In the past year, India has been weathering unprecedented health, social and economic adversities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Disrupted supply chains, poor access to finance and markets, and consumers’ limited propensity to spend have revealed the fault lines in India’s 6.3 million-strong enterprise ecosystem. Despite various government relief efforts to provide collateral free-loans, refinancing packages and working capital support, businesses that operate on low margins continue to suffer due to social distancing restrictions, labour shortages, inadequate demand and rising input costs. In Telangana, which is home to 2.6 million enterprises, of which 0.97 million are women-owned enterprises, the economic impact of the pandemic has been equally damaging.
With a vision to better support women entrepreneurs across sectors and revenue scales, and taking into consideration their socio-economic background, WE Hub, Department of IT E&C, Government of Telangana, organised its first Stakeholder Consultation on March 2, 2021. Based on the inputs obtained from the first consultation, and LEAD at Krea University’s research and policy analysis, this policy note identifies recommendations that are reflected in most policy notes and other relevant resources reviewed for this purpose. Six broad thematic areas have been identified and grouped as per their short (upto 1 year), medium (1-5 years) and long-term impact (5+ years).
These are:
- Employment Retention and Enterprise Support
- Digital Economies and Market Access
- Fiscal and Financial Policy
- Retraining and Skill Upgradation
- Safe, Accessible Workspaces and Inclusive Measures for Workers
- Regulatory Measures