Empowerment of Women Entrepreneur: The Evolving and Involving

Role of Ministry of MSME

Anuradha Goswami

and Darshan Subherwal

The Bhopal School of Social Sciences, Bhopal, Barkatullah University, Bhopal, India

The Bhopal School of Social Sciences, Bhopal, India

Keywords: M/o MSME, MSMEs, Women Entrepreneur, Empowerment.

Abstract: The principle of equality is enshrined within the Constitution of India which guarantees gender equality and

empowers the State to formulate affirmative action in favour of women. The Government of India and the

Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (M/o MSME) has taken many steps in order to support and

protect the interest of women entrepreneurs. This study attempts to identify the activities conducted and

schemes offered by M/o MSME for the encouragement of women entrepreneurs and to get an overview about

the enterprises run by women entrepreneurs in MSME Sector in India. The present study is based on review

of literature and a descriptive analysis of secondary data collected from official website of M/o of MSME, its

annual reports, articles published in online research journals and newspaper. The landscape of women

entrepreneurship indicates that women MSMEs have managed to enhance their share in the overall MSME

base. To become successful entrepreneurs’ women must trust their entrepreneurial abilities and after attaining

success they should make an effort to create entrepreneurial ecosystem through sharing of resources, mutual

support and formation of women's support networks. The empowered woman of this era can take up any

profession of her choice but as a successful entrepreneur she can provide a living for many others, as

envisioned by leaders and policy makers of our country.

1 INTRODUCTION

The principle of equitability is enshrined within the

constitution of India which guarantees gender

equality and empowers the State to formulate

affirmative action in favour of women. The

Government of India at central and state level has

taken many steps in order to protect and support the

interest of women entrepreneurs and the Ministry of

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (M/o MSME)

has been acting as stimulus for the same. While the

state governments are primarily responsible for the

establishment and expansion of MSMEs, still the

Government of India at central level plays a major

role by supplementing the efforts put up by the state

governments through its various initiatives. One such

initiative is the establishment of Ministry of MSME.

The Ministry of MSME was formed on 9

May 2007

after the merger of Ministry of Small-Scale Industries

and the Ministry of Agro and Rural Industries, this

merger was a result of the amendment made in the

Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules,

1961(Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium

Enterprises, GOI, (n.d.).

2 ORGANIZATIONAL SET UP

AND FUNCTIONS OF M/O

MSME

The M/o MSME has two divisions called Small and

Medium Enterprises (SME) Wing and Agro and

Rural Industry (ARI) Wing. The work assigned to

SME Wing includes administration, vigilance and

administrative supervision of the National Small

Industries Corporation Limited, it also acts as a

scheme implementing agency and provides assistance

to training institutions. The ARI Wing takes care of

Khadi and Village Industries Commission, Coir

Board and Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Rural

Industrialization. It also manages the implementation

part of the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation

Programme. Apart from these two divisions the

Office of the Development Commissioner is

entrusted for implementing policies, programmes and

Goswami, A. and Subherwal, D.

Empowerment of Women Entrepreneur: The Evolving and Involving Role of Ministry of MSME.

DOI: 10.5220/0012499200003792

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR 2023), pages 603-611

ISBN: 978-989-758-687-3

603

schemes aimed at providing infrastructure and

support services to MSMEs. The M/o MSME through

its various functions provides following assistance to

entrepreneurs – credit facility, enhancing their

competitiveness, technology upgradation,

development of clusters, marketing assistance,

providing training for skill/entrepreneurship

development, establishment of new micro

enterprises, growth/development of khadi and village

industries and growth/development of coir industry

(Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises,

Organization Setup and Function, n.d.).

