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Arundhati Bhattacharya

Team- C
Presented byMadhu Mahesh Raj

LIFE OF INDIAN WOMEN

India is a country of contradictions. On the one hand,
women are worshipped as deities, without whose blessings,
work cannot be initiated. On the other hand, crimes against
women and girls are increasing day by day in India.
When girls are born in most Indian families, they are not
welcome, at times, even by their mothers. They lament that a
son could have been a real asset for the family.
Since childhood, she is socialized into thinking that she has
to take up the food habits, dress, rituals etc of the new family.

Women entrepreneurship is based on women

participation in equity and employment of a business
enterprise.
-Ruhani j. Alice
Government of India has defined women
entrepreneurs as owning and controlling an
enterprise with a woman having a minimum financial
interest of 51% of the capital and giving at least 51%
of the employment generated in the enterprise to
women.

QUALITIES OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Accept challenges
Ambitious
Hard work
Patience
Motivator
Adventurous
Conscious
Educated
Intelligent

ALL WOMEN BANK

(A Government Of India Initiative)

The journey of Bhattacharya, 58, has been full of challenges. Her formative years
were spent in east India.
She finished her schooling at St Xavier's School in Bokaro Steel City where
teachers spotted her flair for English literature and encouraged her to pursue further
studies in the subject.

She heeded the advice of her teachers and took English literature as a subject
during her graduation at Kolkata's Lady Brabourne College and postgraduation at
Jadavpur University.
She heard about the probationary officer examination while staying in the
Jadavpur University hostel. "Those days, SBI was one of the best paymasters," says
Bhattacharya, who appeared for the examination along with her other hostel
friends. She went through the process of learning the basics of banking after she
joined in 1977. "That is done by the Institute of Bankers for all officers," she
explains.

Bhattacharya has been posted in all corners of the country north, south, east and west.
Bhattacharya says each job that came her way was challenging.
"Retail is very different from corporate," she says, who has honed
her skills in foreign exchange, treasury, retail and corporate
operations.
Bhattacharya has done Human Resources towards the fag end
of her career and has also been an investment banker.

According to her, came when she got involved with

setting up new businesses for the bank.
She was actively involved in establishing joint ventures
for the bank, including the tie-up with Insurance Australia
Group for general insurance, Macquarie for private equity
and Societe Generale for custodial services.
She finds her one-year assignment with SBI Capital as
MD and CEO very challenging and satisfying. "At SBI Cap,
I learnt to look at the bank from outside. It did make a big
difference in my career," says Bhattacharya.

Arundhati Bhattacharya was posted as General Manager (GM) in

Lucknow in 2006, she actually thought of leaving State Bank of India
(SBI), the country's largest bank.
She became the deputy managing director in November 2010. Two years
later, she was posted as MD & CEO of SBI Capital Markets, a subsidiary of
the bank. She became the CFO & MD of the bank in August 2013.
Two months later, she superseded three male colleagues to reach the
corner room as the first woman chairperson.
Bhattacharya, became the first woman chairperson of the 208-year-old
public sector bank.
In 2014, she was named the 36th most powerful woman in the world by
Forbes. This was her first time being ranked on the list.

Continued.
Bhattacharya likes interacting with people. "I'm busy learning
and meeting new people at my job and never get bored," she
says.
As the first woman chairperson of the bank, she also wants to
meet the expectations of women employees who constitute 20
per cent of SBI's workforce.
Bhattacharya has already taken a lot of initiatives for them,
including a two-year sabbatical to pursue higher education, a
transfer policy which allows them to be close to their family,
and special training programmes to enrich their professional
lives.

2014:
Recognizing her efforts on handling gender issues in the banking sector,
SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya was awarded at the
convocation of the premier XLRI-Xavier School of Management,
Jamshedpur.
XLRI director E Abraham said in a statement that Bhattacharya, the first
woman chairman of the State Bank of India, has always been sensitive
and empathetic to gender issues in the bank.

Clearly, Bhattacharya is a perfect role model.

Her success story will inspire many women to take up
banking as a career in the years ahead and even vie for the
top jobs.