NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding the capital markets regulator Sebi’s diktat, as many as 2,015 BSE-listed companies and 263 NSE-listed firms are yet to appoint at least one woman director on the board.
Of the 1,624 companies listed on NSE, 1,361 have complied with Sebi's woman director norm, said Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Of the 5,305 companies listed on BSE, 3,290 have complied with the norm as on April, 16.
It may be noted that Sebi had issued guidelines in February, 2014 asking companies to appoint at least one woman director on their boards by October 1, 2014, which was later extended till April 1, 2015.
“The government has been vigilant on the matter of appointment of woman director...It is in companies' interest to diversify so that their functioning can improve. There are a large number of companies, which are yet to comply... The corporate sector is charged with the issue,” he said.
As for government entities, where PSUs are yet to comply with the norm, Sinha said, “This is a methodical process and we need to ensure that capable people are on the board. We are going through that vetting process. Impeccable vetting process will take some time.”
For private sector companies, Sinha said, since it was a market-driven economy, it is up to them to comply.
“We can only guide and frame rules. After that it is up to the companies to implement,” he said.
Early this month, Sebi said companies that do not comply by June 30 will be fined `50,000 with an additional penalty for each day of non compliance thereafter.
Prior to the norm, women held just 9 per cent of all board positions in BSE 100 Index. Of this, private companies with professional management had 11.02 per cent women representation, while family-run companies have 7.21 per cent.
According to Indiaboards.com, a joint initiative by NSE and Prime Database, between March and June, 2014, 59 first-time women directors were appointed of which 33 are from the family or promoter group.