2.1 Characterization of MSME

As per the gazette of India published on 1 June 2020

(which came into effect from 01.07.2020) the Central

Government, notifies the following criteria for

classification of micro, small and medium

enterprises:

2.2 Micro Enterprise

It means those business units wherein the investment

in plant and machinery or equipment does not exceed

one crore rupees and turnover does not exceed five

crore rupees;

2.3 Small Enterprise

It denotes such enterprises whose investment in plant

and machinery or equipment does not exceed ten

crore rupees and turnover does not exceed fifty crore

rupees;

2.4 Medium Enterprise

It refers to business organization where the

investment in plant and machinery or equipment does

not exceed fifty crore rupees and turnover does not

exceed two hundred and fifty crore rupees (Ministry

of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. GOI (n.d.).

2.5 Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new

business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most

of the rewards. The process of setting up a business is

known as entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur is

commonly seen as an innovator, a source of new

ideas, goods, services, and business/or procedures

Hayes, A. (2023).

2.6 Women Entrepreneur:

Woman entrepreneur means a woman who conceives

an idea of business enterprise, initiate it, procure and

co-ordinate factors of production, manage the

business operations and bears business related risks

and uncertainties (Aradhya D. n.d.).

2.7 Women-Owned Enterprises:

The women-owned enterprise means a business unit

owned and controlled by a woman in which minimum

51% of capital is invested by a her and at least 51%

workforce of such unit are women.

3 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

H.N. Archana (2018) in her research paper

“Empowerment of Women Through

Entrepreneurship – Role of MSMEs” was of the

opinion that the M/o MSMEs is playing a crucial role

in the growth of women entrepreneur. Her study also

revealed that among various schemes that are offered

for women - TREAD, Mahila Coir Yojana are very

useful and encourages women entrepreneurship in

MSME sector.

Shaik K. & Kalvakolanu S. (2012) in their

research paper “Role of Micro, Small and Medium

Enterprises in Women Empowerment” articulated

that MSMEs are great platform for growth of

women’s ability to become entrepreneurs. According

to them although the M/o MSME has introduced a

number of training programmes for women

entrepreneurs, they are mostly vocational in nature

and very little is offered by way of managerial

development.

Ilahi S. (2018) in his research paper “An

Overview of Female Entrepreneurs in Indian MSME

Sector” concluded that there is a need of major

changes in attitudes and mindsets of people rather

than being limited to development of schemes and

opportunities for women. According to him it is now

required that besides designing policies for promoting

women entrepreneurs, complementary programmes

must also be designed to bring attitudinal changes in

the society towards female entrepreneurs.

M.G. Moritán, (2020) in his research paper

“Financial inclusion for MSMEs and women’s

economic empowerment” concluded that for

empowering women entrepreneurs engaged in

MSME sector there is a need for easy access to

finance for which public and private sector should

work in a collaborative manner.

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4 OBJECTIVES

4.1 To get an overview about the status of women

entrepreneurs in MSME Sector.

4.2 To identify the activities and schemes of M/o

MSME providing support and protection to women

entrepreneurs.

4.3 To examine the initiatives taken by Government

of India to support women entrepreneurs and MSMEs

during Covid-19.

5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This paper is based on review of literature and a

descriptive analysis of secondary data collected from

official website of M/o of MSME, its annual reports,

online releases of press information bureau, online

research papers/articles published in various journals

and newspaper.

6 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Landscape of Women Entrepreneurship in

MSME Sector: According to the National Sample

Survey Organization during 73

round of national

sample survey, the total number of women owned

enterprises in MSME sector in India is 1,23,90,523.

According to MSME Annual Report 2021-22 the top

three states having highest number of Women owned

proprietary in MSMEs are - West Bengal (2901324

female owned MSMEs), Tamil Nadu (1285263

female owned MSMEs) and Telangana (972424

female owned MSMEs). The complete landscape of

women entrepreneurs in MSME sector can be

summarized below -

Gender Wise Ownership of Enterprises in Rural

and Urban Areas: Table 1 reveals that 22.24%

enterprises were owned by the women entrepreneurs

in rural area whereas in urban area 18.42% enterprises

were owned by them.

Table 1: Distribution of Enterprises in rural and urban areas.

