Casts vote for the fairer sex

Infosys wants to do its bit for women's empowerment "" the Indian software giant hopes that half of its staff will be women in the next 25 years.

"I would like more women leaders to shape the future of Infosys," NR Narayana Murthy, chairman and chief mentor, Infosys Technologies said here while addressing the company's 25th annual general meeting.

He said women make up half of the country's population and at a time when the country faced tremendous challenges, "we will not be able to handle these challenges and make the necessary progress unless we learn to leverage the power of women."

Presently, women constitute about 27.6 per cent of the Bangalore-based company's 52,000-plus workforce. Murthy said as the company was getting ready for the next phase, women could play a crucial role in it.

"As we move forward in the next 25 years, we have to ensure that there are more and more women in the company, to take their share to at least 50 per cent. There should be more and more women in senior management," he said.

Defining the growth plan of the company for the next 25 years, Murthy said it was not enough for the company to merely achieve its targets in its operational goals, innovation and financial performance.

"I would like Infosys to be a place where people of different genders, nationalities, races and religious beliefs work together in an environment of intense competition with utmost harmony, courtesy and dignity, to add more and more value to our customers day after day," he said.

To a query on whether the company was going to focus on rural areas, Murthy said, "97.5 per cent of our revenue comes from outside India and people from the first world have to come here to have discussions with us. For this, we need good roads and good hotels. Certainly when India will have these facilities in rural areas, I think all the companies will go there."

The AGM of the second largest software exporter of India had truly gone digital to stay connected with its shareholders in Mumbai and board members BG Srinivas in the UK and Eric Paternoster in USA.

"It's no monkey business and none of us on the dais is a monkey," Chief Financial Officer Balakrishnan said, while presenting the financial performances of the company as he started with a picture of a group of monkeys busy with a laptop. This was soon followed by many more pictures, animations and cartoons with hit Bollywood numbers, to keep things lively.

Balakrishnan said the company had passed through many critical phases during the past 25 years, from a revenue of just Rs 12 lakh in 1982, to a revenue of $2.15 billion in FY06.

"One share bought in 1993 is equal to 64 shares now. This mean, Rs 100 invested in 1993 has now become Rs 2,00,852."

This was reciprocated by the shareholders, some of whom came with gifts for the Infosys chairman. One of the shareholder brought to everyone's notice the fact that while the company was celebrating the silver jubilee, it was sad that nobody mentioned the lady (Narayana Murthy's wife Sudha Murthy) who had sold her ornaments in the 80's to arrange funds to start the company.

"I am extremely touched by your sympathy," Murthy said and added "It is a part of the policy of our company that we don't bring our family members to the board and we will continue not to do so for the next 250 years."

Earlier, the board gave its approval to the appointment of two new members "" Prof Jeffrey Lehman and David Boyles "" to the board of directors. Murthy said Senator Larry Pressler, who had been o the Infosys board for quite sometime, was soon turning 65 and would not seek reelection.

Infosys' shareholders approved the company's plan to increase its authorised capital from Rs 150 crore to Rs 300 crore. The hike was in view of the company's recommendation to issue bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 (one share for each share held).

The shareholders approved the bonus silver jubilee dividend on Rs 30 per share and a final dividend of Rs 8.5 per share.