The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector has emerged as a vibrant and dynamic source of economic growth over the last five decades. Around 46.7 million MSMEs are operating in India employing over 106 million people. MSMEs not only play a crucial role in providing large employment opportunities at comparatively lower capital cost than large industries, but also help in industrialization of rural & backward areas, thereby, reducing regional imbalances, assuring more equitable distribution of national income and wealth. According to the study conducted by ILO in collaboration with the Institute of Human Development in 2014, MSMEs are complementary to large industries and act as ancillary units. In addition, this sector contributes enormously to the socio-economic development of the country. Building the capacity of MSMEs enhances their global competitiveness and thus contributes to the growth of more and better quality jobs in this sector. In this context, the ILO and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) have entered into a partnership to improve the productivity of MSMEs in India through ILO’s global modular management programme, SCORE (or Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises). Worker-manager dialogue and gender equality is at the core of the SCORE training approach. Further, the SCORE Module 4 on Workforce Management and SCORE Module 5 on Occupational Safety and Health specifically supports the SMEs to establish management policies and operational systems to improve working conditions of employees, in particular, women which includes putting into effect the Sexual Harassment against Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

In this context, AIOE, in collaboration with the ILO are organising a series of regional awareness workshops in Cochin (Kerala), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh & Telangana) and Kolkata (West Bengal) in the MSME sector from August 2015 to November 2015. The workshops will include an awareness session on SCORE. Further, in the context of a large-scale presence of women workers in SMEs and with the objective of promoting workplaces free of discriminatory practices, these workshops will also include a training session for employers on measures aimed at preventing and addressing workplace sexual harassment.