ICSI 21st edition of excellence award from ICSI honours the large, medium and emerging industries with proven standards. The CSR, secretarial audit reports, and corporate governance awards help ICSI actively encourage its members. The institute introduces a new award space named as Best PCS firm award. Professional excellence is inculcated and appreciated by the institute with prestigious awards. This blog engages the readers with a detailed discussion on the award winners and the values of the Company secretaries in the business world. Corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, and secretarial audit report are the areas where Company secretaries show their exclusive skills.
The lifetime achievement award of ICSI 2021 goes to the Appollo Hospitals. The founder is honoured for his leadership qualities. In the large category, the ITC limited won the excellence award for corporate governance in 2020. In 2021, the large category and unlisted Company recognition go to Numaligarh refinery limited. The medium category award goes to Tata Metaliks Limited. The unlisted Company in the medium category goes to Talwandi Sabo power limited. The emerging category space recognised by Vaibhav Global Limited in the listed Company. And for the emerging category from unlisted Company Arohan financial services limited positions. The three companies with standards with CSR excellence are Reliance industries limited for the large category, NatcoPharma limited and Minda industries limited for the emerging category. The Award function was graced by Home affairs minister and Co-operation minister Shri Amit Shah. He mentioned in his speech that Company secretaries play a vital role in the governance framework. Their role is related to creating a powerful corporate culture, and it is not mere job position hype.
ICSI National Award for CSR activity:
The below points help to elucidate the award-winning activities and values of two companies:
• Havells India Limited, the FMEG Company, has been selected for the CSR Excellence Award by ICSI. Sanjay Gupta, the Company Secretary of Havells India, raised the standards of CSR excellence. Nitin Singh is the head of the CSR activities in Havells India.
• The CSR activities of Havells conferred with eight divisions. And they are Education, Health and Nutrition, Sanitation, skill development, heritage conservation, Environment, healthcare, and humanitarian causes.
• Havells is a registered Company in BSE and NSE.
• The different verticals of Havell’s production focus on cables industrial, cables domestic, lightning, switches and switchgear, electrical consumer durables, lightning luminariesv, and domestic appliances.
• The vision of the Havell Company revolves around sustainability with reducing CO2 emissions, improving environmental protection, offering profitable solutions to the market and enhancing the quality of life.
• The programs that Havells organise for CSR activities are the Mid-day meal program, promoting education, sanitation drive, and HawaBadlegi Campaign.
• The CMD of Havells received the award with an ardent gesture about the prestigious award. He said the award encourages the contribution towards social responsibilities. He said that it is a special feeling to the entire team if such activities are recognised. This encouragement drives the team towards innovation and creates a meaningful impact on society.
• Minda Corporation received the award for CSR excellence in the sector of emerging industries category.
ICSI National Award for corporate governance:
The following points interpret the award-winning story of two companies:
• EPL limited, the packaging company, has been recognised with the ICSI award for excellence in corporate governance.
• The evaluation consists of multiple verticals such as principles, interaction with directors, compliances, and regulatory response.
• Suresh Savaliya, Company secretary of EPL Limited, received the award. Suresh Savaliya gets recognition as the governance professional with excellence from ICSI. This professional recognition was conferred with an ICSI award to him. The Company and the Company secretary both received an award from ICSI.
• The CEO of EPL Mr Anand Kripalu said that the team is proud to receive the award from ICSI. He further noted that the governance framework of EPL has high standards. It is the way of doing business with corporate conduct.
• The shares of EPL shoot up moderately after the award function.
• HDFC Life, the leading insurance Company, get recognition as the best-governed Company. VibhaPadalkar, MD of HDFC life, said that focusing on environmental issues create long term value to the Company.
• The executive director Suresh Badami said that life insurance solutions help the customers to live a prideful life, and the innovative products of HDFC secure a large population.
• HDFC life insurance is a joint venture between HDFC Ltd and ABRDN plc.
• The innovative products of HDFC life satisfy the customer needs with protection, savings, pension plans, investment, health and annuity.
• HDFC Life has 372 branches and 300 partners for its operations across the country.
Final words:
In 2021, ICSI has designed a new award referred to as the PCS award. This award is for young professionals who run proprietary firms, LLP or partnership firms. The implementation of best practices from experience creates the standard framework for the role of Company secretary. The Companies with high standards attract investors and resonate with the values of the companies. The vision and mission of the Company are more related to society than money. Hence corporate governance and corporate social responsibility show the liberal ideologies of the Company for society. Companies think more about competition and less about environmental issues that make them fall apart. Maintaining a balance between business and social responsibility create a trademark for the Companies. As budding Company secretaries, students should know about the importance of the best practices in the way of corporate governance and social responsibility.