ICSI to open India's first ADR Centre in Hyderabad in next three months: Manish Gupta, National President ICSI

Hyderabad, April 03, 2023:The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), a National premier professional body set up by an Act of Parliament to develop and regulate the profession of Company Secretaries to open India’s first Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre, (ADR Centre) in Hyderabad in the next three months disclosed Manish Gupta, National President ICSI while addressing a press conference in Hyderabad organised on the sidelines of one day ICSI – CoE Conference on Alternative Dispute Resolution in a hotel in the city.

Mr Guptha was in the city in connection with one day conference on Alternative Dispute Resolution in association with International Arbitration and Mediation Centre as the knowledge partner. Mr N. Narsing Rao, Law Secretary, Telangana State graced. He spoke about the importance of ADR as a method of dispute resolution in India and initiatives adopted by the Govt of India in promoting Arbitration and Mediation.

Speaking further he added, it will be rolled out on a pilot basis. Soon two more will be opened one at Kolkata and the other at Manesar. This will be followed by one in Mumbai. The reason why Hyderabad was chosen was that the infrastructure is readily available and it is in place. Soon these centres will come up across India in those 72 chapters of ICSI where there is a place available

This is a multi-city and multi-nation project. Launched at the 50th National Convention in Kolkata, Manish shared. ICSI ADR Centres are planned with the intent of creating a conducive ecosystem–one which aids the existing judicial structure–helps in the de-clogging of the courts and provide justice at a speed unparalleled. With the first centre to be opened in Hyderabad, most likely in the next three months, the idea is to take this initiative across various cities possessing good infrastructural facilities. The ADR Centre is ICSI’s attempt to support the nation’s judicial ecosystem thus strengthening the overall governance ecosystem said Manish Guptha.

He was addressing a press conference along with his colleagues, R. Venkata Ramana and Dwarakanath who are Central Council Members. ICSI has 72 chapters in India. It has two research wings. It has 71,000 members across India and 2.5 lakh registered students. It also has 6 overseas centres in Australia, the USA, the UK, Dubai, Singapore and Canada.

What is so interesting here is out of 1,05,000 Company Secretaries in the world 71,000 are in India alone. Telangana has 5500 students and Hyderabad has 5000 students and 2600 members. South India has 43000 students and 4000 members.

UGC recognises Company Secretary Qualification as equivalent to a PG Degree. This enables our members to enrol straight away for Doctoral Research, Guptha shares

We have MoU with 200 plus universities across the country. Some of these include 6 national Law Universities and 17 IIMs. Today we were supposed to enter MoUs with three major Telangana-based Universities such as Osmania University, Nalsar and Kakatiya. But, due to things beyond our control, it is not taking place today. Soon it will happen, he informed.

We have created a Social Auditors, a section 8 company–Institute of Social Auditors (ISA). It was created with the objective of strengthening the social audit and impact assessment of the social governance ecosystem in the country. In a nutshell, ICSI-ISA will be taking on the task of developing standards for Social Audit, Registering Social Auditors, laying down their standards of professional conduct and partnering with NISM (National Institute of Securities Markets) for the development and delivery of courses on Social Audit, he informed.

ICSI released its New Syllabus 2022. The New Syllabus 2022 focuses on the core areas of the Company Secretary Profession and supplements it by laying emphasis on ancillary, legal, managerial, and other technical skills. The new syllabus will ensure a smooth transition of students into governance professionals, corporate managers / corporate advisors by blending the practical, legal strategic, and managerial aspects together. Implementation of New training Structure under CS (Amendment) Regulations, 2020. The Institute, implemented its New Training Structure on 3rd February 2021, as per Regulation 46BA and 46BB under The Company Secretaries (Amendment) Regulations, 2020.

We have introduced many new subjects such as Arbitration, AI, ESG (Environmental, Social and Government), Forensic Auditing and others in line with changing needs, he said.

We have geared up fully and introduced 14 online courses for members. Nearly 15000 benefitted from them. Our profession is in full demand. When we began in 1968, it was a male-dominated one. Now the male and female ratio is 50:50 Manish Guptha informed. The first regional conference for women will be held in Hyderabad soon.

When asked about Adani, he refused to comment but said that the group hires 100 company secretaries and none of them is involved in any miss governance or non-compliance.

UK’s National Agency benchmarked the ICSI qualification, Guptha said. UK ENIC (formerly known as UK NARIC) UK’s National Agency responsible for providing informed advice and guidance on vocational, academic, and professional qualifications, he added.

The Chartered Secretary Journal has been listed under the Prestigious listing of Journals by UGC, the UGC-CARE (Consortium for Academic Research and Ethics), making the reach of our august Journal global. Beginning January 2023, the Journal also qualifies to achieve higher global ranks enhancing the image of the Institute and the nation, he added