What makes ONGC's first woman CMD more the exception than the norm

Rising share of listed public sector companies don't have a single woman director

Alka Mittal’s appointment as public sector major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) chairman and managing director made her the first woman to head the company. Women rising similarly to top positions in public sector companies appear few and far between.

An analysis of past years’ data shows that public sector companies are less likely to have women directors on their boards. The gap with their private sector counterparts has only been widening.

Around 33.3 per cent of national stock exchange listed public sector companies lacked women directors in FY21 compared to 3.2 per cent of companies