(Male/ Female ownership).

Sector Male (in %) Female (in %) Total (in %)

Rural 77.76 22.24 100

Urban 81.58 18.42 100

Source: MSME Annual Report 2021-22

MSMEs Owned by Women Under Udyam

Registration: Table 2 discloses that Udyam

Registration (from 01/04/2021 to 02/02/2022) the

total number of enterprises cumulatively owned by

women entrepreneurs in micro, small and medium

sector is 708656.

Table 2: MSMEs owned by women under Udyam

Registration from 01/04/2021 to 02/02/2022

Micro Small Medium Total

692034 15989 633 708656

Source: https://www.pib.gov.in

Distribution of Enterprises Owned by Female

Entrepreneurs (Category Wise): Table 3 states that

the number of enterprises owned by the female

entrepreneurs in micro, small and medium sector as

compared to their male counterparts in percentage is

-20.44 %, 5.26% and 2.67% respectively.

Table 3: Distribution of enterprises owned by Male/ Female

entrepreneurs (Category Wise).

Sector

Male (in

Female (in

Total (in

Micro

79.56

20.44

100

Small

79.56

20.44

100

Medium

97.33

2.67

100

Source: MSME Annual Report 2021-22

Gender Wise Distribution of Workers in MSMEs:

Table 4 discloses that the total number of women

workers in MSMEs including urban and rural areas

are 264.92 lakhs.

Table 4: Gender wise Distribution of Workers in MSMEs

(Numbers in lakhs).

Sector Female Male Total

Rural 137.50 360.15 497.65

Urban 127.42 484.54 611.96

Total 264.92 844.69 1109.61

Source: MSME Annual Report 2021-22

Women Beneficiaries under PMEGP: Table 5

shows that the total number of women beneficiaries

under PMEGP from (2017 - 31.12.2021) is 1,28,474.

Table 5: Women Beneficiaries under PMEGP

Year

Number of Women

Beneficiaries

2016-17

14768

Empowerment of Women Entrepreneur: The Evolving and Involving Role of Ministry of MSME

605

2017-18

15669

2018-19

25434

2019-20

24720

2020-21

27285

2021-22 (up to

31.12.2021)

20598

Source: MSME Annual Report 2021-22

6.1 Importance of Ministry of MSME

Since inception the main focus of M/o MSME is to

accelerate the growth of micro, small and medium

enterprises in India by catering to the needs of

entrepreneurs engaged in this sector through its

various services, programmes and schemes. Out of

the array of its activities for all the entrepreneurs there

are notable programmes and schemes which provides

extra support and benefit to the women entrepreneurs

that highlights the importance of M/o of MSME are

mentioned below –

6.1.1 Training of Women Entrepreneurs

Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises in

order to provide the stimulus for the development of

the industry in the country has established a dynamic

skilling eco-system to meet the demand of skilled

workforce. These training courses are designed as per

the requirements of the MSME sector and acts as a

pathway to fill the skills gap among the workforce.

These skill-based training programmes are conducted

by a network of nineteen technology centers (earlier

known as Tool Rooms/Technology Development

Centers) under the Ministry. The Ministry has taken

initiatives to align its training courses with National

Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) and Ministry

of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE).

Skill trainings of the Ministry are reported to Ministry

of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE)

under Skill India Mission convergence (Ministry of

Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises,

Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programs,

GOI, n.d.).

6.1.2 Micro and Small Enterprises Cluster

Development Programme (MSE-CDP)

The ‘Cluster Development Approach’ is adopted by

M/o of MSME for capacity building of micro, and

small enterprise. A cluster is a group of enterprises

located in adjoining areas and engaged in either

producing same/similar products or rendering

same/similar services, which can be linked together

by common physical infrastructure facilities that help

address their common challenges. Cluster

Development Programme also provides funding

support for setting up of “Common Display Centers”

(CDC) and “Common Facility Centers” (CFC). The

main Components of Cluster Development

Programme are – i) Soft Interventions including

diagnostic study, forming association, capacity

building, organizing workshops, seminars, training

and exposure visits, market development, launch of

website, common procurement, complementary sales

and branding, ii) Hard Interventions including

setting up of Common facility center, mini tool room,

design center, testing facilities, training center,

research and development center, common raw

material bank/sales depot, display/exhibition center.

