The Arthan Annual Conference 2025 convened in New Delhi on December 11, providing a platform to facilitate dialogue on how India can prepare its workforce for upcoming gender equity challenges, climate transitions and community-led innovation.
The Centre for Catalyzing Change (C3) used the conference to present real-life stories from Bihar, demonstrating how women’s businesses and Panchayati Raj Institutions contribute to improving India’s rural economy.
Panelists, including panchayat leaders and women entrepreneurs, confirmed that women-owned businesses in rural areas continue to face gender-based obstacles related to accessing formal credit, technology, personalised business advice and market connections. According to the news release, speakers stressed that ambitious rural women's businesses require integrated support systems, sector-specific programmes and financial products tailored to their needs to grow effectively.
1 December 2025
Get the latest issue of Outlook Business
Panchayat leaders are actively establishing supportive structures, with Mukhiyas like Tripti Kumari ensuring that "Shakti Salah Kendras" provide women a space to discuss work and enterprise development. Rubi Devi reflected on the progress she experienced, noting the critical shift when people began asking her about her business instead of her husband’s occupation. C3’s Shakti Dhara initiative places women-led Panchayats at the centre of this ecosystem, enabling them to connect nano-entrepreneurs with technology, capital, and newer marketplaces. Growth-Oriented Women’s Enterprises are recognised as crucial drivers for gender-equitable growth and job creation, anchoring the future of rural livelihoods.
In the opening plenary, 'Who Designs and Who Decides? Capital, Corporates & Communities in Building Green, Equitable Work,' leaders explored how India can build a dignified and participatory green transition. Vineet Rai, founder of Aavishkaar Group underscored the necessity of confronting institutional blind spots and shifting power structures, noting that making women’s representation the primary Key Performance Indicator (KPI) forced necessary change. Discussions underscored that climate transitions must be designed around people, moving away from carbon-first frameworks toward models that respect lived experience and context.
Samar Verma, Independent Knowledge Partner, emphasised the need for just transitions to redefine what counts as knowledge, arguing that lived experience constitutes evidence. “Numbers alone cannot define progress; lived experience is evidence too. Every design choice sits between speed and voice, and too often we choose speed. If we truly want just transitions, we must ask ourselves: who is defining success, and what would a frontline worker change if they were in the room? Unlearning our own certainties is the first step toward shifting power," he stated in the news release.
Inclusive Rural Economic Growth
A core takeaway was the recognition that strong local institutions and integrated ecosystem design enable rural women’s enterprises to drive resilient and inclusive economic growth.
The collective commitment of the conference is to build livelihood models that are inclusive and designed with, not just for, the affected communities.
