Companies Act, 2013 along with Companies (Appointment and qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014 had
made it mandatory for the following class of companies to have at
least one women director in their Board:
a) All Listed Companies
b) Every Public Company having a Paid-Up Share Capital of Rs. 100 Crore
or more.
c) Every Public Company having a Turnover of Rs. 300 Crore or more
Sub section 2 of section 149 gives
the transition period of 1 year from the date of commencement to comply with
the above said rule.
SEBI has further strengthened
the idea by the amendment in corporate governance norms i.e. Clause
49 making it mandatory for listed companies to have at least one
women director in their board by 1st October 2014 which is
further extended to 1st April, 2015.
SEBI Circular
No. CIR/CFD/POLICY CELL/2/2014 dated April 17, 2014 – This Circular Mandates Appointment of
atleast one Women Director in Listed Companies.
SEBI Circular
No. CIR/CFD/POLICY CELL/7/2014, Dated- September 15, 2014 – This
Circular Extends last date to 31.03.2015 for Compulsory appointment of women
director by Listed Companies.
Now just 10 days
left to comply with this requirement of Companies Act and Listing
Agreement. But as per the data of prime database, about one third of listed Indian
companies do not have a woman director on their boards till date i.e. 451
of the 1,479 companies listed on the National Stock Exchange have not
met the requirement yet. If all companies started complying this requirement
today 45 women directors would have to be appointed everyday for the next 10
days which is obviously not going to be happen.
Finding efficient end capable women
Director from a huge work force is really such a big task for Indian
Companies?????
Or it is the male dominating Indian
Companies that are not digesting the concept of at least one women Director on
the Board??
The other loop hole plucked by the
companies is that they are appointing mothers, wives, sisters and
daughters of the promoters. A prominent example is Nita Ambani, the wife of
India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. She was appointed to the board of Reliance Industries in
June 2014. There are many other such examples also. This seems that corporate
are complying the law in its letters only not in its true spirit. Women from
the promoter group will have the voice as that of promoters. By doing this the
actual intention of the law defeated.
Recently, SEBI has threatened to
penalize companies that do not meet the April 1 deadline. But the penalties are
not yet known. Countdown begins, let’s see what happens.
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