'Companies can be isles of inclusion, have people of all castes, religion'

Godrej Consumer Products chairperson Nisaba Godrej on Tuesday pitched for India Inc to be an "isles of inclusion" by having more representative workforces.

Speaking at a special event organized by the Godrej Group in the run-up to International Women's Day, Godrej said there is also a need for making workforces more gender-balanced.

"You know there is whole thing on religion, caste and there is so much going on in India but we should be more representative of the country," she said.

Corporate India should also be talking more on parenting, caregiving and taking care of the elderly people, she said, adding that if need be, share the same with the government as well.

Godrej also said that there are challenges on the employment front and the government needs to do more on this.

"I think we have a jobs issue which the government needs to sort out," she said, voicing worries on the decline in labour force participation among women.

Stressing on the need to disaggregate the data by states, she said the female labour participation rate in Punjab is around 10 per cent while the same will definitely be higher in Tamil Nadu, which is home to half of India's overall female workforces.

Citing her own difficulties at a company as a director, she also rued the practice of having critical board meetings on Sundays and stressed on the need for women to speak out on the same.