Incubating Change in India: WE Hub’s Role in Advancing Women-Led Startups in Telangana State

Economic growth can be inclusive when gender empowerment is in its place and women’s entrepreneurship takes off. The socio-economic status can be enhanced by empowering women to become entrepreneurs and contribute to the generation of employment, national productivity and poverty reduction. The Indian government took initiatives such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), which aim to provide market-oriented vocational training to youth, including women. The Skill India Mission has enrolled over 40% female candidates in its short-term training programs as of 2022. The state of Telangana has taken a proactive approach by establishing WE Hub, which is India’s first state-led incubator exclusively for women entrepreneurs and an advantage for platforms like TASK (Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge) to build pathways that are gender-responsive and upgrade and restore the skills. They are structured in such a way to address not only skill gaps but also systemic and market barriers that women face in starting and scaling businesses. In the national development of India, the skilling of women is multifaceted, – economic, social and human development. It is not just a matter of equity; it is a strategic imperative for India’s national development. The low economic activity in rural areas is forcing the rural youth, women to move towards urban areas and work in informal, unsafe, and exploitative environments in the congested urban areas. There is a need to address this social issue by establishing skill-enhancing centres in rural and semi-urban areas to provide employment opportunities for those who need them. Enhancing women’s skill development and entrepreneurship in India can promote gender-responsive skill upgradation. It can work on designing and delivering non-traditional and high-growth sector training in the direction of women’s skill development.