Media should act as watchdog, says Khurshid

CSR must be part of corporate ethics

He was giving a keynote address in an interactive session jointly organised by  Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FKCCI),Bangalore Chamber of Industry & Commerce (BCIC) and  Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) on the proposed Companies Bill 2009. The minister also welcomed the move by the Editors Guild of India against the practice of publishing ‘paid news.’

Further he stressed on the  need for creating an inclusive environment for governance. “We have to bridge the gap between corporate India and farmers. For farmers there is an emotional connection to land and we have to find some ways to make him part of the corporate world” .

“Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has to be a part of philosophy and ethics of an organisation. Now companies are becoming more environmental conscious. The government is   planning to incentivise CSR activites and also will in reducing carbon credit ,” he said.  When the chamber pointed out the need for education in the investing and financial sector, he said, “Indian institue of corporate affairs is working on it and the department will organise roadshows in cities and talk to industry bodies about issues.”

Responding to queries on the alleged insider trading and Sebi’s show-cause notice to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) the minister said, “The case is with the Sebi and it is up to the regulator to make the final decison. If the regulator want some help from the department or government we will look into it . When quizzed about bringing in transperancy in NGOs, he said  NGOs are playing a major role in public-private partnership(PPP) model and many NGOs gets government funding for many activites. This will create more accountability for them and we are seeing more NGOs willing for that.

BCIC, FKCCI and ICSI jointly submitted a wish list including strenghing and monitoring corporate governance, creating awareness and activism amongst instituional investors, reduce multipilcity of regulators. They asked the minister not to create new laws if some body on the few guilty person and also asked to add measures to protect the SME sector.