Kavitha Kalvakuntla presented TCEI’s 4th Stri Shakti Awards 2021  

Hyderabad, October 12, 2021: Telangana Chamber of Events Industry (TCEI)  a not-for-profit professional organization formed by the representatives of various stakeholders in the Event and Entertainment industry presented TCEI’s 4th Stri Shakti Awards 2021 to Women achievers from the most unusual fields, in the events industry vertical. 
 
The 40 awards were presented in a glittering ceremony held on Tuesday evening at HICC to both professionals and entrepreneurs who are contributing to the Event, Culture, Entertainment and related industries. The awards were presented in three categories: Stri Murthy, Stri Shakthi and Stri Ratna.  
 
Smt. Kalvakuntla Kavitha, Smt S. Vani Devi, MLC; graced as the Chief Guests.
 
Ms Smita Sabharwal IAS, Secretary to Chief Minister, Telangana State; Ms. Karuna Vakati, IAS, Commissioner of Public Health and Family Welfare, Telangana Stage, Ms. Deepthi Ravula, CEO of We Hub and Dr. S. Shantha Kumari, President FOGSI were guests of honour.
 
Speaking on the occasion after inaugurating the awards function by lighting the lamp and unveiling  the logo of the TCEI-WE Hub Mentor Me Program, Kavitha said Women entrepreneurs of Telangana have been making study contributions to the development of Telangana State. The number of enterprises including MSME in India is around 6 crores. Only 15% are owned by women. 80% of women,  fund their own enterprises. A small portion of 20% had access to funding. Access to funding is crucial to success. So she asked all those present in the hall to think about how we can help more women entrepreneurs’ access funding. Ms. Kavitha also told women to share their stories, their struggles, who knows they may inspire some, she added.
 
Ms. Kavitha gave away awards to Mrs. Vinobha Devi, the first Chief Engineer of Mission Bhageeratha; Anusha, an Engineer and Ms. Pushpalatha, Executive Engineer Mission Bhagiratha, who supplied water to many households in Khammam and others.  Mas. Smita Sabharwal and Ms. Vani Devi and others gave away awards to the other recipients. 
 
Earlier Kavitha joined 20 women from Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy Mahila Shivasatthual Bonala Kolatam Brundam from Jangaom and played Bathukamma. They played bathukamma to the beat of 5 Dappu Artists.  
 
Speaking on the occasion Ms. Smita Sabharwal said it is an excellent way of celebrating women's achievements. The recognition must be extended to different professions in the future editions. Please also pick up few farmers for the awards she said.  
 
Welcoming the gathering and giving her opening remarks, Ms. Rakhi Kankaria, President of TCEI said 40 distinguished women from across India are bestowed with the honours in three different categories--Stri Murti Awards, Stri Ratna and Stri Shakti Awards.
 
The awards are presented every year on the eve of Bathukamma, a cultural festival of Telangana State to celebrate the spirit of women, she added. 
 
Rakhi Kankaria further said it is the most sought after honour to the deserving women of our industry as there is no platform to recognize their talent exclusively in the event industry.
 
Though women comprise 30 per cent of the event industry, they are the most creative brains behind many successful events and the creativity, still, recognition eludes them, she added. 
 
The Events Industry in India and globally has undergone major changes in the past two decades. The Indian events industry is expected to cross Rs 10,000 crore by 2020-21 as per reports of CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate). However, I feel that this number is much larger as we are yet to streamline the data collection in this diverse and largely unorganized industry. 
 
The event industry shares excellent synergies with Tourism, Culture and Entertainment sectors. It enhances destination profile, creates platforms for business and society partnerships, builds vibrant community, enhances visitor economy and stimulates infrastructure. 
 
TCEI was launched in 2015 by Shri KT Rama Rao to bring all the diverse industry stakeholders into events under one platform. We are now a 7 years old nonprofit association, with 200 plus members and 7 representing allied associations. 
 
We are also launching chronicling TCEI’s journey. 
 
One of the areas of our focus is to strengthen women leadership in events. 
 
The awards have been selected by a professional jury member, after a 2 levels of screening. Out of 150 plus applications, TCEI selected 40 across the awards segments – StriShatji, Stri Murti and StriRatna. The award winners represent both entrepreneurs and professionals. 
 
TCEI- WE HUB Mentor Me program which was launch was aimed at grooming more women leadership in the event industry. 
 
We need to mentor them and guide them. We needed mentors who just don’t give them the tasks to complete but to take extra moments of the action or decision so that they can better educate themselves towards professional advancement informed Rakhi. 
 
Kruti Parekh mentalist gave her performance. She is India's first test-tube baby at birth.   
 
TCEI is an umbrella organization of Event Management, Wedding Planners, Entertainers, Exhibitions, Sound /Light/Video, Production, Venues, Caterers and other facilitators. Under its fold are 6 Associations viz., Telangana Event Managers Association (TEMA), Telangana Sound Light Video Association (TSLVA), and Telangana Facilitators Association (TFA), Telangana Event Caterers Association (TECA), Telangana Event Venues Association (TEVA) and Telangana Entertainers Association (TEA).