Valli Arunachalam, the elder daughter of the late M.V. Murugappan, has termed the restructuring exercise at the Murugappa Group ‘unfortunate’ as it failed to keep pace with time in an era when women are an integral part of the workforce.
“All major studies have shown significant economic benefits of having women in leadership positions and it is rather shocking that the Murugappa Group continues to marginalise daughters and mentors only sons for leadership roles,” Ms. Arunachalam said.
Ms. Arunachalam, along with her sister, holds about 8.21% stake inherited from their late father in the ₹38,105-crore Chennai-based group.
“It is very unfortunate that our family branch was not even contacted by the family about restructuring and we learnt about it from the media,” she said, adding that the family branches included in the restructuring were represented by sons.
“We don’t form part of the next generation of the Murugappa family. We are able individuals with strong professional qualification and yet we are being kept out of the business and our interests are being disregarded once again,” she said.
Asked whether any family member had shown interest in buying out their stake, Ms. Arunachalam said that she made every effort to get the matter settled amicably. However, it was turned down by the Murugappa Group.
