On Wednesday 27th of February, Indian Chamber of Youth Entrepreneurs (ICYE) celebrated its Second Annual Meet at India House, High Commission of India (London). The function was graced by H.E. Mrs Ruchi Ghanashyam, High Commissioner of India to UK , Padma Shri Kalpana Saroj, Rt Hon Lord Swraj Paul, Member of Parliament Seema Malhotra, Minister of Coordination Mr A.S. Rajan and Swapna Toley . The evening was to highlight the economic contribution of women in India and the diaspora.
Mr A.S.Rajan Minister of Coordination introduced ICYE and spoke about the growth of the organisation and welcomed the focus on women. ICYE’s President Mr. Tejinder Sekhon a young and successful property developer in UK gave a warm welcome, and he indicated the value of enhancing women’s achievements as part of the Annual Meet. The recently appointed H.E. Mrs Ruchi Ghanashyam, High Commissioner of India to UK, spoke passionately about the obstacles that prevail for women when there are limits upon them about what they can and cannot. She noted how wonderful that so many young Indians had come together at the High Commission with the focus being on women.
Mr Tejinder Sekhon, ICYE president; H E Mrs Ruchi Ghanashyam (High Commissioner); Padma Shri Kalpana Saroj;The Rt Hon. the Lord PaulCHARANJEET SINGH – Deputy High Commissioner
The chief guest for the event was Padma Shri Kalpana Saroj CEO of Kamani Tubes and governess of IIM Banglore
She inspired and motivated the audience through her poignant story as she started with just 2 rupees to $150 million. She spoke about her achievements against the backdrop of being from the Dalit community and female, breaking through barriers that society imposes. She credited her success to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar who was the architect of the Indian Constitution and as the First Law minister of Independent India strived for gender equality by pushing the Hindu Code Bill through Indian Parliament in 1950s.
Lord Swraj Paul said how glad he was to be part of the occasion and encouraged young people and especially women to achieve their goals. He congratulated ICYE for their efforts and said, ‘my message is to keep it up you come from a great country and you are in a wonderful country’.
Women’s achievements from different fields were highlighted such as Arunima Kumar, a classical dancer who has done 2000 shows and has performed at various venues from Women’s Jails in India to Buckingham Palace before H.M The Queen. Arunima spoke of the need for women to be taken seriously, especially in professions such as dance, and explained that there is more to being a woman than bags, shoes and shopping. Entrepreneur Swapna Toley spoke about her experiences of starting up and establishing her sweet making business.
General Secretary Ganesh Dubey thanked H.E Mrs Ghanashyam for offering ICYE such a big platform and Padma Shri Kalpana Saroj who came exclusively all the way from India to meet and motivate young Indian Entrepreneurs. He also thanked the ICYE team Harendra, Pavan, Oswin, Harish, Shaheen, Inder, Shobhana, Satheesh, Venu, Chandni and Siddharth for organising the event.
The event which focused on women got a positive response from the attendees and Dignitaries were felicitated by the core team of ICYE.
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