Hyderabad to house India's first Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre

Hyderabad: Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is planning to open India's first Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre (ADRC) in Hyderabad.

Manish Gupta, National President ICSI, said it will be set up within the next three months. He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a one-day ICSI - CoE Conference on Alternative Dispute Resolution.

“ICSI plans to open India's first ADR Center in Hyderabad in the next three months. Together with the changing times, it has introduced various new themes like Arbitration, Forensic Auditing, AI in Corporate Governance, and ESG,” he said.

They have inked Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with over 200 universities across the country and plan to sign MOUs with three Telangana-based universities, including OU, Nalsar, and Kakatiya University, soon. In ICSI, the male-to-female ratio is 50:50. When it first began in 1968, it was dominated by men. Its rise is now driven equally by both genders.

Gupta was in town for a one-day symposium on Alternative Dispute Resolution, which was co-hosted by the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre. N. Narsing Rao, Telangana State Law Secretary, was present. He discussed the relevance of ADR as a method of dispute settlement in India, as well as steps taken by the Indian government to promote Arbitration and Mediation.

He said it would be done on a trial basis. “Two more will open soon, one in Kolkata and the other in Manesar. A similar event will follow in Mumbai. Hyderabad was picked since the infrastructure is readily available and already in place. Shortly, these centers will open across India in the 72 chapters of ICSI where space is available,” he said.

This is a multi-city and multi-national endeavor. Gupta announced the launch at the 50th National Convention in Kolkata. ICSI ADR Centres are planned to build a favorable ecosystem that assists the existing judicial structure, aids in court de-clogging, and provides justice at an unsurpassed speed.

According to Gupta, the ADR Centre is ICSI's endeavor to enhance the nation's judicial environment, hence boosting the broader governance ecosystem.

In India, there are 72 chapters of ICSI. It is divided into two research wings. It has 71,000 members and 2.5 lakh registered students across India. It also has six foreign offices in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Singapore, and Canada.

“What's fascinating here is that 71,000 of the world's 1,05,000 Corporate Secretaries work in India alone. Telangana has 5500 students and 2600 members, while Hyderabad has 5000 students and 2600 members. There are 43000 students and 4000 members in South India. The UGC considers the Corporate Secretary Qualification to be equivalent to a PG Degree. This allows our members to enroll in Doctoral Research immediately” said Gupta.

“We have Memorandums of Understanding with over 200 universities across the country. Six national law universities and 17 IIMs are among them. We were meant to sign Memorandums of Understanding with three prominent Telangana-based Osmania University, Nalsar, and Kakatiya,” he said.

Nevertheless, owing to circumstances beyond our control, it is not taking place today. “We established the Institute of Social Auditors, a section 8 company (ISA). It was established to increase the social audit and impact evaluation of the country's social governance ecosystem. In a nutshell, ICSI-ISA will be in charge of developing standards for Social Audit, registering Social Auditors, establishing their professional conduct standards, and collaborating with NISM (National Institute of Securities Markets) on the development and delivery of Social Audit courses” he added.

ICSI has published its New Syllabus 2022. It emphasizes auxiliary, legal, management, and other technical abilities in addition to the main areas of the Company Secretary Profession. By combining practical, legal strategic, and managerial components, the new syllabus will guarantee a smooth transition of students into governance experts, corporate managers / corporate advisers—the adoption of a new training structure following the CS (Amendment) Regulations, 2020. The Institute launched its new training structure on February 3, 2021, per Regulations 46BA and 46BB of the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Regulations, 2020.

In response to changing needs, he stated: "We have launched several new disciplines such as Arbitration, AI, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), Forensic Auditing, and others."

“We have fully prepared and launched 14 online courses for subscribers. They aided nearly 15000 people. Our field is in high demand. It was male-dominated when we started in 1968. The male-female ratio is now 50:50. The first regional conference for women is set to take place in Hyderabad soon” he added.

The ICSI qualification was benchmarked by the UK's National Agency. He went on to say that UK ENIC (previously known as UK NARIC) is the UK's National Agency in charge of giving informed advice and guidance on vocational, academic, and professional credentials.

“The Chartered Secretary Journal has been added to UGC's prestigious list of journals, the UGC-CARE (Consortium for Academic Research and Ethics), expanding our august journal's global reach. Starting in January 2023, the Journal will also be eligible for higher global rankings, strengthening the Institute's and the nation's reputation”, he noted.