathi and Vanitha. These selected women shared the need and impact of entrepreneurship programmes while sharing their experiences as rural women entrepreneurs.
Buzz Woman Champion Savitha from Arasikere taluk narrated the impact made by entrepreneurship among rural women, especially in shifting the poverty needle and the larger social impact.
“The transformation wasn’t just in my business aspirations but also in my personal life. Previously, I was constrained by the traditional norms imposed by my in-laws who restricted my activities and interactions outside the home. I had never ventured into financial matters or engaged with institutions like banks. However, embarking on this business journey changed everything,” said Buzz Woman Champion Savitha from Arasikere taluk.
Speaking at the event, SIDBI Chief General Manager and Bengaluru Regional Office Head Satyaki Rastogi highlighted that SIDBI is laser-focused on harnessing the power of entrepreneurship, especially with the support of rural and urban women.
“SIDBI is happy to be part of the entrepreneurship programs and other initiatives with civil society organisations (CSOs) led by Buzz Women. I would like to say that investing in women is a social intervention and shouldn’t be a mere financial transaction,” said SIDBI Chief General Manager and Bengaluru Regional Office Head Satyaki Rastogi.
Expressing happiness at Buzz Women initiatives, KASSIA President Shashidhar Shetty appreciated the efforts of the organisation when India is marching towards becoming the third largest economy in the world.
“In this effort to achieve our larger goal, it is important to say that we need to build a vibrant MSME ecosystem and it should be led by women entrepreneurs in Karnataka. The state is already at the forefront of industrialisation in India and is one of the largest FDI-attracting states. By realising the fact women empowerment is the only way for the world to be a better place, we have to onboard more stakeholders on the path of entrepreneurship,” said KASSIA President Shashidhar Shetty.
The deliberations at the event highlighted the fact that women need a push or something to catalyse them to enable change for themselves and their communities. As part of that effort, it is high time that we should champion local production for local consumption.
The one-day event also pointed out that there is a need for facilitating a solidarity spirit among CSOs and it will create change in more communities’ lives. The event concluded with a successful landscaping of the best practices of various CSOs who are building entrepreneurship accessibility and resources for rural women. These CSOs included, AWAKE, Udhyam Learning Foundation, Go Pink Cabs and Solidarity Foundation.
