Hyd Collector says a just world starts when parents stop differentiating between sons and daughters.
HYDERABAD, Nov 29 (The CONNECT) –A powerful call for societal reset echoed through the FTCCI Women’s Leadership Summit 2025 on Friday, with Hyderabad District Collector Harichandana Dasari declaring that India’s most transformative leap will come not from boardrooms or policy rooms, but from families.
“Real change begins within families,” she said, stressing that equality must be taught at home long before it is demanded in society.
Inaugurating the day-long summit hosted by the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FTCCI) at its Red Hills campus, the Collector emphasised that the future hinges on how India raises both its girls and its boys. “Educating a girl child and giving her the platform to rise is essential. But equally important is educating our boys — teaching them to respect every girl at home, in school, and in society,” she said. A just world, she noted, is shaped by parents who do not differentiate between sons and daughters.
She underlined that gender is not a competition. “We are meant to energise each other and rise together. Equality, acceptance and shared growth define a nation’s true success. One sincere mindset shift, one conscious step at a time, can change the world — and that first step always begins at home.”
The summit unfolded against this strong message, bringing together entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, policymakers, academics and young professionals from across the country to discuss leadership, equity and opportunity for women in India’s evolving economic landscape.
A major highlight was the panel on Leadership Competency Development, moderated by Aruna Ravi Kumar, Telangana’s first woman broadcast journalist. The session opened with Vanita Datla, former Chairperson of CII Telangana, who introduced her trademark Six-Up Formula, a leadership model she adopted more than 15 years ago at a summit in Japan. Datla said the framework remained a quiet but constant force shaping her leadership journey.
Her formula urges women to Show Up by being fully present and making their presence matter; Speak Up by voicing opinions without fear, even when they may be unwelcome; Look Up to role models and adopt traits that sharpen personal growth; Team Up by cultivating strong, dependable ecosystems; Not Give Up, because persistence separates achievers from aspirants; and finally, Lift Others, the hallmark of leaders who create more leaders, not followers.
Datla flagged a persistent and troubling reality: India has one of the world’s largest pools of highly educated women who remain outside the workforce. “We have the dubious distinction of having the most qualified homemakers — women with degrees, expertise and capability, simply unseen,” she said. Women, she added, still work twice as hard to be recognised as leaders.
Another panellist, Anandita Mookerjee Sinha, Client Communications Leader – ET, spoke of navigating stereotypes, sarcasm and judgment that often accompany women in leadership. Her message to aspiring leaders: convert every obstacle into an opportunity for growth.
Moderator Aruna Ravi Kumar also shared a personal moment from her early career — being denied a mobile phone that all her male colleagues received, and having to prove her worth before getting one. Success or failure, she reminded the audience, “has no gender.”
The Summit’s message of equity found resonance in Dr Ch. Preeti Reddy, Vice Chairman, Malla Reddy Vishwavidyapeeth, who attended as guest of honour. She said her family treated her no differently from a son and credited her father-in-law, former Minister Malla Reddy, for offering unwavering support. She urged participants to build knowledge, earn respect, read widely, focus on productivity and steer clear of distractions such as gossip.
FTCCI President Ravi Kumar grounded the discourse in a simple principle — humanity over labels. “Whether men or women, we are human beings first. Work must go beyond gender bias and rest on humanness,” he said.
The most searing moment came from Dr Tasneem Shariff, Chairperson of the FTCCI Women in Business Committee, who challenged the room with stark questions on global inequality:
“Why does 50% of the world’s talent get only 7% of Fortune 500 CEO roles?
Why do women add $13 trillion to global GDP yet receive less than 4% of venture funding?
And why must the world wait 132 more years to close the gender gap — is the delay in the data, or in our decisions?”
Tasneem insisted that solutions already exist — from more than ₹50,000 crore in women-focused credit schemes to MUDRA loans where women comprise over 70% of beneficiaries. States, she noted, also offer subsidised loans, tax incentives, stamp duty waivers and 0–6% interest credit lines for women-led MSMEs. “When women rise, economies rise. The responsibility is not to wait for the gap to close — but to close it ourselves,” she said.
Across the day, the summit addressed a wide spectrum of themes: leadership competency, personal growth, well-being and confidence, inclusive workplaces, financial resilience for women founders, and the role of technology and innovation in shaping the next wave of female leadership.
Speakers included Vanitha Datla, Khushboo Hoda of Volvo Group India, Tanya Chaitanya of Reliance Industries Limited, Nisary Mahesh of HerMoneyTalks, Michelle Dominica of Viatris, Radhika Yuvraj Iyengar of Women in Tech India, Deepti Akki, Anandita Sinha, Rashi Srivastava, and several other corporate and civic leaders. A lively stand-up comedy segment by Sushma Chitta added a light and engaging finale to the intense deliberations.
In his vote of thanks, Garimella Srinivas summed up the day with quiet clarity: “There is not a single thing that women are incapable of doing.”
