Government organises "Women in Renewable Energy" Dialogue on occasion of International Women’s Day 2024
New Delhi [India], March 10 (ANI): On the occasion of International Women’s Day, on March 8, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy organised an event ‘Women in Renewable Energy: Inspiring Gender Inclusion through Skill Development and Targeted Policies for Green Jobs’ in New Delhi. Organised with the support of NRDC India, the event aimed to deliberate on bridging policy gaps for inclusive green employment with a focus on skilling and capacity building and to share learnings and recommendations from the experience of women leaders in the renewable energy sector. Through a video message, the Union Minister for Power and Renewable Energy RK Singh highlighted India’s achievements in clean energy transition and reiterated the Government’s commitment to designing women-centric policies and initiatives for enhancing women’s livelihoods, improving health, and building community resilience. Speaking at the event, New and Renewable Energy Secretary, Bhupinder Singh Bhalla highlighted the government’s commitment of raising India’s non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by the year 2030 and the need for the contribution of every citizen towards energy transition. The Secretary mentioned the recently launched PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana and the surge of registrations from the public on the National Portal for participation in the scheme. He emphasised the requirement for a skilled workforce at various levels for the effective implementation of the programmes and schemes of the government and, in achieving the targeted capacities and opportunities available, for women to assume a larger role in the renewable energy sector. The Secretary further mentioned the requirement of gender-specific employment data at various levels in the sector and the ongoing primary survey being led by the Ministry, in association with NRDC and CEEW, on job opportunities and representation of women in the renewable energy workforce. Additional Secretary, Ministry of NewRenewable Energy, Sudeep Jain, highlighted women as societal pillars who offer diverse problem-solving perspectives. He emphasised the importance of women not just as a large workforce, but as a robust decision-making force in the renewable energy sector. The event was attended by stakeholders across the renewable energy value chain, comprising Central and State Government officials and representatives of multilateral organisations, financiers, technology suppliers, think tanks, NGOs and civil society. (ANI)