In latest attempt to break glass ceiling, city heritage clubs pack gov bodies with women

Kolkata: Four women, a lawyer, a financial expert, a homemaker and an entrepreneur have been elected unopposed as governing body members in the 164-year-old Dalhousie Institute (DI), reflecting an increasing trend among Kolkata clubs to usher in gender parity in a predominantly male bastion.The unanimous election of Jashodhara Ghosh, Rajashree Kundalia, Tanya Robinson and Natalie Pote, now packs the nine-member DI governing body with four women members.This comes in the wake of three women becoming part of Calcutta Club’s 11-member governing body. Bengal Club has two women members in its 12-member governing body, Tollygunge Club has one, Calcutta Cricket and Football Club (CCFC) also has one women member in its 12-member government body. Saturday Club, too, has one women member in its 10-member governing body. In 2006, DI first broke the glass ceiling when it elected Denise Smith as its first lady president. In 2007, Saturday Club also elected Renu Roy as its president.Ghosh said: “I believe women are natural leaders. Extremely good at multitasking, I believe this is a welcome change.” She added: “My family and I share close ties with DI. I want to give something back to the club from what I have learnt here. I also believe my expertise in financial matters can add value to the club’s governing body.”Abhijit Ghosh, the president of Calcutta Club, said: “This is not an age of male chauvinism. I am a part of the club governing body, which has three women members. They are extremely versatile and gifted and add tremendous value to the club.” Calcutta Club had started admitting women members from 2007.“Every club member has a voting right. If women are members, they will have voting rights. Almost all clubs in Kolkata now have women members. The gender parity in club governing bodies is now reflecting it. This will encourage more women members to step forward and take responsibilities,” said Chandan Roychowdhury, secretary of the Calcutta Rowing Club. “The 15 elite clubs of Kolkata were male bastions. Almost all did not allow women to vote or hold equal membership rights, leave alone stand for elections to the governing body. This started changing in the last two-and-a-half decades. As the nation debates on a one-third women reservation in Parliament, the highest law-making body, sadly this still does not mirror in club governing bodies,” a parliamentarian, who is a member of several clubs, said.“My legal and administrative skills are the values I add to the council. That I am a woman is not the reason I was elected — it’s the skill set that is the key. Having said that, DI is way ahead of all clubs in Kolkata when it comes to women power. We hope other clubs from all over India will follow the example,” said Kundalia.