In the case of clusters owned and managed by women

entrepreneurs, contribution of the M/o MSME could

be up to 90% of the project cost, and iii) Creation of

Physical Infrastructure includes power distribution

network, water, telecommunications, drainage and

pollution control facilities, roads, exhibition/display

centers, raw materials, storage and marketing outlets,

common service facilities and technological back-up

services etc. To create physical infrastructure

exclusively for women enterprises central grant of

40% of the project cost subject to a maximum of Rs.

two Crore is available. The status of MSE-CDP

Interventions as on 22/04/2022 reveals that the

number of completed (CFCs) in India is seventy and

the funds sanctioned under MSE-CDP for the

financial year 2022-23 is Rs. 262.00 Crore [budget

estimate] (Cluster development programme, My

MSME, GOI, n.d.).

6.1.3 Support for Entrepreneurial and

Managerial Development

The key elements for promotion of micro and small

enterprises among the entrepreneurs is the

Entrepreneurship and Managerial development

programmes conducted by M/o MSME. The Micro,

Small and Medium Enterprises Development

Institute regularly conduct Entrepreneurship

Development Programmes and Managerial

Development Programmes to train the potential

entrepreneurs for improving their technical and

managerial knowledge and skill with a view to enable

them to start their own business enterprise and to

manage it effectively afterwards. 20% of the total

targeted of ESDPs are conducted exclusively for

weaker sections of the society i.e. (SC/ST/women and

PH) and exclusively for women also with a stipend of

Rs. 500/- per month per candidate. As per scheme

guidelines, in EAP and E-SDP there should be overall

40% women participation. The main components of

Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programme

are – Industrial Motivation Campaigns,

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Entrepreneurship Awareness Programmes,

Entrepreneurship-cum-Skill Development

Programme, and Management Development

Programmes. (Entrepreneurship and Skill

Development Programs, Ministry of Micro, Small &

Medium Enterprises, GOI, n.d.).

6.1.4 Exhibitions for Women Under

Promotional Package for Micro &

Small Enterprises

The Development Commissioner (MSME) has

formulated a scheme for women owned

manufacturing units registered in District Industries

Centre which facilitates their efforts to showcase and

sell their products at national and international level.

Under this scheme, participation of women

entrepreneurs in national and international

exhibitions is envisaged. The major benefits under

this scheme includes - provision of rent-free space

(6/9 Square meter) in the exhibitions, reimbursement

of 100% economy class air fare for one representative

and reimbursement of shipping cost up to Rs 1500.

The maximum financial aid under this scheme is Rs.

1.25 lakhs (Exhibitions for women under promotional

package for micro & small enterprises approved by

CCEA under marketing support, n.d.).

6.1.5 UDYAM SAKHI PORTAL

Udyam Sakhi portal launched on 8 March 2018 being

developed by the Institute for Design of Electrical

Measuring Instruments (IDEMI) is a network for

fostering entrepreneurship and generating business

models for low-cost products and services in order to

empower women entrepreneurs. This portal provides

information regarding – financial schemes/ policies

and programmes of M/o MSME and other Central

Ministries, preparation of business plan, details of

nodal offices/supporting organizations of M/o

MSME in the respective States and in the Country. It

also provides information about exhibitions, trade

fairs and international events organized/supported by

M/o MSME. The Udyam Sakhi portal caters to the

need of around 8 million Indian women and project

with maximum cost of Rs. 25 lakhs are covered under

the Scheme. So far, a total of 3152 women have

registered on the portal (Ministry of Micro, Small &

Medium Enterprises, Udyam Sakhi, n.d.).

