Dutta et al ^{Reference Dutta, Hawkes, Iversen and Howard1} discuss various reasons for underrepresentation of women psychiatrists in senior positions across academic medicine from high-income countries. We would like to share our experience from India as a representative of low-income countries.

Over the past few decades, the number of women psychiatrists in India has been on the rise and they constitute about 15% of the total number of psychiatrists. However, most of them work in junior positions, with only about 10% in senior positions. ^{Reference Sood and Chadda2} The women psychiatrists in India are represented in different health sectors such as general hospital psychiatric units, psychiatric hospitals and the office-based practice. The majority of the premier medical schools of the country have women faculty but mostly in junior positions. Some also head academic departments in different parts of the country, and a few have headed a medical school in the past. Some of the women psychiatrists in the country have also taken leadership roles in areas of child psychiatry, suicide prevention, community psychiatry, rehabilitation of patients with schizophrenia and issues related to women's mental health. A few have held the position of the President of the Indian Psychiatric Society, the national body of psychiatrists. Although the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, the official journal of the Society, has never had a woman editor, some of the journals published by the constituent zones of the national Society did have women editors. One of them, the Journal of Mental Health and Human Behaviour, is edited by a woman psychiatrist. Critically seen as a whole, the original articles and some case reports make the major chunk of women's contributions to the Indian Journal of Psychiatry. Reviews, invited articles, presidential addresses, editorials, commentaries, orations and critiques by women authors in the journal are negligible.

No woman psychiatrist acts as advisor to the Government of India on policy matters related to mental health in general or in relation to women. ^{Reference Sood and Chadda3}

As far as looking after the specific needs related to their family-related roles, there are no guidelines for pregnancy and maternity leave for women postgraduate students in the country. If a woman joins a government job, there is a provision for maternity leave, but this often is not available for postgraduate students. Few hospitals or medical colleges provide reliable on-site day care and school-based childcare is not available when children are older. On discontinuation of a job for family building or other reasons, options for career revival after a certain period are presently unavailable because of age restrictions.

There is no association of women psychiatrists at regional or national level. ^{Reference Sood and Chadda2} Unlike high-income countries, where specific needs, aspirations, areas of interest, monetary incentives, working styles, characteristics and other issues related to women psychiatrists have been studied and attempts have been made to address these, there is negligible research in this area in low-income countries. Moreover, women have a negligible role in policy-making in psychiatry.

Currently, there is no system addressing the specific issues related to women doctors as a whole in India and other neighbouring countries on the Indian subcontinent. ^{Reference Sood and Chadda2}