Kolkata: The 10th All India Minorities Business Summit and National Brand Awards for 2021, an initiative from Mumbai-based Maeeshat Media Pvt. Ltd has reached a successful end.

The summit was organised at Kala Mandir, Kolkata, on November 14, 2021, and attended by hundreds of business leaders, delegates, entrepreneurs, social workers from across the country.

The summit provided a great opportunity for the participants from minority communities to come together on one platform to exchange their ideas, opinions, and strategies to drive up business activities both at the personal and community level.

Although such types of summits from Maeeshat Media are being organised on an annual basis since 2010, this year, it gave special focus on ensuring the participation of women entrepreneurs.

As many as 15 women entrepreneurs working in different fields marked their presence at the event and got the opportunity to showcase their business models to a larger audience in a special segment called “Women Entrepreneurs Showcase 2021.”

As the women entrepreneurs started interacting with one another, several issues afflicting women entrepreneurship came to the fore. The biggest obstacle for them is society’s attitude of discounting women’s ability to work beyond the household chores, let alone set up a business.

According to them, people fail to understand that if they are allowed to lead aspirational lives within the boundaries of Islamic laws, not only a family but also the community will benefit at large.

They stressed that with the world changing at a startling pace, minority communities must loosen the shackles on women, letting them pursue their entrepreneurial goals in a more free and welcoming environment.

All the entrepreneur women were high on praise for Maeeshat’s initiative to bring them together and recognise their entrepreneurial skills and hard work. Talking to the media persons, they said the programme had successfully encouraged them to take their ventures to the next level. They were also of the opinion that programmes like this would spur many more women into entrepreneurial activities within the community.

Maeeshat Media’s Director and group Editor, who was also the programme host, expressed his gratitude and satisfaction over women entrepreneurs gracing the momentous occasion.

He said Maeeshat is committed to connecting minority women entrepreneurs across the country, showcasing their skills, and giving them expert advice so that they are enabled to leap forward in their businesses.

Sania Sami, Research Scholar, IISWBM, founder of Indian Institute of Research and  Co Organiser said “During the last two decades, women’s entrepreneurship has been recognized as a vital source of economic growth. Today women have made their existence felt in society by occupying prominent positions in the economy. Women entrepreneurs, like men, have success stories to tell about their business ventures, and they are not trailing men in a male-dominated world.”

“Because the concept of an entrepreneur is not gender-specific, an entrepreneur can be either male or female. The summit also provides an opportunity to fifteen women entrepreneurs from across different niches of the business field to showcase their businesses between the attendees and motivates other women to take up entrepreneurship as their career option” Sania Sami added