6.1.6 MSME-Sambandh

Ministry of MSME had launched “MSME-

SAMBANDH Portal” on 8th December 2017 which

is a public procurement policy monitoring portal.

This portal helps in monitoring the procurement by

Central Government Ministries, Departments and

Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and also

enables them to share the list of required

products/services from MSEs. According to the

MSME Annual Report 2021-22 the purchases from

women owned MSEs amounts to Rs. 718.82 crore

and 4,969 MSEs were benefited. During the financial

year 2022-23 the purchases from women owned

MSEs amounts to Rs. 319 Crore and 1144 women

owned MSEs were benefited. (Ministry of Micro,

Small & Medium Enterprises, Public Procurement

Data, n.

d.).

7 SCHEMES OFFERED BY M/O

MSME FOR THE

COURAGEMENT OF WOMEN

ENTREPRENEURS

The MSME ministry is focusing on empowering

women entrepreneurs by developing

entrepreneurship culture among women. To achieve

this objective the Ministry of MSME runs various

schemes for providing financial, technological,

infrastructural and marketing assistance to women

entrepreneurs. The major schemes implemented by

the M/o MSME are discussed below –

7.1 Trade Related Entrepreneurship

Assistance and Development

Scheme for Women (Tread)

To encourage women in setting up their own

ventures, government launched a scheme titled

“Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and

Development” (TREAD) which is implemented

through Director of the MSME DIs from the financial

year 2014-15. This scheme provides assistance to

self-employment ventures by women pursuing any

kind of non-farm activity. The scheme provides up to

30% of the total project cost via the government grant

as per the assessment of the lending organizations,

while the remaining 70% would be financed by the

lending institutions themselves. The TREAD scheme

offers a maximum of Rs 5 lakh per project. NGOs

conducting training programmes for empowerment of

women beneficiaries identified under this scheme can

also avail GOI grant up to Rs.1.00 lakh per

programme, for imparting training to the women

entrepreneurs, provided such institutions also bring

their share of at least 25% of the grant.

Empowerment of Women Entrepreneur: The Evolving and Involving Role of Ministry of MSME

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7.2 Mahila Coir Yojana

Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

through Coir Board, is implementing Mahila Coir

Yojana since 1994. MCY envisages provision for

training only to women artisans. Under this scheme,

the Coir Board provides 75% cost of motorized

Ratt/motorized traditional Ratta as a one-time

subsidy, subject to a maximum limit of Rs.7,500 for

motorized Ratt and Rs.3,200 for motorized traditional

and electronic ratt. MCY is implemented in coir

producing coastal States viz; Kerala, Tamil Nadu,

Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha,

Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa,

Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, West

Bengal and North East Region. During the financial

year 2022-23, an amount of Rs. 234 lakhs have been

allocated for MCY. During the financial year 2022-

23 there were 740 number of women beneficiaries

under this scheme and an amount of Rs. 92.96 lakhs

have been released for this Yojana (Karthiga, 2019).

7.3 Prime Minister’s Employment

Generation Programme and

Women

Prime Minister’s Employment Generation

Programme (PMEGP) is a credit-linked subsidy

programme introduced by the government of India in

2008. The scheme being implemented by Khadi and

Village Industries Commission as the nodal agency.

The thrust area of this scheme is to promote and set

up MSME’s and to generate employment in rural and

urban areas. For setting up new enterprises, the

subsidy provided to women entrepreneurs is 25% of

project cost for enterprises situated in urban area and

35% of project cost for enterprises situated in rural

area. For women beneficiaries (ST/SC), own

contribution is only 5% of the project cost while for

the general category, it is 10%. The balance amount

of the total project cost will be provided by Banks as

term loan. The PMEGP has now been approved for

continuation over the 15

Finance Commission Cycle

for five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26 with an outlay

of Rs.13554.42 Crore. Since inception (i.e., 2008-09

to 31.12.2017), 116447 projects have been approved

to assist women entrepreneurs under PMEGP.

