HYDERABAD: Men always had the upper hand in construction; even though women contribute so much to this profession, they remain invisible. Common misconceptions – that the industry is dangerous and dirty – have, unfortunately, led to construction work being men's ascendancy. But Sheetal Bhilkar, an entrepreneur promoting women to work in the construction field, has encouraged many women from Telangana to continue with their passion during an award ceremony called 'Real Women Awards'
You rarely see women working in a male-dominated industry and excelling in a field where traditionally, men are more prevalent. Sheetal Bhilkar, Founder Director of Urja Building Services Consultants Pvt Ltd (UBSC) and Real Woman Awards has been encouraging women in the construction sector by awarding them for their tireless contribution to the industry. We spoke to her and learned more about this Initiative and the work she has been doing.
Hailing from Mumbai and encouraging women in the construction sector to grow in their careers, Sheetal has come up with Real Women Awards. Talking about the idea behind this Initiative, she says, "The construction industry, which is also the second largest industry in our country, is male-dominated. Only 9.6 per cent of the total workforce in the construction industry are women and out of that, 97 per cent are casual labourers.
Only three per cent are in corporate roles. I am a woman entrepreneur from the construction industry with more than 22 years of experience. There is a gender gap and unequal recognition for work, which I mean to change by Motivating and encouraging young women by bringing them to the limelight."
"We had our first award show in the year 2021 at Mumbai, and we awarded 26 women entrepreneurs. Pune followed it in October, where we awarded 30 women, then in August, we went to Gujarat, where we awarded 26 women. We are trying to create a community with these awards and have 105 members in the community so far. On September 17th, we awarded 22 women entrepreneurs from Telangana." she adds.
Regarding the response that she got from the people of Hyderabad, she says: that there are comparatively lesser women in construction than in Maharashtra and Gujarat. These women are not in the limelight. It isn't easy to trace them as they are not on social media. So, we network through nominations and approaches. A lot of work goes to getting these women out and showing them to the world.
She explains the future of Real Women Awards, "I wish that people read this message and know that they will be getting support and motivation. Some women do not feel confident enough to fill up the form. We think that we are less than what we are. We don't generally believe much in ourselves, so we must support and inspire each other to believe in ourselves."