53% of top Indian firms have male to female employee ratio of 10:1: Study

Around 53 per cent of top Indian companies have a male to female employee ratio of 10:1 or worse and 70 per cent of the top firms have less than one per cent of employees with disability, a study by a think-tank claimed on Thursday.

The study noted that only 39 out of the top 300 Indian companies have "proactively disclosed" having employees from Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) or Other Backward Classes (OBC) groups. Data of 300 out of the top 500 BSE-listed companies in India was analysed for the study by Corporate Responsibility Watch (CRW), a think-tank consisting of 14 civil society organisations.

"The entire north-east received only Rs 29.9 crores of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funds, while Maharashtra is leading in terms of fund receipts with Rs 2,482.75 crore," the study claimed.

According to government data, in 2014-15, as many as 16,785 companies shelled out Rs 10,065 crore towards CSR activities. The study showed "startling data that presents a strong bias against the disabled and women".

"Over 70 per cent of businesses having reported either zero or less than 1 per cent disabled employees and about 53 per cent having a male to female ratio of just 10:1 or worse," it claimed.

A total of 103 companies have actually reported a reduction in the number of women employees, the study added.

It also revealed that of the total prescribed amount of Rs 23,247.90 crore to be spent by the mandated companies on CSR, only 57 per cent has been spent. CRW is a voluntary network of 14 organisations and independent consultants that watches and analyses the corporate environment in India from a civil society perspective.

The CRW consists of AccountAid India, Business and Community Foundation, Centre for Responsible Business, Christian Aid, Consumer Voice, Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights and National Confederation of Dalit Organisations.

It also includes National Foundation for India, OpenSpace, Partners in Change, Prakruthi, Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices and Socio Research and Reform Foundation.