Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai top 5 cities for women: Avtar report

Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai have emerged as top cities for Women in India with their City Inclusion Scores above 60, according to the ‘Top Cities for Women in India’ report by the Avtar Group.

The report is based on the City Inclusion Score, a composite of the Social Inclusion Score (SIS) and Industrial Inclusion Store (IIS). A press release explains that the SIS comprises social factors (quality of life, women’s safety, women’s representation in the workforce and women’s empowerment initiatives) that influence the city to be women-friendly.

On the other hand, Industrial Inclusion Score (IIS) evaluates the extent to which organisations in the city across industries are inclusive of women. The IIS is based on three indicators–inclusive organisations, inclusive industries, and career enablers. 

The report features a list of 111 cities for women in India based on their inclusivity parameters toward nurturing a conducive ecosystem for women’s employment.

According to Avtar’s Top Cities for Women in India report, only nine out of the 111 cities have scored above 50 in their City Inclusion scores. Many capital cities do not feature in the top 25. According to the report, their absence in the top 25 necessitates a deeper probe from the side of policymakers to understand barriers faced in being inclusive for women professionals. 

Delhi, Nagpur, Aurangabad, and Faridabad have a social inclusion ranking that is lower than the industrial inclusion ranking. Cities like Puducherry, Vishakhapatnam, Surat, and Bilaspur have a high social inclusion score with a low industrial inclusion ranking.

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 (which are critical to women) have good potential for corporates to expand and set up operations here thereby attracting a larger pool of diverse talent.

As per the Top cities for Women in India report:

• 8 Tamil Nadu cities were among Top 10 Cities for Women in India in both the categories
• Kerala emerged on top in the State Averages of City Inclusion Score
• The national capital of Delhi secured 30 points less than the top city and ranked 14th in the population of over a million category. 
• Cities in south India dominate the top cities for women in India.
• Comparing average scores for each region, the Southern region emerges on top closely followed by the West.

“The fact that the South and West regions are more women-friendly in terms of employment is not a surprise, given the politico-historic context of these regions. The rise of cities like Hubli, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, and Coimbatore as promising hubs of women’s employment, due to their high Industrial inclusion 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,"Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President, Avtar Group said,

Key findings of Top cities for Women in India report

• Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Vishakhapatnam, Kolkata, Coimbatore, and Madurai are the top 10 cities in category 1 – Top 25 cities with a population of more than one million.
• Tiruchirappalli, Vellore, Erode, Salem, Tirupur, Puducherry, Shimla, Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, and Belagavi are the top 10 cities in category 2 – Top 25 cities with a population of less than one million.
• In the northern region, the top three cities are Delhi, Srinagar, and Amritsar
• In the southern region, the top three slots are taken by Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad
• In the eastern region, Kolkata is at the top slot, followed by Dhanbad and Patna.
• In the western region, Pune, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad secure first, second and third places respectively.
• Raipur, Indore, and Bhopal secure the first, second and third places respectively in the Central region.
• Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka have the top 5 state averages in the country.

The report used data from over 200 sources including the current ease of living index, Periodic Labour Force Survey, national census, crime records, National Family Health Survey, Ministry of Women & Child Development’s annual report, the IMF, and Avtar’s primary research with employer organisations and women.

(The copy was updated to correct a style issue)