Committing itself to women empowerment on International Mother's Day, the ASSOCHAM has reached out to its members and India Inc in general.

ASSOCHAM emphasized the need to provide a supportive environment for working mothers with facilities like childcare, flexible working hours and a transformation of the mindset towards women employees. 

''Rising participation of women in the workforce will need a different environment in which childcare, working hours, and workplace structures should be transformed," said ASSOCHAM President B K Goenka. 

He said he has passionately been working on 'Women Empowerment,' which has been made one of the Pillars of the ASSOCHAM Vision titled "4 - Sight" , after assuming the office. 

While women have in many cases far exceeded workplace requirements and capabilities, their proportion of the work force needs to be more commensurate. 

Despite their parity, if not superiority, in terms of employability, their participation at the workplace has remained at a static 25 per cent of the total population over the past 5 years. 

"Their representation at the workplace needs to be augmented. This can be done by providing a conducive environment for them to balance their dual responsibilities," the ASSOCHAM President said. 

The ASSOCHAM has been taking several initiatives for facilitating and augmenting the role of women in economic activity, although their contribution in improving the country's human development index is beyond any measurable metric. 

Under 'Start-Up' initiatives, the chamber has devised partnership programmes through skill development and vocational training. The market access support will be the additional to-do for ASSOCHAM. 

Encouraging individuals and organisations through Awards and initiatives like ‘All Women-Run Manufacturing Company” would also be pursued. Besides, there would be an 'All-Women Industry' mission.

Given the multiple roles that women balance in their life, ASSOCHAM believes that empowering women actually empowers families and communities.