According to the MSME Annual Report 2017-18

from the year 2012-13 to 2017-18 the total number of

women beneficiaries under PMEGP is 75,042

(Investindia.gov.in, schemes-MSMEs-India, n.d.).

7.4 Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme

A new Credit Guarantee Fund under the “Stand Up

India’ scheme specifically designed to address the

needs of the SC/ST categories along with women

entrepreneurs was announced on 6 January 2016. A

fund of Rs 10,000 crore is being set up and will be

disbursed by Small Industries Development Bank of

India (SIDBI). All entrepreneurs availing the scheme

will be offered mentoring services at the pre-loan and

post loan stages, and will also offer guidance on

operating their businesses, accessing services like

factoring, e-registrations with various online portals

and offering their goods and services through e-

commerce platforms. For SC/ST and women

entrepreneurs loan facilities between Rs 10 lakh and

up to Rs 1 crore will be made available for non-farm

greenfield ventures. The maximum period for loan

repayment will be seven years. Under the current

proposal, margin money of 25% will have to be

contributed by the entrepreneur. The extent of

guarantee cover is 80% for Micro and Small

Enterprises operated and/or owned by women.

During Financial Year (2020-21) a total number of

8.36 lakh guarantees have been approved for an

amount of Rs. 36,954 crores. C. Debu, (January 8,

2016).

7.5 Mudra Yojana Scheme for Women

Mudra Yojana scheme allows women to start

different types of small or medium-sized companies

including beauty parlours, tuition centers, tailoring

shops, etc. The lower limit for the amount sanctioned

under this government loan for women for business

in India is Rs. 50,000, while the upper limit is Rs. 50

lakhs. If the borrowed amount is less than Rs. 10

lakhs, the borrower does not have to give a collateral.

The three categories of Mudra Yojana loans for

women are: Shishu - The upper limit for Shishu loans

is Rs. 50,000 and they can be used for business

establishment, Kishor - Starting at Rs. 50,000 and

going up to Rs. 5 lakhs, these business loans for

women are meant for well-established enterprises and

Tarun - Tarun loans help with business expansion.

They range between Rs. 5 lakhs to Rs. 10,00,000

(Women Loan Scheme by Government of India

(Modi loan Schemes). n.d.).

8 SUPPORT TO WOMEN

ENTREPRENEURS DURING

COVID-19

The Government of India through “Aatma Nirbhar

Bharat Package” took many initiatives to support the

women entrepreneurs engaged in MSME sector in

order to equip them to face the negative impact of

Covid-19 pandemic. The M/o of MSME and the

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Ministry of Rural Development together were

primarily responsible for the assessment or

consultations with stakeholders regarding the

financial impact of Covid-19 on women

entrepreneurs and MSMEs run by women Self Help

Groups. The Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package was

reviewed and monitored by Ministry of Finance. The

specific initiatives taken to protect women

entrepreneurs and MSMEs during Covid-19 includes

- i) Facility of Emergency Working Capital (Rs.

3,00,000 Crore) for business units including MSMEs,

ii) Subordinate Debt for Stressed MSMEs (Rs. 20,000

Crore), iii) Equity infusion through MSME Fund of

Funds (50,000 Crore), iv) Redefining the term

MSME, v) Scheme for formalization of Micro Food

Enterprises (Rs. 10,000 Crore), vi) Relief to MUDRA

loanees (Rs. 1500 Crore), vii) Emergency Credit Line

Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs businesses and

MUDRA borrowers, viii) Under Pradhan Mantri

Garib Kalyan Package, a total of (Rs. 20.40 Crores

approx.) for women account holders under (Pradhan

Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna were given ex-gratia of Rs

500 per month for three months, ix) limit of collateral

free lending was increased from Rs. 10 lakhs to Rs.

