A Synopsis
The Women Leaders' Conclave (WLC) 2026, held on August 13-14, 2026 at the Kamala Devi
Complex, India International Centre, New Delhi, was led by Rekha Mody and structured by co-lead
Dr. Nirja Mattoo. The Conclave was supported by IIM Jammu as Knowledge Partner and PHDCCI as
Industry Partner, with Global Citizen Forum (GCF) (Rajarshi Dr. B.K. Modi) and Sulabh
International, represented by Dr. Nitya Pathak, as sponsors, alongside Power Women
Dr. Aruna Oswal, Dr. Blossom Kochhar, and Ms. Archana Aggarwal
. The Conclave concluded successfully,
reaffirming its position as a national platform for dialogue, collaboration, and policy action on women's
leadership.
The Conclave brought together 125 women grassroot leaders from 13 states across India, continuing
WLC's mission to advance women's leadership and gender equity in alignment with the vision of a
Viksit Bharat.
A National Gathering of Voices
WLC 2026 featured over 60 speakers, including distinguished leaders from government, academia, law,
the arts, and civil society, among them Dr. Rashmi Singh (Secretary, Department of Women & Child
Development, Government of Delhi), Prof. B.S. Sahay (Director, IIM Jammu), Prof. Vinita Sahay
(Director, IIM Bodhgaya), Kuwarani Dr. Ritu Singh, (Apex Lead Women Leaders Circle),
Ms. Nitya
Pathak
(Executive Convener, Sulabh International Social Service Organization), Dr. Pankaj Mittal
(Secretary General, Association of Indian Universities), Mr. Mathew Cherian (Former CEO, HelpAge
India), Ms. Meera Khanna (Trustee and President, The Guild for Service), Ms. Lora Prabhu
(Managing Director and Co-Founder, CEQUIN), Sr. Advocate Shobha Gupta,
Sr. Advocate Anjana
Prakash
(Former Judge and Senior Advocate), Dr. Aruna Oswal (Chair, Women, Child Development
& Entrepreneurship Committee, PHDCCI), Ms. Shalini Sharma (Assistant Secretary General,
PHDCCI), Ms. Gita Shroff (President, A.Ni.S, Surat), Dr. Vibha Dhawan (Director General, TERI)
and Mr. Anand Vishwakarma (Executive Director-ChildFund India)
Session Highlights
Day 1, August 13, 2026
Inaugural Session: The Conclave formally opened with a welcome address by Dr. Nirja Mattoo
(Co-Lead, WLC 2026), a keynote address by Prof. B.S. Sahay (Director, IIM Jammu), and remarks
by Chief Guest Dr. Rashmi Singh (Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development,
Government of Delhi), Guest of Honour Ms. Nitya Pathak (Executive Convener, Sulabh
International Social Service Organization) Dr. Pankaj Mittal (Secretary General, Association of
Indian Universities), and Kuwarani Ritu Singh (Apex Lead, Women Leaders Circle). Power
Woman Dr. Aruna Oswal (Chair, Women, Child Development & Entrepreneurship Committee,
PHDCCI). Vote of thanks was given by Ms. Rekha Mody.
Plenary 1, Women Lead: Chaired by Mr. M. Sribharat, Member of Parliament and Founder,
Kautilya School of Public Policy, and moderated by Ms. Supriya Chawla, Country Head for the
UK Government's Scholarships. Panellists Ms. R. Vimala, IAS (Retired), and Prof. Sanjay Gupta, Vice Chancellor, World University of Design, Sonipat, brought together public policy, civil service,
and academic leaders to discuss institutional pathways for women's leadership.
Breakaway 1, Climate Change and Mitigation: Moderated by Mr. Anand Vishwakarma
(Executive Director, ChildFund India), with Dr. Vibha Dhawan (Director General, TERI) as Guest
of Honour had panellists Ms. Deepali Bhattacharya (Consultant, Sulabh International),
Dr. Subhash Mehta
(Deputy Secretary, PHDCCI), Ms. Susmita Mukherjee (Chief Programme Officer, SOS Children's Villages of India), and Padma Shri Usha Chaumar (Social Activist and Advocate for Sanitation and Social Justice, Sulabh International). The session examined how
women are leading resilient, sustainable responses to climate change, from gender-responsive
disaster management and renewable energy to water security, sustainable fashion, and land rights.
