WGGE
The scientific community, all over the world, has historically suffered from gender inequity. Happily, the situation is changing. Many professional astronomical societies (International Astronomical Union, Americal Astronomical Society, Astronomical Society of Australia etc.) now have formal commisions/working-groups devoted to address these issues. A similar effort is ongoing in the Indian astronomical community as well. We have had sessions devoted to discussing gender related issues in three consecutive meetings of ASI (2013, 2014, 2015). A consensus to form a gender equity working group under the aegis of ASI has emerged out of these discussions. A formal proposal (prepared by Preeti Kharb, NCRA-TIFR, Pune) was submitted to ASI in April 2015 requesting the formation of this working group.