Hyderabad, Jan 18 (UNI) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday suggested all corporates to consciously encourage whistle-blowing mechanisms and provide adequate safeguards for the protection of whistleblowers.
Delivering the Convocation Address at the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, the Vice President stressed that it was important to ensure transparency and accountability in all matters of corporate governance to enhance the confidence of all the stakeholders, including the shareholders.
Stressing the need to protect public money, Mr Naidu said that the system has to be foolproof to reduce the scope for any irregularity.
Highlighting that the actions of a few have brought bad name to Indian business, he urged the young Company Secretaries to ensure ethics and accountability in corporate governance through their guidance and handholding. “This profession should be taken as a mission”, Mr Venkaiah asserted.
Expressing the hope that the economy would rebound in the coming months, the Vice President urged India Inc to take the lead in making it robust.
Stating that India has fared reasonably better than many other nations, including the developed ones, in the fight against the Novel Coronavirus and in taking steps to revive the economy, Mr Naidu referred to the recent remarks of IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva, who had said that India took very decisive steps to deal with the pandemic and its economic consequences.
Calling for concerted efforts by all the stakeholders in making the economy robust again, he said that institutions like ICSI would be playing a key role in putting the economy back on rails with a focus on good corporate governance.
Mr Naidu said strong principles of corporate governance must be the driving force of any company, and added that transparency, integrity and honesty must be upheld at all times and must be reflected in every business activity.
Reminding the students about India’s glorious past, the Vice President said that there was no dearth of talent in the country. The need of the hour is to identify and promote talent.
He said that India, the world’s largest parliamentary democracy of over 130 crore people, has the potential to become a self-reliant nation.
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