In the past few decades, entrepreneurship has gained popularity. As we witnessed the year 2020, it goes without saying that a lot of entrepreneurs emerged at that point in time. The past decade also witnessed a spike in female entrepreneurship.
Females in more numbers knowingly began to opt for entrepreneurship as their career choice. While the roadway didn’t look easier but stable laws and policies helped them pave their ways. With the help of different government schemes, now females can jump into the pool of entrepreneurship and take that opportunity.
To inspire our female audience to take up entrepreneurship as their career option and let them know what are the entrepreneurship schemes and laws in their favor, we have compiled a list. Read on to know about the laws that you must understand if you are a female entrepreneur.
- Equal remuneration: This looks like a basic right but trusts me, it wasn’t the case before. Yes, the law abides a company to pay males and females equally for an equal amount of work. This means, whether you are offering a job or doing it, one cannot deny equal pay based on the fact that you are a woman.
- Sexual harassment at work: in 1997, guidelines to be followed at the workplace were laid down. Before that, an anti-sexual harassment law was a far fetched thought. Post those guidelines, an act was passed which defined what sexual harassment is and the respective punishment for that offense.
- Annapurna Scheme: In this, the government finances women to establish a food Catering Unit for selling tiffin/food/lunch packs, etc offering a loan of up to Rs.50,000. The rate of interest varies, depending upon the market and the bank. However, one guarantor is required to avail of this scheme.
- Stree Shakti Package: Launched by Oriental Bank of Commerce, the scheme provides capital for women for starting small businesses. Who is eligible for this loan? Women with 51% share in the business are eligible for the loan. One must note that this loan does not require any collateral.
- Dena Shakti Scheme: The provider of this scheme is Dena bank and it is given to those women entrepreneurs in the fields of Agriculture & allied activities, Retail Trade, Micro Credit, Education, Housing, and retail & small business enterprises. Also, there is a concession of 0.25 % on a rate of interest.
- TREAD: With the aim of empowering women economically the scheme helps in providing credit, training, development, and counseling as well. Some amount is also granted by the government.
By taking the advantage of these schemes, women who wish to begin their small or medium-sized businesses can come ahead and begin without any hindrance. Apart front his, there are many private banks that offer loans to the female owners of small businesses.