KOCHI
Former IT and Telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan said Kerala should focus on female participation in labour force, ecofriendly innovations, and building creative economy.
Taking part in a discussion on a vision for Kerala held by TiE Kerala here on Tuesday, she said participation of women in labour was around 25% in Kerala, whereas Himachal Pradesh, a smaller State, witnessed 50% participation. This needs to be addressed.
The State needs ecofriendly innovation for sustainable solutions. There is a huge opportunity for Kerala as a whole to leverage ESG (the environmental, social, and governance) brand. “Kerala should establish itself by giving everything we manufacture, produce and our services the ESG tag,” she added.
T.M. Thomas Isaac, CPI(M) central committee member and former State Finance Minister, said the focus should be on gender justice, improving women participation mainly by providing more employment opportunities to educated women from middle or lower middle class who stay at home, cultural consumption by developing a different social taste as cultural promoters and consumers enjoying art, theatre, books, music, and cultural events and social security measures for the aging population.
