New Delhi, March 23 As many as 179 government-owned companies, including public sector enterprises, do not have a single female director as required under the Companies Act, the government said on Monday.
Under the Companies Act, 2013, a certain class of companies are required to have at least one female director.
Every listed company and every other public company having a paid-up share capital of Rs 100 crore or more or having a turnover of Rs 300 crore or more is required to appoint at least one female director on its board.
"Out of the 708 government-owned companies, including Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs), which are required to appoint at least one female director on their boards, 529 companies have appointed at least one female director, and 179 companies have not appointed at least one female director."
"The non-compliance of the minimum threshold limit for appointing a female director is specific to individual companies and other administrative reasons," said Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The specific time period was not disclosed.
He also said that separate data regarding penalties collected from government-owned companies is not maintained centrally.
As per the data provided in the written reply, till March 13 in the current fiscal year, there were 668 female and 3,423 male directors on the boards of government-owned companies.