Aarti Harbhajanka, 38, is a public policy consultant in Mumbai who has worked with several state governments on issues relating to housing and real estate, including affordable housing and the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act. She believes that in the next 10 years, India will see women across every type of employment directly or indirectly linked with real estate.
Harbhanjanka who has worked extensively with the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) and Maharashtra Housing Department, says that currently women are in very limited roles when it comes to real estate, such as sales, marketing, labour etc. Over the next decade, however, she says women’s participation will become more wide-ranging.
From KPMG to a startup
Until 2019, Harbhajanka was employed with KPMG, a US-based firm accounting, auditing, transaction and policy advisory firm. Then, along with five other colleagues, she launched a startup called Primus Partners. The firm is involved in service offerings such as public policy, investment realisation, sectoral realisation etc. The company plays an advisory role in sectors such as agriculture, chemicals, healthcare, social sector, housing and real estate.
“We call our startup a Covid baby considering that we started this in 2019, but our growth and expansion has happened over the past three years amid the pandemic,” says Harbhajanka. The firm currently has 200 employees and has several public sector clients, including state governments and private sector entities. It offers advisory services on affordable housing, the RERA Act, stalled real estate projects etc.
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Are women accepted in the real estate space?
“I come from a family business background, and initially I was working at the manufacturing unit of my father, which was involved in manufacturing fans,” says Harbhanjanka, who is a Master of Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) – Lucknow, “However, the nature of that business was such that I did not see myself in it, because of being a woman and several other factors."
"I joined PWC with my first job and in the corporate culture of working I have not faced any discrimination as such. There are instances in general of certain individuals having discomfort dealing with a woman, but I do not feel that it is more challenging or discriminatory as such.”
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‘Women need to do more in real estate’
Harbhajanka acknowledges that when it comes to the real estate sector, women only take up roles in verticals such as sales, marketing and HR. Even when it comes to construction, male labourers are preferred over females, she says but adds that this is changing now.
“I have also advised the government that they should make affordable homes under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) with an all women team. From labourers, carpenters, engineers, site supervisors, it is very much possible for women employees to construct a building now,” she says.
‘Government offices are more accepting of women’
“More than the private sector or the corporate world, I feel that the government sector is more accepting towards women employees or even as stakeholders,” says Harbhanjanka. “Be it due to reservations or whatever, but government offices are more accepting of women employees in my experience. They are more sensitive and used to working with women and that is not just limited to say the housing or real estate sector.”
She also says the family has a big role to play in helping women achieve their dreams. “I have a very supportive family — my husband and in-laws are very supportive — and that helps me a lot when it comes to growing and expanding our business. Whenever I am out for work I have support from my husband and in-laws, who take care of our children.”
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50:50 ratio for male-female:
Harbhajanka’s startup currently employs around 200 employees, with women making up 44 percent of the workforce. “In the coming months, we intend to maintain the balance at 50:50,” she says.
Increasing professionalism in real estate helps women
The real estate field is changing at a rapid pace and becoming more professional with the introduction of the Real Estate Regulatory (RERA) Act along with the Goods and Service Tax (GST). More and more developers are aspiring to get listed on the stock market.
“My message to women in the real estate space would be to not perceive real estate as a male-dominated sector. They should explore all sorts of roles, from building plan approval, liasoning, physical labour and management, not limiting themselves to sales, marketing and HR,” says Harbhajanka.
Hurdles before women
In January 2023, a report was released by the World Trade Centre and Primus Partners on Pink Collar workers in the country, especially in the real estate and construction segment. The objective of the report was to shed light on issues preventing greater participation by women in the real estate sector and measures to change this trend to create a truly diverse and inclusive space for all.
“In the domestic construction and real estate sector, which employs 57 million workers, 50 million of the people employed are men, and only 7 million are women. Further, the informal women workers engaged in construction in India earn 30-40 per cent less than their male counterparts highlighting the gender inequality prevalent in the construction and real estate sector in India,” the report noted.
The report suggested that in order to strengthen gender inclusion measures in real estate sector, in addition to the current disclosures under the RERA Act, developers should include information on the percentage of women workers working on construction sites, the presence of required facilities such as proper toilets, availability of working creches, etc., which would help build a more inclusive workforce.
The availability of such Indicators of Gender Inclusion and Quality for all real estate projects in India would catalyse changes in the Real Estate Sector, the report concluded.
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