Company Secretaries should to play a proactive role in guiding startups and big companies alike, said Suresh Senapathy, Board Member of Wipro Enterprises.

Delivering the keynote address at the Institute of Company Secretaries of India’s (ICSI) 40th Southern India Regional Conference, Senapathy said there was need for value-added services from Company Secretaries who are now elevated as Key Managerial Personnel under the new Companies Act, 2013.

Covering a large canvas, he highlighted how disruptive technologies are changing our lives, how demographic dividend could turn into demographic liabilities if we do not gear up, how professionals must shift from single-man firms to multi-disciplinary collaborative partnerships to rise in activism in all walks of life leading to greater transparency.

He emphasised the need for Company Secretaries to rise up to the challenges in the global economy by embracing technology tools and focus on value-added advisory services rather than confining to board meeting agenda and minutes and routine matters.

Earlier, inaugurating the two-day meet, N Sivasailam, Additional Chief Secretary of Public Enterprises Department, raised many critical issues requiring the attention and deliberation of the ICSI.

He said the country has moved from a licence raj to regulation raj which has in fact led to overregulation and cautioned that this could curtail entrepreneurship.

He called upon company secretaries to devise ways and means to provide assistance and guidance to small businesses and MSMEs who need professional support at competitive prices. He advised company secretaries to be cautious while auditing and certifying decisions and opinions which could eventually be subject to scrutiny under RTI. He called upon the institute to set standards that are practical to implement and add value to the business.

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