The caste system of India had, long before the present scenarios, created a separate tribe of traders and businessmen, a tribe which earned profits from the purchase, manufacture and sale of goods. The advent of time, the transformation in governmental structures and further the shrinkage of the entire world into a global village have all played a monumental role in evolving the business culture and enterprises as they stand today.
As far as the Indian scenario is concerned, the post independence era has been one historic journey. From a draconian licensing system and regulatory mechanism to the New Economic Policy of 1991 to the altering approach towards providing maximum comfort to stakeholders, the governments, over the years with their varied views and approaches, have paved a unique business culture in the economy, one which is quite different from not only its South-Asian counterparts but the rest of the world as well. And yet, India is emerging as one of the most sought after investment and stable business destinations.
The recent report of the World Bank over the Doing Business Index and the 23 point jump of the Indian economy therein speak voluminously of the enlarged vision and focussed approach of the Government and its various Ministries and Departments. From 142nd rank in 2014 to 77 in 2018, the reforms over the past four years have metamorphosed the economic and business scenario in a way that there is a legal structure in place, the regulatory mechanism is functioning and in order, and yet none of them is suffocating.
While the doing business index covers the initiation of business to the resolution of insolvency and everything in between, the idiom ‘Well begun is half done’ is taken quite seriously. Single forms for company incorporation Permanent Account Number (PAN), Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN) and Document Identification Number (DIN) to online single window for obtaining construction permits come across as some of the biggest contributors towards reducing the time taken, the cost involved and hence, the riding up in the global ladder of achievement.
Talk of international business and what matters or rather holds utmost significance is the value of time, timely deliveries and minimal procedural and transit legalities. Reduced inspections, e-filing of documents, electronic sealing of containers have all played their part in simplifying international trades and strengthened bonds basing them on trust and self-governance in the business and corporate arena.
That coupled with introduction of laws like Goods and Services Tax (GST), continuous amendments in the Company Law, pan-India coverage of reforms, a hands-on approach to understand the World Bank ideologies and ways and areas of improvement have each played a fetching part in remodelling the entire business culture and ethnicity.
The words of Alvin Toffler, an American writer, futurist, and businessman, “The great growling engine of change - Technology" find relevance and absolute relativity if the ‘dramatic’ change in the Indian ranking is to be studied, observed and pondered over. The elimination of personal interface, online single windows, online registrations, mandatory e-payments, digital filings, have all made the delivery of public service at the touch of a few buttons and clicks.
Though the process of easing of doing business seems like a completely Government and regulator-oriented activity, the hidden roles of professional bodies in providing realistic feedback, the practical issues and difficulties facing the corporates, the possible corrective measures and their appropriate implementation, can’t be left aside. If the role of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India(ICSI) is to be mentioned, not only is ICSI, the nation’s GST partner, but is a constant support in national reformative endeavours on a variety of fronts.
The ICSI Institute of Insolvency Professionals (IIP) has been acting as the perfect ground for developing and training Insolvency Professionals covering an area which has witnessed a 28 point improvement in the last two years on the index, that is, Resolving Insolvency.
The ICSI has been continuously striving to analyse and address the issues faced by corporates in incorporation as well as post-incorporation related activities. It is understandable that any regulatory authority, while putting across a legislative structure, requires the comfort of the fact that such laws, rules and regulations are adhered to and the intended purpose of such laws is accomplished. And it is for this impetus that the role and responsibility of professionals like Company Secretaries pursuing the role of Governance Professionals is heightened.
Understanding the true intent of the lawmakers and policy framers, Company Secretaries, along with other professionals, not only have been playing but shall continue to pursue a noteworthy role in strengthening the nation and its various pillars.
Irrefutably, with a target of 50, as present by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the road yet to be travelled further is equally long and demanding. What matters and is required for this 27 point ascend is a combined effort from not just the law making bodies or the professional bodies alone but the corporates and businesses as well to play their part and adhere to the legal structure in true letter and spirit, thus strengthening the governance scenario and paving way for a simplified legal gastronomy.
The writer is CS Makarand Lele, president ICSI