Chennai: Women need not wait for anybody's help for empowerment and should instead come forward to empower themselves, according to speakers at a CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) organised International women's day celebrations held in Chennai on March 8.

The role of women in modern corporate life was on the increase, Rajashree Pathy, member, CII's national committee on women empowerment said in her introductory remarks, quoting a recent Irish study which revealed that 35 to 40 per cent of the new generation IT companies were owned by women.

Quoting a US based study, she said that there was only 27 per cent woman representation in those companies, which went public in 1993. The same rose to 41 per cent in 1996, as against just zero in 1998.

C K Gariyali, chairperson and managing director of Tamil Nadu Women's development corporation expressed concern that as much as 80 per cent of the working women were anaemic due to stress and strains of day to day life.

Those who spoke on the occasion included noted Bharatnatyam artiste Srinidhi Chidambaram and an array of women executives from various corporates.

PTI