The Confederation of Indian Industry’s Indian Women Network Telangana chapter held its Annual Leadership Conclave in Hyderabad on October 14. The theme of the conference was UPLIFT – Independent Focused Inspired and the deliberations centred around financial inclusion and financial literacy of women.
This was the eighth edition of the Leadership Conclave. This year, the conclave focused on deliberations around on the following tracks: SMART – Financial Inclusion, Panel Discussion – Kindling the Entrepreneurial Spirit, Leading the Change – Sharing of success stories, Fireside Chat – Aspire to Lead, and Masterclass on ‘A portfolio that pays’. Telangana Governor Dr Tamilsai Soundararajan delivered the inaugural address. Calling women natural leaders, she highlighted the need for parents to empower the girl child as empowerment alone can make a woman economically independent and help her uplift her family and society.
CII IWN Telangana Chairwoman Dr Uma Asyola, who is the Director of Communications at InOrder gave the opening address wherein she spoke about the need for women to practise financial discipline and take strategic steps to grow their money. “Financial literacy is the ability to understand and use various financial skills, including personal wealth management, budgeting, and investing. Women must be motivated to save and invest and take control of their financial journey,” she said.
In 2005-06 only 15.1 per cent of Indian women had a bank or saving account that they themselves used. And now as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) – 2019-21 about 78.6 per cent of women in India have a bank or saving account which they operate themselves and not male members in the family.The financial inclusion of women could be connected to the other empowerment parameters in the survey where women are taking part in household decision making. Financial empowered women participate in household decisions about nutrition and healthcare for themselves and their family.
The event saw the participation of around 150 participants comprising of professionals from industry, entrepreneurs, independent professionals, faculty and students from colleges for the Leadership Conclave.
CII launched the Indian Women Network in 2013. IWN is a networking model for professional women. IWN works towards enabling women to become better professionals and achievers in their professional and personal growth under the areas of leadership, wellbeing, gender parity, mentoring and networking.
You can watch the entire event here.