20 lakhs for Self Help Groups which supporting 6.85

crore households (Support to Women Entrepreneurs

and MSMEs During COVID-19, n.d.).

9 RECOMMENDATIONS

Gender Sensitization: In order to break the vicious

circle in the form of gender bias, lack of education,

low self-esteem, dearth of funds, poor networking,

difficulty in maintain work life balance, lack of safety

in work and public spaces, that is responsible for less

number of women entrepreneurs in India, it is now the

high time to bring in the change in the traditional

mindset prevalent in our society that women are weak

and incapable of succeeding in highly competitive

commercial world. In order to utilize the inherent

potential within women entrepreneurs they must

develop the mindset of an entrepreneur and should

not give much importance to their gender. To

facilitate this change, the M/o MSME should arrange

some awareness, orientation and training

programmes emphasizing the concept of gender

sensitization. These programmes should be

conducted in especially in those departments, banks

and other institutions where women entrepreneurs

frequently visit while establishing and running their

enterprises.

Education System: From time immemorial the

education system of India has always favoured men.

Now the need of the hour is to design our education

curriculum in such a way that it helps in grooming

future entrepreneurs (especially women) by

imparting basic knowledge and practical skills

associated with the commercial world. There should

be an added emphasis on enhancing the standards of

education of women in general having provisions for

the training, practical experience and personality

development programmes. For all the professional

courses some fee relaxation/scholarships should be

given to female students including students from

general category. It is recommended that the M/o

MSME through its various divisions and network of

training centers should play a vital role in educating

girl child from school to higher education level by

signing MOUs with such institutions to create a

healthy academia-institutional linkage. Last but not

the least the parents should also be educated so that

they provide quality education to their girl child

Chakravorty, S. (2018).

Conduct Meta-analysis: Till now all the major

entrepreneurial policies and programmes are inclined

towards male entrepreneurs and the specific needs of

women entrepreneurs are seldom taken into account.

Hence, equal opportunity between men and women

from the perspective of entrepreneurship is still not a

reality in India. To overcome this hurdle, it is

important to incorporate a women entrepreneurial

dimension at the design stage itself while framing

entrepreneurial policies by M\o MSME. It is

recommended that M\o MSME should identify state

specific needs based on which it should design and

implement relevant entrepreneurial programmes

through its various implementing agencies for the

women entrepreneurs of that respective state. The

M\o MSME should collect data exclusively for

creating profile of women entrepreneurs engaged in

MSME sector. This data should include demographic

information, number of women owned enterprises,

number of women workers engaged in MSMEs,

barriers to entrepreneurial growth etc. which would

be helpful to draw profile of women entrepreneurs

engaged in MSME sector. This collected data can be

used in creating awareness about the present status of

women owned enterprises in MSME sector and what

steps should be taken by M\o MSME to strengthen

the role of women entrepreneurs in this sector by

removing the various hurdles being faced by them.

Development of Women Centric Entrepreneurial

Ecosystem: There are many first-generation female

entrepreneurs who desire to work but do not have the

opportunity to do so. The women centric

entrepreneurial ecosystem will provide access to the

essential knowledge, education, credit, training and

most importantly

motivation to face the obstacles.

Hence it is suggested that the M\o MSME through its

Empowerment of Women Entrepreneur: The Evolving and Involving Role of Ministry of MSME

609

various agencies must promote the development of

women entrepreneur networks. These women

entrepreneur networks can be created by establishing

local and district level Federations of Women

Enterprises (WEs) for peer support, providing

common platform for physical and virtual exhibitions

and websites for promotion of products from WEs,

development of single product markets to encourage

vendors and bulk buyers to physically reach out to

WEs, and Co-operation and partnerships between

national and international networks to facilitate

entrepreneurial endeavors by women in a global

economy. It is suggested that Cluster Development

Programme and MSME-SAMBANDH Portal can be

used effectively for procuring goods manufactured by

Wes and for creating women centric entrepreneurial

ecosystem.

