Serving as an independent director some years ago on one of India's leading consumer companies, a highprofile woman executive caught a glimpse of the ugly side of Indian boards. Everything was good in the beginning. She was given a grand welcome at the company headquarters. "But when I actively began participating in the discussions, I was most politely given to understand by another board member that my role was to just sign on the dotted line," recounts this woman executive, requesting anonymity. "He told me, "it's is just a governance need, madam, nothing for you to take too much trouble about'." She left that board within a year. Indian companies too have been picky, extremely picky, when it comes to having a woman on their board of directors. They are poor exemplars of gender equality and diversity. Only 6% of directors on the 1,463 companies listed on the National Stock Exchange are women, according to Prime Database, which operates a joint initiative called indianboards.com with the exchange.

Read the Economic Times news report here.