Tamil Nadu’s capital city of Chennai has been named the best city for women's employment in India, according to a report by Avtar, a firm specialising in workplace inclusion. The report, which ranked 111 cities based on their social and industrial inclusivity for women, found that Chennai had the highest city inclusion score (CIS), followed by Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.
The CIS is the average of the social inclusion score (SIS) and the industrial inclusion score (IIS). The SIS takes into account factors such as the ease of living in a city, the level of crime, women's representation in the workforce, and women's empowerment initiatives, while the IIS looks at the density of gender-inclusive organisations and industries as well as career enablers such as creche facilities and mental health consultation services. Only nine out of the 111 cities studied scored above 50 on the CIS.
Chennai was the most inclusive city for women in India, with a CIS of 78.41, followed by Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. Lucknow ranked the lowest, with a CIS of 25.36. Ranchi, Guwahati, Patna, and Dhanbad also scored poorly.
Among small cities (population less than one million), Tiruchirappalli topped the list with a score of 71.61, followed by Vellore, Erode, Salem, and Tiruppur, Puducherry, Shimla, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Belagavi . Interestingly, the top-ranked cities in both categories were from Tamil Nadu. Among small cities, Kavaratti, Muzaffarpur, Satna, Rampur, and Bhagalpur scored the least, with scores of 17.74, 18.35, 18.66, 19.05, and 19.19, respectively.
In terms of regional performance, the Southern region ranked the highest, with an average score of 46.17. The West ranked second with an average score of 41.13, followed by the North with 36.03, the Central region with 31.17, and the East with 29.43.
The report noted that there is significant room for improvement in the majority of cities in India, and highlighted the need for more inclusive policies and initiatives to support women. "This report serves as a wake-up call for cities to prioritise the inclusion of women in all aspects of city life," said Avtar CEO Anju Bhargava.