Bengaluru Overtakes Chennai and Emerges as India’s Best City for Working Women in 2024 in the ‘Top Cities for Women in India’ Survey Conducted by the Avtar Group
-
Bengaluru,
Chennai,
Mumbai,
Hyderabad
and
Pune
bag
the
top
five
positions. -
South
India
emerges
as
the
most
gender-inclusive
region,
with
16
South
Indian
cities
featuring
in
the
Top
25
Avtar
group,
India’s
pioneer
in
Diversity,
Equity,
and
Inclusion
(DEI)
solutions
and
India’s
leading
workplace
culture
consulting
firm,
announced
the
third
edition
of
‘Top
Cities
for
Women
in
India
(TCWI)’
index
today.
Karnataka’s
State
Capital
Bengaluru,
reigns
supreme
by
topping
the
ranking
for
being
the
most
inclusive,
safe,
resilient
and
sustainable
cities
for
working
women.
Bengaluru
has
scored
high
in
skilling
and
employment
for
women,
infrastructure
and
caregiving
support.
|
|
‘Top
Cities
for
Women
in
India
2024’
Survey
conducted
by
the
Avtar
Group
Speaking
at
the
press
conference,
Dr
Saundarya
Rajesh,
Founder-President,
Avtar
group
said,
“Cities
are
the
foundations
of
opportunity.
They
shape
how
women
live,
work,
and
thrive.
So,
a
clear
understanding
of
the
core
principles
and
cultural
fabric
of
our
cities
is
crucial
for
advancing
women’s
progress
and
inclusion.
Avtar’s
annual
index
‘Top
Cities
for
Women
in
India”
does
precisely
that,
using
a
data-centric
and
evidence-based
approach.
And,
to
realize
our
dream
of
a
Viksit
Bharat
by
2047,
we
need
the
Indian
Women
Professionals
to
succeed
on
par
with
men.
This
is
possible
only
if
cities
are
truly
gender-inclusive
and
offer
an
atmosphere
where
women’s
strengths
can
be
optimized.
This
means
not
just
providing
safe
streets,
accessible
healthcare
&
education
and
affordable
living
to
women,
which
are
largely
reparatory
measures,
but
also
competitive
avenues
for
women’s
economic
success
and
opportunities
for
them
to
thrive
as
business
leaders.
Let’s
invest
in
women-led
projects
and
optimize
women’s
lives
and
careers.”
About
TCWI
index
Top
Cities
for
Women
in
India
(TCWI)
index
identifies
role
model
cities
and
best
practices,
and
provides
a
framework
for
organizations,
policymakers
and
individuals
to
foster
well-rounded
development
in
our
cities,
which
is
a
pivotal
driver
of
women’s
progress
nationwide.
The
index
has
been
compiled
by
assimilating
various
data
sources
including
the
Centre
for
Monitoring
the
Indian
Economy
(CMIE),
the
World
Bank,
crime
records
and
Periodic
Labour
Force
Survey,
along
with
Avtar’s
primary
research.
Avtar’s
research
included
FGDs
and
a
nation-wide
survey
that
was
conducted
from
February
2024
to
November
2024
in
which
1672
women
from
60
cities
participated.
The
Top
10
Cities
for
Women
in
2024
include:
Bengaluru,
Chennai,
Mumbai,
Hyderabad,
Pune,
Kolkata,
Ahmedabad,
Delhi,
Gurugram,
Coimbatore.
Criteria
for
selecting
the
top
10
cities
for
Indian
women
in
2024
120
cities
across
India
were
considered
for
the
study,
based
on
their
economic
contribution
to
the
country.
The
cities
were
ranked
based
on
an
overall
‘City
Inclusion
Score’
assigned
to
every
city,
inferred
from
Avtar’s
research
and
existing
governmental
data.
The
City
Inclusion
Score
(CIS)
is
derived
from
three
pillars
– Social
Inclusion
Score
(SIS),
Industrial
Inclusion
Score
(IIS)
and
Citizen
Experience
Score
(CES).
-
The
Social
Inclusion
Score
is
a
cumulative
score
of
four
indicators
that
include
city
livability,
safety,
women’s
representation
in
employment
and
women’s
empowerment. -
The
Industrial
Inclusion
Score
evaluates
the
extent
to
which
organizations
in
the
city
across
industries
are
inclusive
of
women. -
The
Citizen
Experience
Score
captures
women’s
assessment
of
their
cities
and
is
calculated
from
the
responses
collated
from
women
across
India
through
FGDs
and
surveys.
It
covers
six
pillars:
Skilling
and
employment,
caregiving
support,
transport
and
accommodation
infrastructure,
quality
of
life,
efficiency
of
government
bodies,
and
safety.
While
the
first
two
editions
of
the
TCWI
index
featured
two
lists
of
cities
–
‘Million-plus’
cities
and
‘Less
than
a
million’
cities,
this
year’s
report
has
a
single
unified
ranking
because
of
several
factors
such
as
outdated
population
data,
rapid
urbanization
and
migration,
and
to
simplify
the
execution
process
for
stakeholders.
