Pics: Umesh Marpalli/Harshini Brahmavar
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)
Udupi, Feb 13: Platform of Women Entrepreneurs Registered (POWER), an association of women entrepreneurs held Women Entrepreneurs Summit on 'Powering Women Entrepreneurship' and Business excellence Award Ceremony at Hotel Ocean Pearl, Udupi here on Sunday, February 12.
Dr Madhura Chatrapathy, trustee director of Asian Centre for entrepreneurial initiatives inaugurated the summit by lighting the lamp. In his inaugural address he said, "It gives me immense pleasure to be part of this programme. POWER is the best platform to develop leadership quality among women to engage them in corporate sector. According to RTI, the total numbers of women entrepreneurs are very less in 13 government departments. More and more women should come up with new business ventures. The contributions for women to industries is very less. So, let’s take steps to create jobs."
Anadi Charan Sahu, the chief guest of the occasion said, "As many as 1.2 million graduates are coming out every year. There are not many government jobs, so generating job opportunities is necessary too. Women entrepreneurs have to celebrate their business ventures. There are a lot of opportunities to create jobs. Utilizing the resources is important. We need to change the mindset of the society. Ultimately, women have the power and strength".
The summit witnessed three technical sessions by popular resourcepersons on different topics to empower women entrepreneurs.
In the first session, Dr Madhura Chatrapathy presented a talk on ‘Women Entrepreneurs as an Economic force’. During the second session, Padmaja, manager, regional office, SIDBI Bengaluru delivered a talk on ‘An Eco System of ‘HER’ Enterprises’ and Daisy Naidu, entrepreneur, artist, Saatchi Art, Mumbai delivered a lecture on ‘Scaling up of Women Enterprises-Strategies and Solutions’ in the third session.
Earlier, a seminar was held at School of Management, Manipal University on Saturday, on the topic ‘Ignited Young minds’, which was organised for students of Class 9 and PUC. Dr Madhura Chatrapathy delivered the talk and inspired the students. As part of the programme, ‘Walk of Hope’, a walkathon to empower and to highlight women achievers was held on the same day Priyanka Mary Francis, CEO, Udupi zilla panchayat flagged off the walkathon. Hundreds of women from different organizations participated enthusiastically in the event. It was an initiative of POWER to create and promote a spirit of business and collaborative support among women in the district.
Excellence awards were presented to four established entrepreneurs during the valedictory ceremony.
Reliance Jio Family Business Leadership Award was presented by Prof Gururaj H Kidiyur to Lakshmi M Rao, managing partner, Manjunath Rubber Mangaluru (first), Vimala Chandrashekhar, CEO of Adarsha Hospital Udupi and Sushma Bansal of Bright packaging Pvt Ltd Mangaluru (second), Dierdra S Maben, principal of Silas International School, Udupi and Vathika Pai of Nirmala Travels, Mangaluru (third).
Adani First Generation Business Excellence Award was presented by K N Jananrdhan, national director for RSETIs to BV Lakshmidevi Gopinath, founder and CEO of Mathura Food Products, Shivamogga (first), Komal S Prabhu, Co-proprietress, Maharaja Multicuisine Family Restaurant and Prabhava Cashews, Bantwal, Mangaluru (second), and Madhu Chandrika, founder director for Earthen Symphony, Bangaluru (third).
Syndicate Bank Best Start-up Award was presented by Satish Kamath, field general manager office, Syndicate Bank, Manipal to Mariam Thahira Mohiuddeen, founder of Baker’s Treat from Mariam’s Kitchen, Mangaluru (first) and Shilpa, founder, Hallimane Rottis, Mangaluru (second).
Canara Bank Social Entrepreneurs Award was presented by K Virupaksha, general manager Canara Bank, Mangaluru to Drakshyayani C Lokapur, founder of Surakshita Mahila Abhivridhi Sangha, Bagalkot (first), Sarala B Kanchan, founder of Mahila Co-operative Bank, Udupi (second) and Sreenidhi Murthy, founder of Ashirwad enterprises, Mysuru (third).
Kishore Alva, executive director and joint president, Adani Udupi Power Corporation Limited, Udupi; Ramanand Nayak, joint director, DIC Udupi district; Dr AP Achar, dean, corporate programmes, Justice K S Hegde Institute of Management, NITTE; the members of POWER Shruthi Shenoy, secretary; Niveditha Shetty, treasurer and Ritu Chabriah were present.
About POWER
Platform of Women Entrepreneurs Registered (POWER) is an association of Women entrepreneurs. The main objective of the association is to provide a platform for the close interaction of women to enable mutual learning, collective learning, exposure and fellowship. Started in the year 2009, POWER has made significant contribution for empowerment of women through entrepreneurship development. POWER has a vision to create 100 women entrepreneurs in the district. In this context, it is closely working with various government agencies and voluntary organisations to identify, motivate and train young women become independent entrepreneurs.
Empowerment of Women is a biggest challenge for this country. In this regard, POWER is providing a platform for budding entrepreneurs in the district through this association. Keeping all these aspects in the mind, POWER is organizing many activities every year like workshops, fairs, seminars and skill development and oriental training programme for women.