LAUNCH OF 14th Chapter of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) in Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand & FLO Women’s Car Rally in support of “Save The Girl Child”

FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) launched its 14th Chapter “FLO Uttarakhand Chapter” on January 13, 2018 in Dehradun, the capital city of the beautiful Himalayan state. The Uttarakhand Chapter is an addition to the 13 existing Chapters of FLO at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow- Kanpur, Ludhiana, Mumbai, North East and Pune with its head office in Delhi.

Shri Trivender Singh Rawat, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, launched the new Chapter and delivered the keynote address. It was an honour for FLO that the launch was hosted at the CM’s residence at Dehradun.

Ms. Dia Mirza, Actor, Producer & UN Environment Ambassador was the Guest of Honour. Smt. Rekha Arya, Hon’ble Minister of Women Empowerment & Child Development, Uttarakhand also graced the occasion.

In an endeavour to widen FLO’s outreach reach in the Himalayan region and continue working as a catalyst in the process of women empowerment across the nation, the 14th Chapter has been launched in the young State of Uttarakhand.  It is also significant that the State has emerged as an important destination for investments in manufacturing industry, tourism and education. The new Chapter will enable FLO to make a significant impact on the economic and social structure of the State.

Vasvi Bharat Ram presented a booklet on Suggested Women Empowerment Initiatives to the Chief Minister and sought Uttarakhand Government’s intervention in the following, which are also the thrust areas in all States with FLO’s presence:

1. Increasing Land ownership by women
2. Women’s Industrial Park, which was already launched by the former  Chief Minister in collaboration with FLO
3. Create Mahila Hats, which offer retail space to Women Entrepreneurs and Artisans
4. A certain percentage of purchase by the government should be demarcated for Women owned enterprises. We recommend 5 % to begin with.
5. Create a Skill development Fund for women which can be jointly administered by the Government and FICCI Ladies Organisation.
6. to formulate implementable schemes, a standing committee should be set up involving FLO and the UP Government.  It could have members from FLO, the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, the Department of Industry, and the Department of Women and Child development.

Shri Rawat said that Uttarakhand government is committed to empowering women as they are a major force in improving the economic status of their families and contribute to the development of the state.

“We want industrialists, particularly the women entrepreneurs, to make use of the cordial industrial relations in the state to facilitate investment, help strengthen the state’s economy and create job opportunities especially for the women. We would seriously work on the suggestions made by FLO which include setting up of industrial parks for women and Mahila Haats, “he said.

Shilpi Arora, FLO Governing Body Member was announced as the first Chairperson of Uttarakhand Chapter. The programme was very well attended, with several dynamic women entrepreneurs and professionals from Uttarakhand and also other pan India Chapters of FLO, besides the Presidium, Past Presidents & National Governing Body Members.

FLO Women’s Car Rally in support of ‘Save the Girl Child’ was also organised on January 14, 2018. The Rally was flagged of by The Hon’ble Chief Minister from his residence.

The rally saw enthusiastic participation with almost 60 cars helmed by over 150 women drivers and navigators traverse through Clock Tower and Rajpur Road before reaching Antara Senior Living where the event concluded. The cars were decorated with colourful stickers, balloons and flowers accentuating the ‘Save Girl Child’ message.