Breakaway 2, Impact of the Care Economy: Moderated by Ms. Shalini Sharma (Assistant
Secretary General PHDCCI), with panellists Ms. Neelam Makhijani (Director, Strategic Planning
and Outreach, SUVIDHA), Dr. Ebha Patel (National Vice President, Gramin Satta Panchayati Raj
Sangathan), Ms. Sheker Saparova (Director and Co-Founder, Beg Yupek ES and Consul of Malta
to Turkmenistan) and Ms. Rakhee Bakshee (Communication Advisor) &
Ms. Nisha Banth (Advocate, A.Ni.S.).
The session explored the economic weight of paid and unpaid care work, and
the case for recognising and monetising it to strengthen women's economic visibility, labour force
participation, and its link to national GDP growth.
Breakaway 3, When Women Write:
"Who is the Author, Mahakavi Kalidas or Vidushi
Vidyottama":
With Dr. Shashi Bala (Scholar) as Guest of Honour and moderated by
Prof. Neeru Mishra
(Art Historian and Author, former Director, ICCR). Panellists Dr. Shovana Narayan
(Researcher, Scholar, Classical Dancer), Dr. Kamal Kishore Mishra (Sanskrit Scholar), and
Dr. Preeti Shukla
(Central Sanskrit University) examined the scholarly debate raised by Revisiting
Authorship of Mahakavi Kalidas, questioning whether the classical works (long credited to Kalidasa) were in fact composed by his wife, Vidyottama.
Breakaway 4, Reimagining Livelihood: Guest of Honour Prof. Vinita Sahay (Director, IIM
Bodhgaya), and moderated by Prof. Muqbil Burhan (Department of Entrepreneurship, IIM
Jammu). Panellists Ms. Kanta Singh (Deputy Country Representative, UN Women, India),
Prof. Ruppal Sharma
(SPJIMR), and Prof. Avnish Bhatt (Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property
Law, IIT Kharagpur), Ms. Nirja Bhatnagar (National Director, Programme and Advocacy, SISSO)
discussed pathways for women's economic empowerment through technology, entrepreneurship,
and skilling.
Plenary 2, When Women Write (author session): Chaired by Mr. K.J. Alphons (Former Union
Minister, Bharatiya Janata Party) and moderated by Prof. Neeru Mishra (Art Historian and Author,
former Director, ICCR). Author Dr. Alka Saraogi spoke on her research into Gandhi and Sarla
Devi, alongside the release of her novel, Register Me as Kulbhushan (Penguin), translated by
Mr. John Vater
.
Socially relevant awareness Skit: A performance introduced by Ms. Gita Shroff (A.Ni.S.) brought
grassroots, community voice into the day's programming.
Day 2, August 14, 2026
Plenary 3, Townhall, Panchayat to Parliament: The centrepiece of this effort was the Townhall,
"Panchayat to Parliament," moderated by Prof. Anil Vaidya, Hon. Visiting Faculty, S.P. Jain
Institute of Management & Research. The session opened with a skit by Ms. Manjusha Bhaskarwar of Pune, setting the tone for a candid, ground-up conversation. Grassroots leaders
spoke as group leads representing their regions, including Ms. Gita Shroff (President, A.Ni.S,
Surat), Ms. Smriti Singh (Ex-Pradhan, Ballia), Dr. Ebha Patel (National Vice President, Gramin
Satta Panchayati Raj Sangathan), Ms. Lata Devi (Sarpanch, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh),
Ms. Renu Paswan
(Jan Suraaj, Bihar), Ms. Vandana (Former Panchayat Representative, Jammu), and
Ms. Anjana Sharma (Sikkim). This session gave these leaders a rare national stage to voice the
realities of grassroots governance, reinforcing WLC's belief that women's leadership must be built
from the panchayat upward, not the parliament downward.
Plenary 4, Innovations for Inclusive Convergence: The session was moderated by
Dr. Nirja Mattoo
(Co-Lead, WLC 2026). The session featured panellists Ms. Shweta, from the Department
of women and Child Development, Delhi Government. Dr. Shabnam Ara (HoD, Sociology, Amar
Singh College, Srinagar) and Ms. Lora Prabhu (Managing Director & Co-Founder, CEQUIN). The
discussion highlighted innovative, collaborative models for inclusive development and grassroots
convergence, including strengthened Anganwadi outreach, the Khelo India–Kashmir sports
initiative by CEQUIN, and the SAMARTH Anganwadi programme of the Department of Women
& Child Development, NCT of Delhi. Dr. Shabnam Ara also highlighted how the education
system is evolving in line with the National Education Policy (NEP), including the innovative
“Design Your Degree” (DYD) initiative at Amar Singh College, which enables students to design
their academic and career pathways according to their interests and aspirations, with guidance and
mentorship from faculty. The session underscored the importance of responsive institutions,
innovative educational models and cross-sector collaboration in creating opportunities for inclusive
growth and empowering young people and communities.
