New Delhi, Oct 19 (PTI) Industry body CII on Thursday said its Centre for Women Leadership has been launched in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to drive transformation towards women's leadership within the economy.

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani launched the CII Centre for Women Leadership at the CII National Council Meeting held here.

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Speaking at the occasion, Irani said that the industry leadership needs to support legislative efforts.

She revealed that the government will be launching 5,000 creches in city centres by next week.

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The minister also urged companies to offer competitive opportunities that make economic sense for girls and women to leave their homes and take up employment away from their home towns.

Today, India is home to approximately 663 million women, with about 450 million falling within the working age group of 15 to 64 years.

With better education, the aspirations of women have grown and according to a CII survey of 700 working women, more than 40 per cent of the respondents aspired to rise to the top of their companies.

Also, it is estimated that 90 per cent of women are engaged in the informal sector, adding a different dimension to the challenges of breaking barriers to the entry and growth of women in the economy.

While the government has undertaken several steps to promote the participation of women in the economy through policies such as Equal Pay for Equal Work, the National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP) and the industry also plays a critical role in creating employment opportunities for women, there is a pressing need to create a multi-stakeholder platform that tackles the multi-dimensional challenges comprehensively, CII stated.

The CII Centre for Women Leadership creates that multi-stakeholder platform which aims to inspire leadership in thought and action to drive transformation and break barriers to the entry, retention, and growth of women as leaders in the economy, both within the formal and informal sectors, the industry body added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)