The 4th Edition of the coveted “The Real Woman Awards”, a celebration of women from construction industry shattering the glass ceiling in one of the last male bastions, was hosted at Radisson Blu. The Real Woman Awards, acknowledged and felicitated women entrepreneurs from construction industry, a domain not many women venture into, for their outstanding contribution at a glittering ceremony. The earlier three editions held at Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad saw women of excellence from construction industry being bestowed with recognitions.
The grand evening gala show with much pomp and glamour was hosted by Bollywood and TV actor Aman Verma. Guests of Honour Dinesh Aggarwal, Jt. Managing Director, Panasonic India; Actor Sai Ketan Rao of Pellikuturu Party and Star Plus TV serial Mehndi Hai Rachne Waali; renowned architect, Interior Designer and Urban Planner and President, ARK Reza Kabul Architects, Ar. Reza Kabul; Aditya Gowra, Founder and Director, Gowra Ventures Pvt. Ltd.; Ar. Aparna Bidarkar, Principal Architect, Hue Designs and Principal Partner Architecture & Design Office; Dr. Sugandha Singh, Professor and Dean, R&D and FD, HITAM; Ravi Kiran, Founder, Form Studio and Nihar Chheda, VP Strategy, Prince Pipes; graced the occasion.
Panasonic has been a staunch supporter and Title Sponsor of this initiative throughout its journey. The event was also supported by Industry giants like Prince Pipes Ltd, Lutron, Ravel Electronics, Kitech and more
The winners of the awards in the various categories were Ratna Kalluri, Sustainable Spaces; Mavita Singhal, Architect – Residential Projects; Sanngittha Segu, Farm homes – Developer; Sucharita Vasista, Water Systems; Rachitha Modupalli, Interior Design – Home Interior; Rukmini Vedantam, Structural Audit; Vasundara Parthasarathy, HVAC & R Solutions; Dr Sridevi Rao, Landscape Architect; Dr Saadeepani Vajje, Green Building Consultant; Vijayadurga Koppisetti, BIM Services and Simulation; Sivaranjani B, Digital Solutions; Rishika R, Landscape Designer; Meera Matampally, Heritage Architecture; Meena Shah, Interior Products; Meena Murugappan, Eco Habitats; Leena Chowdary, Architect – Commercial Projects; Lalithavani R, EPC Projects; Keerthi Masna, Engineering Trainings; Juhi Jaiswal, Design and Build Projects; Divya Gulechha, Interior Designer – International Projects; Avantika Agarwal, Interior Designer – Office Design and Ashmi Shah, Interior Designer – Residential Bungalow.
Women in construction industry is a rare breed, very few prefer to venture into this field. But those who did foray, that miniscule section of women did with enormous grit and determination. They adopted to the work ambience, which is not often women friendly, but their resolve to beat the adverse and hostile circumstances, continue to stay ahead and excel makes them superwomen and they deserve recognition, says Sheetal Bhilkar, Co-founder of The Real Woman Community and Director, Urja Building Services Pvt., Ltd. It actually took years and countless rejections for me to be accepted as a woman at site and I am sure many woman here would have gone through similar situations. Sharing some statistics of India’s second largest Industry, the construction industry which is very disturbing, the current workforce in the industry is 53.7mn., off which 5.15 mn., that is mearily 9.6% are women and 97% of them are women casual labourers, that is only 1% to 2% are in management roles and just 1.4% in technical roles. That’s when I decided to bring the existing women in the Industry into limelight and that way I can motivate and inspire more young women to come into the industry. This thought process made me to institute Real Women Awards along with Vijay Dalwani, Director, Harmony Events and Talent. Besides Awards, we created community of women entrepreneur, which has monthly meets, where we network, share knowledge and support each other and with today’s winners we are hundred members in the group. We will take this award nation-wide and build the community of women entrepreneurs in construction industry.
Ar. Reza Kabul, who was part of the awards since its inception said, I was excited about this initiative because an award acknowledging the women from construction industry is commendable, because this is a man’s industry, appreciating the women from the industry will encourage and inspire more to join it. My opinion about the women in the industry is, they are smart and more dedicated than the men in the industry, they go an extra mile.
Ar. Aparna Bidarkar said, it’s a great and deserving initiative for women from construction industry. May this tribe of women grow, because they do all that is needed at home and continue it in their professions, doubling up the entire thing, which is humongous.
Dinesh Aggarwal said, we have been part of this award since the first edition. The reason for supporting this is, these awards are unique, recognising women in the construction industry. We are glad that it is growing year after year and are delighted about it. To share some statistics, 47% of the workforce in USA is women, but only 8% are in the construction industry. Women do bring in fresh perspective in construction industry, they excel in project management, because they can multitask. In the top hundred construction firms today, 44% of women are in the executive role, but only 3% are involved in actual construction jobs. The challenges are still the gender bias, though its changing with many women doing civil engineering course, in comparison to none in the past. Technology has brought in a shift with several things that could be done offsite today, hence allowing the flexibility needed for the women to function. Panasonic has always been working on building cities of tomorrow, enriching people’s lives, moving the society forward. Panasonic is a $57 Bn., group into multiple businesses.
Aditya Gowra say, women are known for consistency and that quality of women can make huge difference to any industry and especially the construction industry. We can help the winners here on behalf of CREDAI, by connecting them with developers.
Mukesh Jaitley said, the emphasis in selecting these awardees was on how much of a pain and effort a woman has put in to be where she is today and this will inspire other women to excel.
Aman Verma said, the women being awarded here are exceptional for the kind of work they did, each one of them is a trailblazers in the true sense and inspiration for generations to come.
Sai Ketan Rao said, I am feeling honoured to be part of this event which is recognising those stalwart women who made enormous contribution to the society. Despite the challenges these women face at home and in the profession, they could excel in the chosen field. My last movie Pellikuturu Party had overwhelming response and excellent reviews. I have some Bollywood and Tollywood projects lined up, sorting out the dates and will begin shooting shortly.
The twenty two winners were selected from the enormous response received. A seasoned jury panel comprising of Lakshmi Govekar, Partner & Principal Architect, Skyline Architects, Mumbai and Mukesh Jaitley, COO, Kolte Patil Developers Ltd., selected these winners after a through scrutiny of each applicant for the various categories, the most eligible among them have won the awards today.
This initiative is conceptualized and executed by Vijay Dalwani, Co-Founder of The Real Woman Community.