Channelizing Resources and Financial Inclusion:

The Government need to set some priorities for

women in terms of allocation of industrial plots, sheds

and other amenities. There should be specific efforts

to help women to access finance easily. There should

be bank and regulatory policies which accept less

traditional forms of collateral, look at borrower’s

willingness to repay and simplify business registry for

women entrepreneurs. As MSMEs are one of the most

susceptible links in national economies hence,

financial inclusion should be at the center of any

policy. As the women-owned businesses are

relatively more underserved hence it is recommended

that M\o MSME along with funding through banks

should also consider other forms of funding such as:

public–private investment or crowdfunding.

Additionally, it should also take steps to enhance the

financial literacy of women entrepreneurs, simplify

loan acquisition procedures and lower the capital

accessibility cost. The government and financial

institutions should work together for promoting and

developing a differentiated method that focuses more

on women entrepreneurs. It is also suggested to

rework on all the processes required for approval and

delivery of loans to women entrepreneurs so that it

results in swift approval of loan with limited paper

work. The financial institutions should also train their

staff on how to deal with women entrepreneurs so as

to enhance their comfort in dealing with these

institutions. Digital literacy among women

entrepreneurs can be a path changer as it can give

them access to digital lending platforms. The M\o

MSME should also make some efforts to develop

innovative loan and savings products for female

entrepreneurs through banks, non-banking financial

companies and other lending agencies.

Periodic Review of SME-related policies: The M/o

MSME should evaluate periodically the impact of its

SME-related policies on the success of women-

owned businesses and the extent to which such

businesses take advantage of them. This requires

strengthening the statistical basis for carrying out

gender-related cross-country comparative analyses

and longitudinal studies of the impact of important

developmental policies over the time. Good practices

that are identified in this way should be disseminated

and shared across the country.

Supportive Work Environment: To increase the

ability of women to participate in the labour force the

availability of affordable child care and equal

treatment in the work place should be ensured. Family

support is also one of the key factors that result in in

maintaining work life balance among women

entrepreneurs especially in India. In general,

improving the position of women in society and

promoting entrepreneurial skills will surely benefit

the women entrepreneurs engaged in MSME sector

both in urban and rural areas.

Establishment of Problem Resolving forum: Last

but not the least, there should be some national and

state level forums to discuss problems, grievances,

issues of women entrepreneurs. Complaints against

constraints or short comings towards the economic

progress of women entrepreneurs should be

addressed by authorities and adequate measures

should be taken to facilitate more entrepreneurship in

the long run. The autonomous institutes like

Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE)

should be empowered so that they can create a culture

of entrepreneurship amongst women, both in rural

and urban areas. Establish helpline to support

budding and existing WEs. The role of MSME

SAMADHAAN can be further strengthen in this

regard as currently it is dealing only with resolving

disputes related to delayed payments.

10 CONCLUSION

In the words of former President APJ Abdul Kalam

“Empowering women is a prerequisite for creating a

good nation, when women are empowered, society

with stability is assured”. For ages the Indian MSME

sector was a male-dominated sector but in the recent

years this sector has witnessed an exceptional change

that is after fighting all the odds, women

entrepreneurs have made their presence felt in this

sector. The landscape of women entrepreneurship

indicates that women MSMEs have managed to

enhance their share in the overall MSME base. As

Indian society is now becoming progressively

egalitarian by providing equal opportunity of

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education and employment to both the genders and

the introduction of several government incentives for

women entrepreneurs has prompted more women to

step forward. Hence, experts believe that there is a

greater chance and potential among MSMEs to grow

and prosper. To become successful entrepreneurs’

women must trust their entrepreneurial abilities and

after attaining success they should make an effort to

create entrepreneurial ecosystem through sharing of

resources, mutual support and formation of women's

support networks. The empowered woman of this era

can take up any profession of her choice but as a

successful entrepreneur she can provide a living for

many others, as envisioned by leaders and policy

makers of our country.

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