- For the first time, Elecrama creates a platform “Women Empower” to discuss challenges and experiences of women in power segment.
- Women have to work twice as hard to prove half their worth, said Ms Anjuli Chandra, keynote speaker at the inaugural address of Women Empower Initiative
- Developed countries have about 50% women working, while core power sector in India has only 6-7% sector, said Elecrama 2020 Chairman Mr. Anil Saboo.
19 January 2019 |Greater Noida When Mrs. Anjuli Chandra, a veteran in power sector had joined her Engineering college, she was the only female in the college which lacked even basic facilities for women.
“As a result I was reluctantly allowed to use the Principal’s washroom”, Mrs Anjuli Chandra, Member of PSERCE, said at Elecrama 2020’s first of its kind women empowerment initiative, Women Empower. It was not the only challenge she had faced in 40 years of distinguished career.
“Women have to work twice as hard to prove half their worth. During my career there was a time when situation of Kashmir was unstable and perilous due to terrorism activities in the valley. At that time, APDRP scheme was launched in the entire country and it had to be implemented in J&K, for which no organization wanted to take the responsibility of. Eventually it was allotted to Central Electricity Authority. None of the men in my office wanted to go. Despite being the Deputy Director, I agreed to go to Kashmir and get the job done”, she added as she was greeted with a thundering applause.
Many such inspiring stories of grit, determination, and success of women who shaped the power sector were the hallmark of Women Empower initiative of Elecrama 2020 – a flagship showcase of electrical and electronic innovations of Indian Electrical & Electronic Manufactures Association (IEEMA).
“When I was traveling around the world for Elecrama 2020 in the past two years, I realized that developed countries had around 50% of women, while in India has only 6-7% of working women in the power sector. Although I am proud to share that IEEMA has about 60% of women working but clearly more needs to be done. It is with the vision to inspire women participation in power sector and to acknowledge the women leaders of the industry that we have created the Women Empower initiative. This will be a focused feature in our future IEEMA initiatives and Elecrama editions”, said Mr. Anil Saboo, Chairman, Elecrama 2020.
The first edition of Women Empower featured a series of inspiring talks from the leading ladies of the power sector across verticals which included the likes of Director-HR Business Practices of Schneider Electric Ms. Parul Verma; Training Manager of ABB PowerTEC Ms. Manisha Shukla; Director Alchemy Corporate Communications Ms Anju Thakral Makin Corporate Communications Ms. Piyush Mahajan, Founder and MD of Arcturus Business Solutions Ms Swati Tiwari, Executive Director of Power Finance Ltd. & IAS, Ms Palka Sahni, and Director Customer Satisfaction and Quality of Schneider Ms Suneetha Nagaraj.
The initiative discussed various workplace challenges, evolving attitude of male gender towards women colleagues, equal pay, facilities in workspace, work-life balance, maternity and work related issues, and how electricals and electronics industry can be an attractive career choice for women population in India.
Women Empower initiative also paid a rich tribute to first women electric engineer in India Ms A. Lalitha for her tremendous contribution to India’s electrical engineering field and to two times Nobel Prize Winner Madam Curie for the inspiration she is to the world. A series of workshops were also organized under this initiative.
