Chennai: The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has issued notices to 115 active listed companies for their failure to appoint at least one woman member on their boards of directors complying with norms of market regulator SEBI. Of these, 14 companies are from TN, which includes two public sector companies, Madras Fertilisers and Indian Bank. According to Prime Database, a primary capital market company covering Indian corporate sector based out of Delhi, about 12 per cent of companies in the list are from TN, while the national average is around 7 per cent. In total, 1,486 companies are listed in NSE.
SEBI had issued guidelines in February last year asking companies to appoint at least one woman director on their boards by October 1, 2014, which was later extended up to April 1, 2015. In case the companies remain non compliant, as per Sebi circular of April 8, 2015, the exchanges have been advised to levy fines on listed companies for non-compliance.
Commenting on this, an Indian Bank spokesperson said the Centre and the board would take appropriate decision as it is a policy matter. Parveen Papa, immediate past chairperson, FICCI Ladies Organisation, Chennai Chapter, said, “It is not that companies find it difficult to get a woman on board.
We have lot of capable woman members and our education system is also good compared to rest of India. However, it is a traditional society. There is a mindset against women entering top positions. This has to change.” A study conducted by NSE along with IIM- Ahmedabad showed that companies with multiple woman directors on board had performed better.