The
findings
Regional
analysis:
The
South
emerges
as
the
most
inclusive
region,
scoring
comparatively
higher
in
both
social
and
industrial
inclusion.
The
average
city
inclusion
score
of
the
South
is
18.56.
The
South
is
closely
followed
by
the
West
(16.92).
The
Central
and
Eastern
regions
lag,
with
averages
of
11.79
and
10.55,
respectively.
This
is
a
result
of
limited
industrial
development
and
opportunities.
The
North
is
at
14.00
–
It
is
worth
noting
that
while
the
industrial
inclusion
scores
of
Northern
cities
like
Delhi
and
Gurugram
are
high,
there
is
scope
for
improvement
in
their
social
inclusion
scores.
State-wise
analysis:
Kerala
leads
with
the
highest
average
City
Inclusion
Score
of
20.89,
followed
by
Telangana
at
20.57,
Maharashtra
at
19.93,
Tamil
Nadu
at
19.38
and
Karnataka
at
17.50.
Women’s
ratings
of
cities:
Skilling
and
employment:
Gurugram
is
rated
the
highest
(7.68
–
out
of
10)
by
women.
Among
the
bigger
cities,
Mumbai
(7.60)
and
Bengaluru
(7.54)
score
highest
in
skilling
and
employment,
while
Chennai
(7.09),
Hyderabad
(6.95)
and
Thiruvananthapuram
(5.51)
lag
slightly
behind.
Infrastructure:
Hyderabad
(8.01)
secures
the
highest
score
for
infrastructure
(a
well-connected
public
transport
system
and
other
travel
amenities).
Hyderabad
is
closely
followed
by
Mumbai
(7.64)
and
Bengaluru
(7.52).
Among
the
smaller
cities,
Coimbatore
(7.75)
and
Kochi
(7.41)
score
high
in
infrastructure.
Efficiency
of
government
bodies:
Thiruvananthapuram
(8.15)
and
Pune
(7.06)
top
governance
efficiency.
Gurugram
at
6.48
has
room
for
improvement.
Quality
of
life:
Coimbatore
(7.54),
Pune
(7.50)
and
Chennai
(7.05)
report
the
best
quality
of
life.
Gurugram
scores
relatively
low
(6.34),
which
may
be
attributed
to
environmental
challenges.
Safety:
Thiruvananthapuram
(7.43),
Mumbai
(7.19)
and
Hyderabad
(6.95)
lead
in
safety,
while
women
rate
Bengaluru
(6.17),
Kochi
(6.02)
and
Gurugram
(5.60)
comparatively
low
in
safety.
For
more
details,
refer
to
the
Top
Cities
for
Women
in
India
2024
report
–
www.avtarinc.com/extend/twci
About
Avtar
Avtar,
founded
in
2000
by
Dr
Saundarya
Rajesh,
is
one
of
India’s
leading
workplace
culture
consulting
firms,
supporting
hundreds
of
companies
in
creating
diverse
and
supportive
workplaces.
Avtar
is
credited
with
introducing
the
concepts
of
Diversity,
Equity
and
Inclusion
(DEI)
to
Indian
corporates,
and
is
also
the
country’s
largest
provider
of
second
career
opportunities
for
women.
An
ISO
20700
certified
firm,
Avtar’s
biggest
research
project
is
its
annual
benchmarking
study
–
the
100
Best
Companies
for
Women
in
India
(BCWI)
and
the
Most
Inclusive
Companies
Index
(MICI).
Done
in
partnership
with
Seramount,
BCWI
and
MICI
are
India’s
largest
DEI
benchmarking
studies,
which
have
paved
the
way
for
the
employment
of
more
women
and
other
under-represented
groups.
Avtar
also
promotes
diversity
hiring
through
MyAvtar,
India’s
first
diversity
job
portal.
To
know
more,
visit
www.avtarinc.com
|
www.myavtar.com
A
snapshot
of
Avtar’s
work
in
the
last
24
years
-
Provided
advisory
services
in
inclusive
practices
to
500+
organizations -
Conducted
20,000+
training
programs
in
companies
of
different
sizes,
spanning
industries
and
locations -
Coached
more
than
25,000
managers
in
DEI -
Facilitated
the
re-entry
of
1,00,000
second-career
women
into
the
workforce
through
MyAvtar.com -
Provided
Intentional
Career
Pathing
training
to
200,000+
women,
preventing
them
from
leaving
the
workforce -
Offered
unique
skilling
programs
such
as
DigiPivot
(a
prestigious
course
in
digital
marketing,
conducted
in
partnership
with
Google,
HUL,
and
ISB)
to
hundreds
of
women. -
Provided
career
intentionality
training,
employment
guidance,
and
access
to
industry
leaders
every
year
to
10,000+
girls
from
underprivileged
backgrounds
through
Project
Puthri. -
For
its
transformational
impact
in
the
realm
of
DEI,
Avtar
Group
was
listed
in
the
prestigious
Steward
Leadership
25
Listing
by
Strait
Times
&
INSEAD
at
Singapore
in
2022.