Company Secretary, as both an independent professional and an employee, is a professionally and financially rewarding career, president of Institute of Company Secretaries of India R. Sridharan has said.
“There are 35,000 registered Company Secretaries, of whom a mere 6,500 are professionals. There is a dearth of trained qualified professionals in the country, especially after the Companies Act, 2013, has come into effect,” he told the media here on Tuesday.
Fully qualified professionals were offered packages upward of Rs.14 lakh per annum this year, he said, adding that partly qualified Company Secretaries were drawing a minimum of Rs.15,000 per month. The Companies Act defined the role of the CS and held them responsible for compliance of various provisions of the Act. The CS was defined as key management personnel (KMP) holding him/ her responsible for the errors and violations of provisions of law. “The ICSI has impressed upon the Centre to expand the provisions of the Act to make it mandatory for companies, both private and public, with Rs.5 crore annual turnover to appoint a fulltime Company Secretary,” he said.
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The CS course is through correspondence and can be completed in three and a half years, and the registration is valid for five years. Students who have passed +2 in any stream, except fine arts, can register and appear for the foundation-level examination after nine months. The second level is executive level, after which employment can be sought in any company. The final or professional level has five elective subjects.
Students had to qualify in a group and it would not be adequate to pass in one examination, Mr. Sridharan said.