CS R Sridharan who has been recently appointed as the president of ICSI speaks with Sangeeta Yadav about his agenda during his turnover and the new CS law 2013
What is the agenda that you have decided for your turnoverIJ
Our agenda is focused towards creating a capacity building for the students to take a big responsibility of audit and maintaining a transparency in the functioning of the organisation. We want to make sure that the Companies Act law 2013 is effectively applied in the companies and no frauds and other mismanagement is happening in the organisation. With this law, we have focused on two areas— CS in Practise and CS in Employment. Both the fields have vast responsibilities and are considered of great importance. We have around 35,000 members and 4,00,000 students and we are constantly aiming towards the transitioning of CS as governance professionals.
What does the new Company law 2013 sayIJ
Company law 2013 which replaced the Companies Act, 1956 is investment friendly as it would allow freedom to small investors like craftsman and villagers to get the credit facility and other facilities by forming a legal company. India has a lot of potential in terms of investment at both small scale level in India and abroad. Not just ensuring improved corporate governance norms at all organisations but other areas of concern is facilitation of responsible entrepreneurship, increased accountability of company managements and auditors, better shareholder democracy, facilitation of CSR and stricter enforcement processes.
What are the job prospects after studying CSIJ
The overall profession of CS is ranked the second most important section in the organisation after CEO or MD. A candidate can become a Chief Financial Officer who manages the financial risks and crises or the Audit manager in his company. There are various branches to it like — freight audit manager, accounts finance tax audit, secretarial audit, labour audit, cost auditors, special auditors, legal audit etc. They can work as CS regulators and can be a member of NClT (National Company law Tribunal) for 15 years and more. A lot more avenues such as service tax officer, labour audit, income tax authority etc have opened up.
What is the study module of ICSIIJ
CS is one field where there is no retirement age. People can work till they want to. There are three levels in this education — foundation, executive and professional.
We also have CS experts who assist in teaching the students across 69 chapters and four regional offices. At the professional level, the students get an opportunity to qualify in one subject out of the five— Banking law and Practice, Capital, Commodity and Money Market, Insurance law and Practice, Intellectual Property Rights and International Business. The cost of the programme is Rs 30,000.
What’s the role of Company Secretary in Employment (CSE)IJ
The functions of CSE are to report to the Board about compliance with the provisions of this Act and the rules and laws should be applicable to the company. They have to ensure that the company complies with the applicable secretarial standards and to discharge such other duties as it may be prescribed.
What do you mean by Secretarial StandardsIJ
These are Secretarial Standards issued by the ICSI and approved by the Central Government. It casts duty on the CS to ensure that the company complies with the applicable standards.