The programme aims to prepare officers as Independent Directors

DG & CEO, IICA, Shri Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh underscores convergence between India Inc. & the armed forces by including defence officers in the boards based on their expertise and skills

Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar cites core military values of trust and integrity as indispensable cornerstones for a successful Independent Director

The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) in partnership with the Directorate General Resettlement (DGR), Ministry of Defence inaugurated the third batch of its certification program for defence officers today, at the IICA Campus in Manesar, Gurugram. The two-week certification program has 30 senior officers, serving as well as recently superannuated, representing all three services. The program witnessed participation of senior ranks including Lieutenant Generals, Air Vice Marshals, and Major Generals, amongst other officers.

The two-week program is designed with the objective of orienting the participants with the conceptual and regulatory understanding on corporate governance. It shall also help them evolve as board members in various public and private sector companies. The program aims to orient the participants about the roles and responsibilities of the Independent Director and also to help them contribute effectively. The participants expressed their enthusiasm to understand corporate governance and its nuances, broaden their horizons to contribute to the development of Indian corporations. This, in turn, shall lead to the development of the nation by using their extensive experience and expertise in leadership and strategy, information technology, cyber security, project management etc.

The inauguration featured group addresses from Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM and Cmde Vikrant Kishore, Principal Director, Directorate General Resettlement. Lt Gen Katiyar, drawing parallels between the armed forces and the corporate world, highlighted that the core military values of trust and integrity are the indispensable cornerstones for a successful Independent Director. He emphasized that these ethics are the prerequisites for good governance practices in any corporate entity.

The keynote address was delivered by Shri Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh, DG & CEO, IICA. He highlighted the significance of the Board as a key instrument of corporate governance and drew attention to the key opportunities & challenges that the present-day boards face and the role that the Independent Directors are expected to play. He also guided the group on the key aspects of behavioural and professional traits that the companies and the executive search firms look for while finding the best fit for a board position. A convergence between India Inc. & the armed forces was also underlined in his address by drawing the attention of the corporate houses to utilise the leadership and strategic acumen of the defence officers by including them in the boards based on their expertise and skills. He has also underscored the important role of executive search firms in the country for exploring the right talent and informed the group that the interactions with the lead experts would be facilitated.

For the Thematic Address and setting the tone for the two-week long course, the program director, Dr. Niraj Gupta, Head School of Corporate Governance & public policy discussed the convergent and divergent points between public governance, military governance and corporate governance. He further highlighted the role of IICA, as being the catalyst and reservoir of knowledge on corporate affairs and governance by serving the corporate eco-system as a catalyst of best practices and capacity building of corporate governance professionals. Col. Amandeep Singh Puri, Chief Administrative Officer- IICA, welcomed the participants and Dr. Anindita Chakrabarti, Principal Research Associate, IICA led the proceedings of the program.

Defence officers trained to serve as Independent Directors through an IICA-DGR corporate governance certification programme. A two-week IICA-DGR certification programme prepares senior defence officers to serve as Independent Directors by imparting conceptual and regulatory corporate governance orientation, detailing board roles and responsibilities, and developing behavioural and professional traits sought by companies and executive search firms to facilitate inclusion of defence officers on public and private boards based on expertise.