HYDERABAD: In a bid to encourage more women in the pharma and life sciences sector, Primal Enterprises vice-chairperson Swati Piramal mooted the idea of setting up a National Commission for Women in Science to encourage over 100 million girls to excel in science and eventually emerge as leaders in this industry.
She pointed out that Telangana being one of the leading states in the pharma and life sciences industry can take the lead in this area and set an example for other states as well.
“Telangana being one of the leaders in the lifescience industry, it could target million girls from science and get them from schools and work with teachers and parents to make them leaders in this industry,” she said, while speaking on ‘Women in Life Sciences, Healthcare & Tech – The Journey From Aspire to Inspire’ at BioAsia 2020.
As per industry estimates, women constitute only about 10-15% of the workforce in the pharma and life sciences industry in India constitutes as compared to around 28% globally.
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The other industry leaders such as Nivruti Rai, country head, Intel India, and Dr Christiane Hamacher, CEO, Biocon Biologics, too suggested that companies create a conducive ecosystem for women to thrive in their careers.
Rai pointed out that Intel had introduced ‘Home to Office’ or ‘H2O’ initiative that brought women, who have been on a career break, back to work.
As part of the programme, women are trained for a stipulated period and eventually given a chance to join the organisation.
Similarly, Dr Alenka Stefanic Petek, head of Sandoz Development Centre, India, spoke about how organizations are not just making a conscious effort to ensure diversity in their workforce but also ensuring that its service providers too follow the same by setting up benchmarks for them.
