Reportedly the details given by Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman have revealed how hundreds of companies are involved in violations of rules related to women directors without gender equality perspective.

Madurai mp said that it is clear from the Union Finance Minister's reply that hundreds of companies are involved in violations of the law. S. Venkatesan said.

Madurai M.P. Su Venkatesan said in a statement: Section 149 of the Companies Act, 2013 requires companies with a paid-up capital of Rs 100 crore or a minimum turnover of Rs 300 crore to have at least one woman director on their board of directors. To what extent is this feature, declared as a gender equality measure, being implemented? I raised a question (No. 27/ 05.02.2024) in the parliament to know that.

The details given by Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who has responded to it, have revealed how hundreds of companies are involved in violations of rules related to women directors without gender equality. During the period 2016-2024, a fine of Rs 1.41 crore has been imposed on 81 companies. According to Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, 432 companies have been fined 25 crores during the period 2019-2024 if we include the details of the penalties imposed by the delhi and mumbai stock exchanges as per the rules of the 'SEBI' system from 2018.

The answer is how many hundreds of companies are involved in illegal activities. They run companies without even a woman director. It exposes the lack of concern for gender equality. The reasons why hundreds of companies continue to violate the law after 10 years and SEBI regulations after 6 years should be investigated.

One is that the penalty is too low. Companies with capital of 100 crores and sales of 300 crores can easily get away with paying a penalty of 1 lakh to 5 lakhs. Second, the 2020 amendment to the Act that would not criminalize violations of director appointments may have given them such courage. Therefore, the government should bring changes to take strict action on companies with political determination, Su Venkatesan said