Hyderabad: Hyderabad, widely regarded as the country's IT hub with a conducive working environment for women, was ranked third in South India after Chennai and Bengaluru, and fourth nationally, even outperforming Mumbai as the best city for women based on their social and industrial inclusion parameters to nurture a conducive ecosystem for women to thrive, according to a report.
Interestingly, cities in South India dominated the top cities for women in India, followed closely by those in the West.
According to a report, 'Top 25 Cities for Women in India' by Avtar, a company specialising in workplace inclusion, Chennai was the best city in the country for women among category I cities with population of more than 10 lakh, followed by Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai with city inclusion scores above 60.
The survey assessed 111 cities based on parameters that foster a conducive ecosystem for women's employment, and only nine of the 111 cities scored higher than 50.
The report, which was released on Wednesday, was the result of a year-long effort and an algorithmic assimilation of data from over 200 sources, including the current ease of living index, the Periodic Labour Force Survey, the national census, crime records, the National Family Health Survey, the Union ministry of women and child development's annual report, the IMF, and others, to arrive at a comprehensive score.
While cities like Delhi, Nagpur, Aurangabad, and Faridabad had lower social inclusion rankings than industrial inclusion rankings, cities like Puducherry, Visakhapatnam, Surat and Bilaspur have high social inclusion scores but low industrial inclusion rankings.
Cities with high social inclusion scores – which refer to the extent of safety, women-oriented initiatives, and a general sense of ability to live and raise families, have good potential for corporates to expand and set up operations here thereby attracting a larger pool of diverse talent.
"The rise of cities like Hubbali, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, and Coimbatore as promising hubs of women’s employment, due to their high scores is very heartening. Metros like Delhi and Kolkata have fallen behind in terms of social inclusion due to lower standards of safety and poor enablers for women to pursue employment," remarked Dr. Saundarya Rajesh, founder and president of Avtar Group.
Further, Dr Rajesh noted that the report's findings are intended to assist corporates in engaging with stakeholders to collaborate in developing enabling ecosystems for women talent to reach its full potential.
“While state capitals receive a lot of attention – politically, socio-economically, environmentally, and developmentally, their absence in the top 25 necessitates a deeper probe from the side of policymakers to understand the barriers faced by the state capitals in being inclusive for women professionals," Dr Rajesh said .