Breakaway 5, Digital Challenges and Solutions: Chaired by Prof. Vinita Dhingra (Director,
Women's Studies Department, Kurukshetra University) and moderated by Dr. Shrabanti Sen
(Director, Programme & Impact, ChildFund India), with panellists Ms. Sonam Mishra (Vice
President, SISASSS), Ms. Pallavi Narain (Director of Communications, No Grey),
SHO Lakshmi Singh
(Only Women Police Station, New Delhi), and Mr. Aman Sabbarwal (Young Champion).
The session addressed the intersections of technology, gender, and safety, including online
harassment and emerging AI-related risks.
Breakaway 6, Women, Work and Mobility: With Guest of Honour Ms. Sheilza Bhatia (Political
leader, Grassroot Organisation Builder and Election Strategist), and moderated by
Mr. Mathew Cherian
(Former CEO, HelpAge India), with Ms. Meera Khanna (Trustee and President, The
Guild for Service) as Chair, Prof. Avnish Bhatt (Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law,
IIT Kharagpur), Ms. Kaamna Prasad (Founder, Jashn-e-Bahaar), and Ms. Vinita Verma (Senior
Vice President, Sulabh Hope Foundation), the session examined structural barriers to women's
economic participation, including workplace safety, equal pay, caregiving burdens, and the layered
vulnerabilities faced by migrant and homeless women.
Plenary 5, Women and Law, Access to Justice: Chaired by Advocate Amita Joseph, with a
keynote by Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta, and remarks by
Former Judge and Senior Advocate
Anjana Prakash
and Advocate Sumita Hazarika. The session drew on NCRB 2024 data to
examine the gap between women's constitutional protections and their lived access to justice, and
the continuing under-representation of women in the legislature and judiciary.
Leadership Circle: moderated by Ms. Rekha Mody and Ms. Radhika Dhumal, where Radhika
spoke about the thought and the spirit behind the art exhibition displayed at the foyer
‘Unmuted
Voices’
during the conclave.
Valedictory and Awards: The conclave closed under the chairmanship of Chief Guest
Dr. Karan
Singh
(Statesman, Scholar, Former Union Minister), with Prof. A.K. Merchant as moderator and opening remarks by Ms. Rekha Mody. The session marked the release of Revisiting Authorship of
Mahakavi Kalidas by Dr. Kamal Kishore Mishra, with Mr. R.P. Jain (Owner, MLBD
Publications) in attendance. Dr. Karan Singh presented the following national awards: the Dayawati
Modi Stree Shakti Samman to Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta, and the Vidushi Vidyottama Stree
Shakti Samman to Dr. Shashi Bala. The session closed with a vote of thanks by Dr. Rashmi Singh.
A defining feature of WLC 2026 was its deliberate spotlight on grassroots governance, with 35
Panchayat leaders from across the country brought into direct dialogue with national policymakers,
jurists, and institutional heads, an exchange rarely afforded to elected local leaders at a platform of this
scale.
Book Launches:
The Conclave marked the release of the following significant literary and research works:
- ● Register Me as Kulbhushan (Penguin), by Dr. Alka Saraogi, translated by Mr. John Vater
-
● Mahakavi Kalidasa or Vidusi Vidyottama: Authorship revisited, (a research work by Dr.
Kamal Mishra and Dr. Shovana Narayan
National Awards Conferred
Two national awards were presented at the Conclave's Valedictory Session by Dr. Karan Singh,
Statesman, Scholar, and Former Union Minister:
- ● The Dayawati Modi Stree Shakti Samman to Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta
- ● The Vidushi Vidyottama Stree Shakti Samman to Dr. Shashi Bala
About WLC:
The Women Leaders' Conclave has emerged as a national platform for dialogue, collaboration, and
policy action, uniting women leaders across NGOs, community based organizations and states in pursuit
of gender equity and inclusive leadership.