April 13 – The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh today said that Haryana has led the growth of country’s economy which has grown at an unprecedented high rates in the last two decades.
The Prime Minister was addressing at the inauguration ceremony of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs Campus. He said that the last two decades had been times of great change for our country and more so for the blessed state of Haryana.
Companies Bill, would be passed shortly
He said that “ he expects the Companies Bill, presently under consideration of Parliament would be passed shortly. The Bill seeks to provide a further fillip to the cause of Corporate Social Responsibility, corporate governance and investor protection”, he added.
He said that corporate laws need to be periodically reviewed and amendments effected. New thinking was required in important areas such as investor education and protection, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and competition law. The tremendous potential of MCA-21, the e-governance initiative of the Ministry, needs to be fully exploited. Also, in view of the increasing importance of small unlisted companies and new formats such as limited liability partnerships, the Ministry needs to develop new oversight structures and enabling frameworks.
Dr Manmohan Singh said that the corporate sector had been one of the major drivers of this high economic growth. It had also made a mark internationally and many of our companies today have global ambitions.
This Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs has been conceived as a think-tank and research institute in the area of corporate law and allied disciplines, and also as a training organization for officers of the Indian Company Law Service.
He said that our corporate sector had also expanded rapidly in size, commensurate with the growth of the economy. The corporate sector would continue to make a very important contribution to the processes of nation building. It was our continuous endeavor to provide the companies a non-cumbersome, customer friendly and transparent regulatory environment to enable them to function efficiently and productively, to contribute to our economic development and also to fulfill their social obligations.
He said that the government stands committed to providing an environment which was conducive to enterprise and growth of entrepreneurship, an environment which would facilitate rapid economic growth and higher living standards. “We are committed to having a regulatory and policy environment which will unleash the creative energies of our people and will fulfill the expectations of our founding fathers of our republic. If this is to happen, as it must happen, we must focus more on the future. We must adjust our systems, rules, procedures and processes of administration to meet the needs that would arise in the years to come. We must, therefore, constantly look over the horizon and plan for solutions in advance to emerging challenges”, he added.
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He hoped that the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs would fulfill the role of benefiting the corporate sector, the micro, small and medium enterprises, professional bodies such as Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Cost Accountants of India and Institute of Company Secretaries of India, investors and depositors, trade bodies, and domestic and international educational and professional institutes. It should strive to offer services and solutions to its stakeholders in diverse areas such as corporate law, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, accounting standards, e-governance, training of professionals and investor education. It should evolve to meet international standards in all its activities, in consonance with the expanding global footprint of Indian business entities.
He expressed happiness that the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs had helped in the formulation of the “National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business”. These guidelines were not prescriptive but voluntary in nature as they should be. They urge businesses to embrace an approach whereby their financial performance can be harmonized with the expectations of society at large.
He lauded the efforts of Union Corporate Affairs Minister Dr. M Veerappa Moily on the setting-up of the National Corporate Social Responsibility Foundation, as a division within the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs. This would help the country to take a leadership position in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility. The Indian companies and businesses could set global examples of how the corporate sector could contribute towards the achievement of equity, distributive justice and overall inclusive growth, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, which the PM inaugurated today, would provide a fresh impetus to the development of this area. He opined that the corporate world would feel reassured with the presence of this prestigious Institute. He felt that the Institute would develop and establish a new discipline of ‘Corporate Affairs’ for holistic treatment of crucial matters impacting corporate functioning and maintained that it would provide instruction and capacity building to a wide range of stakeholders from government, regulators, professionals and public. The Institute would also provide a special focus on ethical corporate governance and social responsibility, he added.
Mr Hooda said that in the past one decade or so, Gurgaon had acquired a legitimate place on the global map. As a matter of fact, it had become a favoured destination for IT and ITE Industry as well as for automobile industry. At the same time, it had found favour with the corporate world. The Chief Minister apprised that along with the Indian companies, the multinational companies had set up their corporate offices in Gurgaon.
Speaking about the progress Haryana has achieved during the past seven years of Congress regime, Mr Hooda said that Haryana had posted a remarkable progress in almost every field. He said that in the year 2005 when Congress government assumed office, Haryana State figured at number fourteen amongst Indian states in respect of Per Capita Investment. Today it was number one. Similarly, in Per Capita Income, Haryana was ahead of all other States except Goa, Mr Hooda asserted. He gave credit for this unprecedented progress to the able guidance and leadership of the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh as well as to the UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi for their support.
Mr Hooda informed that three factors which had impacted Haryana’s growth were thepeople-centric progressive policies of the state government like the Industrial Policy of 2011 and Land Acquisition and R and R Policy, a robust physical infrastructure like IMT Manesar and a conducive environment reinforced by a transparent functioning. Mr Hooda assured that Haryana was working on further improving the overall industrial climate in the State.
At the same time Mr Hooda reaffirmed his Government’s commitment to move forward on a comprehensive agenda of executive, legal and technology reforms to curb corruption and ensure good governance. He said, “despite certain obvious limitations, there is optimism and belief that we are on the right course and the future is only going to get better”.
The Minister of Corporate Affairs Dr M. Veerappa Moily said that the IICA, first of its kind anywhere in the world, has been design to function as a holistic, capacity building institution and a think tank for corporate regulation and reform through synergized knowledge-creation and management, global partnerships and real time solutions. He said that the IICA is expected to undertake research, consultancy, incubation and problem solving to enable innovative solutions. He said that it will aim to foster inclusive growth and entrepreneurial excellence with a focus on ethical business practices.
Mr Moily said that IICA will have a network of six schools-the Centers of excellence and forums which will pertain to the areas of Corporate Law, Competition Law, Corporate Finance, Business Environment, Corporate Governance and the ICLS Academy. He also stated that the Ministry was also planning to introduce degree and Post graduate academic programs on these subjects shortly. He said that the institute will be in a position to considered as benchmark by the Corporate sector for their organizational capacity building needs. He said that ‘Certification’ will be a major priority for the IICA as well as significant potential source of revenue. The strategy will be to create certification of choice that becomes the ‘Gold Standard’ for the Country, Mr Moily added.
The Prime Minister was received at the helipad by the Chief Minister, Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Shri R P N Singh, Shri Naved Masood, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Dr Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General & CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quarishi, Haryana Industries Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, Sports Minister Sukhbir Kataria, MPs Rao Inderjeet Singh and Dr Arvind Sharma, MLA Rao Dharampal, Zila Parishad Chair Person Kavita Yadav were also present.