Women-owned businesses in India to get a boost with this initiative

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New Delhi: FMCG major Procter & Gamble on February 17 said it will spend Rs 300 crore towards driving gender equality in India by deliberately working with women-owned businesses in the country over the next three years.

Announcing new declarations aimed to accelerate gender equality across India, the company said it will also educate more than 2.5 crore adolescent girls, on puberty and hygiene over the next three years.

P&G India had in 2018 announced to invest in women-owned businesses and said it has already spent more than Rs 200 crore with women-owned businesses in India.

“Furthering this commitment, P&G will spend Rs 300 crore by deliberately working with women-owned businesses in India over the next three years,” the company said.

Stating that it will continue on its commitment to raise awareness about menstrual hygiene, through its brand Whisper, P&G said it has so far educated more than 4 crore girls in India on menstrual hygiene to date and will educate more than 2.5 crore adolescent girls, on puberty and hygiene over the next three years.

The company further said it will also drive equality behind the camera by creating equal opportunities, capability and resource sharing and over the next three years, it has committed to having equal representation of female directors for its advertisements across brands in India.

Commenting on the initiative, P&G Indian Subcontinent Chief Executive Officer Madhusudan Gopalan said: “At P&G, we are committed to be a force for good and a force for growth. In line with that, we want to drive equal opportunities for women and girls in education, at home, and in the workplace.” In India, he said the company has made strong progress through its initiatives like Whisper Menstrual Health and Hygiene Programme, P&G Shiksha, working with women-owned businesses and campaigns like Ariel #ShareTheLoad and Gillette #ShavingStereotypes.

“Our new declarations will further accelerate our progress through a series of new actions, commitments and partnerships. Promoting equality is critical, now more than ever as we recover from the current health crisis in India,” Gopalan added.

P&G India said in order to provide equal opportunity for women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) roles, it will build digital and technological capability of over 10,000 women across the company’s external network, including customers, retailers and agency partners among others, over the next year.

“This will help unlock their potential and enable them to meet their career aspirations,” it added.

Moreover, the company will also annually engage with over 150 colleges that offer STEM curriculum via a dedicated programme focused on breaking gender barriers in STEM and supply chain.

The company will also work with NITIE (National Institute of Industrial Engineering) towards tackling on-ground, perception-based and opportunity-linked barriers with an aim to double the gender ratio on NITIE campus over the next five years, it added.