Chennai Tops As Best City For Indian Women

Chennai emerged as the top Indian city for women in 2023 in terms of inclusivity and conduciveness to working women, as per findings from diversity, equity, and inclusivity consultant Avtar Group’s Top Cities for Women in India (TCWI) 2023.

Tamil Nadu Dominates Both Categories

Tamil Nadu cities topped both categories that the study covered – 49 cities in the million-plus population category and 64 cities in the less than a million-population category.
Chennai topped the million-plus category, and Tiruchirappalli came on top of the less than a million category. The southern state also had a total of seven cities featuring in the lists.

City Inclusion Score (CIS) – A Comprehensive Evaluation

The study ranked cities based on a City Inclusion Score (CIS), a composite of three pillars:

Social Inclusion Score (SIS) – Takes into account the external social environment, including safety for women, employment rates, and quality of life.
Industrial Inclusion Score (IIS) – Evaluates the inclusivity of organizations across industries towards women.
Citizen Experience Score (CES) – Data collated from a pan-Indian survey of working women to create a comprehensive citizen experience score.

Chennai’s Triumph and Ranking Details

Chennai not only bags the prize as the top city for women in India among cities with a million-plus population, but it also retains its SIS rank in the first place. Its IIS rate slipped by 1 and is second to Bengaluru on this scale.
The TCWI study revealed that India’s national CIS average of 21.59 was way lesser than that of Chennai’s 48.42, indicating that conduciveness for women is limited to a few pockets in the country.

Delhi’s Surprising Entry and Shifts in Rankings

National capital Delhi, notorious for crimes against women, made its debut in the top 10 by positioning itself on the 8th rank. Delhi held a CIS rank of 14 last year.
However, Delhi’s SIS rank, considering the external social environment’s safety for women, slipped eight positions to rank 27 this year.

Insights from Dr. Saundarya Rajesh, Founder-President, Avtar Group

Dr. Saundarya Rajesh, Founder-President, Avtar group, emphasized that vibrant employment opportunities, good quality of life, well-connected transportation networks, and a sense of safety are defining attributes of inclusive cities for women. Avtar’s annual index aims to create equitable pathways to increase women’s workforce participation in the country.

The Importance of Women’s Workforce Participation

Highlighting that women’s participation in the workforce is not only essential for India to grow into a $5 trillion economy by 2025, the study pointed out that it also has a considerable impact on making organizations more diverse and equitable, as well as on overall social equity.

Data-Driven Study Methodology

As part of the TCWI 2023 study, an open survey was conducted from July 2023 to December 2023, in which close to 1100 women participated across 53 cities. Additionally, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were held in 16 different cities in India, where 112 women participated and shared their lived experiences.