ICSI conducted the 23rd National Awards for excellence in corporate governance on 5, January, 2024. The stage for the function was at the national capital, Delhi. The Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla addressed the gathering with an inspiring message. He said that company secretaries play a crucial role in shaping corporate governance. The nature of corporate governance is dynamic. The professionals working with corporate governance deal with the customers and investors. The company secretaries contribute to the capacity building. The dynamic nature of business urges experts to frame corporate laws by continuous amendments. Company secretaries uphold transparency. The ICSI president Manish Gupta, says that the role of company secretaries is beyond the boardrooms. The company secretaries encircle the citizenship and corporate stewardship. Lok Sabha Speaker Mr Birla published seven books that contribute to the job of a company secretary.
ICSI National Award 2024 function:
Company secretaries are working closely with the government and corporates. At the function, the discussions were about the dignitaries honouring the profession and political discussions. The six categories of ICSI national awards are the 23rd ICSI National Awards for Excellence in Corporate Governance, ICSI CSR Excellence Awards, ICSI Best Secretarial Audit Report Award, ICSI Best PCS Firm Award, and ICSI Business Responsibility and Sustainability Awards. The companies are awarded with a subdivision of listed and unlisted companies. Company secretaries receive a lifetime achievement award for their professional contribution. The selection process has seven stages.
Companies with a spending of fifty lakhs and above are eligible for receiving the CSR award. The evaluation is based on CSR policy, strategy, execution, monitoring, stakeholder engagement, reporting, disclosures, sustainability and field assessment. The weightage to ESG goes as follows: 30 per cent to environment, 35 per cent to social aspects and 35 per cent to governance.
The sustainability award winners are CS Sudhakar Saraswatula, CS Ajay Jaiswal, Mr Avishkar Nayak, CS Dhananjay Shukla, Shri Hemant Gupta, Shri Patyush Panda, CS Rajendra Chopra, Shri Rijit Sengupta, Shri Shankar Venkateswaran, Subrata Kumar Ray, and Anamika Chaudhary. The secretarial audit is selected based on five secretarial audit reports completed by the secretarial auditor. The audit report is taken as the nomination. PCS firm’s performance is gauged based on 20 per cent for infrastructure capacity, 40 per cent for area of services and capacity, and 40 per cent for professional conduct. The ICSI Lifetime Achievement award is to a person with a proven performance. The selection process looks into corporate governance, the performance of a group or company, social welfare and public policy.
Publications in the national award function:
ICSI released the logo of IGPI. IGPI stands for Institute of Governance Professionals of India. The company is a section 8 company managed by ICSI. The honourable speaker of parliament published the charter of the board of directors explaining the responsibilities of company secretaries in the function. The list of publications from ICSI includes company law: MSME ready reckoner, exploring procedural dimensions, the charter of nomination and remuneration committee, charter of the board of directors, guidance note on annual secretarial compliance report, 8th edition of insolvency and bankruptcy code, 2016, and 8th edition of insolvency and bankruptcy (rules and regulations). The president of ICSI CS Manish Gupta says that the role of company secretaries is not related to corporate action alone, it is promoting social, ethical, and ecological responsibilities through national awards. The publications from ICSI are inclusive of the latest changes and trends. The members of ICSI write books to educate the legal system to the students.
Words of Lok Sabha Speaker:
Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla says that when there is a change or new form of law, the necessity of the expert increases. The company secretaries analyse the profit behind the legal system. He says the laws with debate are effective in forming a perfect system. Debate and implementation are the intelligent parts of the legal system that attract legal professionals. Shareholders and management benefit because of the managerial skills of the company secretaries. He says that the company secretary’s community is big in numbers. The company secretaries also work in other foreign countries. Company secretaries improve the profits of domestic and international companies. The Lok Sabha speaker encouraged the job of a company secretary.
Past and present awardee details:
The winners of the ICSI national award set an example to the quality standards. The names of the ICSI national award winners resonate with the skills of company secretaries working for the company.
Excellence in corporate governance:
In corporate governance, the divisions are large, medium and emerging companies. In 2021 the winners are HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited, Syngene International Limited, EPL Limited, Mahindra Inter-trade Limited, and Tata Consulting Engineers Limited. In 2022 the winners are Bharti Airtel Limited, Happiest Minds Technologies Limited, Route Mobile Limited, Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited, and Lords Freight (India) Pvt. Ltd.
The ICSI national award for excellence in 2023 goes to Asian Paints Limited, Marico Limited, and Sonata Software Limited. In the Unlisted category the receivers are Tata Power Delhi distribution, Tata Consulting Engineers Limited and ICICI Prudential Pension Funds Management Company Limited.
CSR excellence:
The large companies’ CSR activities are associated with a spending of 25 crores or more. The medium category in CSR activities is with a spending of 10 to 25 crores. The small and emerging category in CSR activities with a spending of 50 to 10 lakhs for CSR. In 2022, Akzo Nobel India Limited, Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd, and Central Coalfields Limited won the awards. In 2021 the awardees are Minda Corporation Limited, Havells India Limited, and ITC Limited.
The CSR Excellence award for 2023 goes to Dr Reddys Laboratories Limited, Exide Industries Limited, and TP Central Odisha Distribution Limited.
Secretarial audit report:
In 2022, the best secretarial audit report award was received by CS Sunny Gogiya from Sunny Gogiya and Associates. The secretarial audit report of Antony Waste Handling Cell Limited won the award. In 2021, the award winner was CS Pramod Prasad Agarwal. The secretarial audit report of Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited won the award.
The best secretarial audit report award goes to Vedanta Limited. The company secretary recognised with this award is CS Nitu Poddar.
PCS firm:
The winner of best PCS firm was received by SVJS and Associates in 2021.
Business responsibility and sustainability awards:
In 2022, the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Award was won by Cipla Ltd.
Final Thoughts:
In 2001, ICSI established the ICSI National Awards for excellence. The idea behind this award is to encourage the skills and inspire the young minds of India.