PM Modi visits TCS all-women IT centre in Riyadh

With a focus on inclusive development, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with Saudi women IT professionals at the first-of- its-kind all-women Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) training centre in Riyadh and invited them to come to India. He spoke about the crucial role women play in development of countries. Mr Modi also explained how their participation will enhance development of a country. Receiving a grand reception, Mr Modi interacted with the employees and also took selfies with them. “For the world it is considered to be a main headline news that in Riyadh today I am meeting those IT professionals who I can say today represent the glory of Saudi Arabia,” Mr Modi said during his interaction with TCS women professionals. The all-women centre was set up in 2013 in partnership with GE. Harping on development, Mr Modi said : “In this very competitive world today, if we are to progress then all forces have to progress together and have to move ahead and in it when I say forces, we are talking not only natural resources but also human resources. And in human resources human power plays a very important role, if the capacity of the woman are built and they are linked with the development process, then development of any country is speeded exponentially.” The TCS business model is unique to Saudi Arabia, which serves as a training ground for building new capabilities, skills and careers for women in the country. It provides specialised finance and accounting, human resources, materials supply and IT services. It also works with universities in Saudi Arabia to develop specialised training programmes, which help drive job creation and employment opportunities for women in Saudi Arabia. This initiative of TCS was hailed in the industry and considered a bold initiative considering that laws in Saudi Arabia are not favourable towards women. It was only recently that Saudi Arabia allowed women to contest in municipal elections while it has other rigid rules such as forbidding women from driving in the country. Saudi Arabia has also imposed restrictions on their travelling alone.