Enron Corporation’s (Power Division) CEO Rebecca Mark, a woman, has inadvertently highlighted that women are taken at a par with men in government and business. She managed to rescue a contract her company had won but had run into trouble with a state government in India.

India has the world’s largest number of professionally qualified women.

India has more female doctors, surgeons, scientists and professors than the United States.

India has more working women than any other country in the world. This includes female workers at all levels of skill – from the surgeon and the airline pilot to bus conductors and menial labourers.

On an average however, women in India are socially, politically and economically weaker than men.

Moves are underway to empower women. The most news-making development was the introduction of the Women’s Bill in Parliament in late 1998: the Bill seeks to reserve a certain percentage of seats in Parliament for women. This Bill is most likely to be passed by Parliament in 1999.

There is a National Human Rights Commission for Women that handles all human rights violations against women. There is a National Council for Women that advocates policy for Women. There is an entire ministry for women that formulates and implements policy for them.