GRSE’s forum ‘women in public sector’ organises workshop

Kolkata: The Forum of Women In Public Sector (WIPS), GRSE Chapter, organised a workshop "Communicate to Connect" for its women employees on Saturday. Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited's (GRSE) Chairman and Managing Director RAdm VK Saxena, IN (Retd.) inaugurated the session in the esteemed presence of GRSE's Director (Finance) SS Dogra, Director (Personnel) Cmde PR Hari and other senior officials of GRSE. The speaker for the workshop was Arvind Raikar, a Dale Carnegie trainer from Tata Management Development Center, Tata Steel.

WIPS Cell in GRSE was formed in 2016. The Cell ensures representation of women employees' participation in WIPS national and regional meets and other women empowerment programs every year. It has also been organising seminars, workshops, tree plantation and women's day celebrations every year to engage and enhance behavioural competencies in the women workforce of GRSE. WIPS membership in GRSE has significantly increased from 14 members initially to 47 members in 2019. The workshop was aimed to effectively adapt, learn and enhance communication skills at home and work. The objective was to make the participants learn effective communication.

About the Forum of 'Women in Public Sector' (WIPS)

The Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) in collaboration with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), organised a national convention of women in public sector-during October 1989 in New Delhi. The convention was attended by 500 women delegates from all over India who put in their suggestions for the growth of women in the public sector. They also felt the need to create a National Network, a support system that would enable them to transform these suggestions into reality with the help of the Public Enterprises and concerned agencies.

Thus a Forum of Women in Public Sector (WIPS) was created under the aegis of SCOPE, having a Central Apex Forum in Delhi and four regional Forums in Bombay (Western Region), Chennai (Southern Region), Kolkata (Eastern Region) and Delhi (Northern Region) respectively. The formation of WIPS represents the first-ever initiative made by the single largest organised sector in focusing on the issues related to the advancement of women. While on the one hand women have to take initiatives themselves to meet the job challenges and sustain career growth, management of the enterprises also need to recognize the changing profile of the workforce in enterprises and provide the appropriate environment for their advancement and growth.