According to a research by Avtar, a company that specialises in workplace inclusion, Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, has been rated the greatest city for women's employment in India. Chennai earned the highest city inclusion score (CIS), followed by Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai in the study, which assessed 111 cities based on their social and professional inclusivity for women.
The social inclusion score (SIS) and the industrial inclusion score are averaged to get the CIS (IIS). While the IIS examines the density of gender-inclusive organisations and businesses as well as career enhancers like creche facilities and mental health consulting services, the SIS considers aspects including the ease of living in a city, the amount of crime, women's representation in the workforce, and women's empowerment programmes. Only nine of the 111 cities under study received CIS scores greater than 50.
With a CIS of 78.41, Chennai was the most welcoming city for women in India, followed by Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. The lowest-ranked city was Lucknow, with a CIS of 25.36. Also receiving dismal marks were Ranchi, Guwahati, Patna, and Dhanbad.
With a score of 71.61, Tiruchirappalli topped the list of small cities (those with a population of under a million), followed by Vellore, Erode, Salem, Tiruppur, Puducherry, Shimla, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Belagavi. It's interesting to note that Tamil Nadu claimed the top spots in both categories for cities. With ratings of 17.74, 18.35, 18.66, 19.05, and 19.19, respectively, Kavaratti, Muzaffarpur, Satna, Rampur, and Bhagalpur received the lowest rankings among small cities.
The Southern region performed the best across all regions, with an average score of 46.17. With a score of 41.13 on average, the West came in second place, ahead of the North (36.03), the Central (31.17), and the East (29.43).
The research emphasised the need for more inclusive policies and programmes to empower women and observed that there is much opportunity for development in the majority of Indian cities. According to Avtar CEO Anju Bhargava, "This report serves as a wake-up call for cities to prioritise the inclusion of women in all facets of city life."
