New Delhi, 25th Feb: Women realtors and corporates in the Indian infrastructure and real estate sector are expected to lead the sector’s transition as it evolves into a more technology oriented and sustainable segment, said sector stakeholders addressing a convention of NAREDCO MAHI.
NAREDCO MAHI, the women’s wing of National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) on Friday organised its first convention on the theme ‘Realty Women – The Transforming Catalyst to Real Estate Tentative Session Agenda.’
Speaking of the inaugural ceremony, Smt D. Thara, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) stressed on the need for women to bring about different and new dimensions into property development and architecture.
Emphasising on creating new opportunities for women and breaking traditions, she said, “It should be looked upon as to how we can break the way how the labour market operates. Why cannot a woman be a good mason? If a woman is made a subcontractor, it would make women workers from rural areas feel much safer.”
In the inaugural session, senior officials and industry representatives were largely of the view that women would bring about a novel dimension to the pandemic hit real estate sector and enable in fast-tracking the reforms and transitions in the evolving sector.
Smt Surina Rajan, Director General, Haryana Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) was of the view that women should take proactive steps in greater adoption and construction of green buildings, easing compliance norms among others.
The Founder President of NAREDCO MAHI, Smt Tara Subramaniam noted that as professionals, women in the real estate sector should think of modern and progressive ways for driving the sector towards growth.
Stressing on the need to work towards climate protection, she said, “There is a need for sustainable and climate conscious practices. With real estate contributing to 20% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, we can no longer turn a blind eye to the matter and must take more assertive steps for adoption of green building practices.”
Dr. Ananta S Raghuvanshi, the Founder President Elect of NAREDCO MAHI, with empowerment of women workers and entrepreneurs through MAHI’s initiatives, there would be a trickle down effect, as in turn it would support this evolving real estate sector along with boosting the economic growth.
Addressing the event, NAREDCO President Shri Rajan Bandelkar said, “Women have taken a lead in transforming and spurring growth in several sectors and real estate is set to benefit from their knowledge, insights and industrious attitude.”
Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri and Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani, the Vice Chairman, NAREDCO addressed the event through online videos.
Smt Perin Devi, Joint Secretary (IFD) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Rajeev Talwar, Chairman Emeritus, NAREDCO and Shri Alok Gupta, Director General, NAREDCO also addressed the event.
During the convention, NAREDCO MAHI highlighted the impact of women in the transformation of the facility management sector in India. It also described 2022 as ‘the year of gender inclusion in corporate India’.
NAREDCO MAHI aims to increase the women participation in management level positions by at least 10% every year. It is eyeing the 10% growth rate across junior, middle and higher management levels.
Further, apart from the emphasis on a better gender parity in managements, NAREDCO MAHI plans to go big in terms of supporting the pink collared workers in realty comprising largely the labourers. NAREDCO MAHI plans to upskill at least 1,000 women every year and enhance the annual addition to the skilled labour base in times ahead.
The convention aimed at drawing focus on the contributions of women in real estate and preparing a roadmap for the industry to restructure itself in order to become a more inclusive and empathetic entity. Although women play significant roles across all the fields of real estate, there is a huge gap when it comes to the corporate sector and management-level positions and this gives NAREDCO MAHI and its initiatives all the more relevance and significance.
In line with the theme of the UN, the organisation aims to ‘break the bias’ in corporate structures and promote equitable work cultures.
Launched in September 2021, the women’s wing of NAREDCO has outlined 10 ‘E’s as its focus areas. These focus areas include education, equality, environment, empowerment, expansion, entrepreneurship, empathy, engagement, excellence and ethics.
Under its vision for education, the industry body aims to empower women in real estate with certification courses and workshops including public speaking, health & wellness and industry best-practices. It would create opportunities for women at the grassroots levels by providing skill-based courses in different fields of the real estate industry.
With its objective being gender parity and inclusive environment for all genders, equality forms a key area for MAHI to focus on. It aims to uplift all levels of professionals collectively and ensure that every member gets ample opportunities to grow. It has also prioritised to ensure a safe environment in the workplace for women working in the sector at all levels.
