THINK SHOP ON NEXT GRN MCA 21

Secretary, Information Technology, Inaugurates 'Thinkshop on Next Gen MCA21'

THIS FUTURISTIC PROJECT BEING DESIGNED TO MEET EMERGING BUSINESS NEEDS
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11:24 IST
Shri Jainder Singh, Union IT Secretary, inaugurated a half-day ‘Thinkshop on next Gen MCA21’ here today at India Habitat Centre. The Thinkshop was organized by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs with a view to further evolve its flagship e-Governance project, theMCA21 into Next Gen MCA21 so that it is able to meet the needs of the future. Ministry of Corporate Affairs' MCA21 was the first project launched under National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) and has proved to be a major step forward and catalyst for promoting citizen centric service delivery mechanism and has created easily accessible interfaces, devoid of harassment and corruption, minimizing the waste of time and inconvenience of the public. As a result of MCA21, the procedures like approval of name, registration of a company, change of name of the company, issue of certified documents, annual filings, inspection of public documents which earlier used to take several days are being delivered quickly. Popularity of the project can be judged from the fact that the MCA portal receives 1.7 million hits a day. The project has ushered a new era in corporate governance interaction.

In his inaugural speech the Secretary IT said that MCA21 is an excellent example of the kind of initiatives that are needed to meet with the challenges of our growing economy. Our rapid pace of growth is putting immense work pressure on current institutional structures, current ways of functioning, and current ways of managing information and current regulatory practices, he said. Mr. Jainder Singh said that this coupled with heightened expectations of the stakeholders on account of success of MCA21 has created an urgent need to evolve further to meet the pressure and expectations. He hoped the Next Gen MCA21 will be able to achieve this goal.

Secretary IT referred to the “Ease of Doing Business” rankings 2008, released by the World Bank in which India has been ranked 120th out of 178 countries. He said this is an indication of the hurdles the entrepreneurs are facing in setting up and doing business in India. Addressing this problem requires multi-pronged strategy, which should include improving the quality of regulation, improving policy formulation processes and creating a healthy business environment by streamlining the interaction and improving interface between government and business, cutting out the redundancies in procedures and emphasizing immediate and efficient delivery of services. He hoped that Next Gen MCA21 will help India climb high on the future “Ease of Doing Business” rankings.

The Thinkshop was originally to be inaugurated by Shri K. M. Chandrashekar, Union Cabinet Secretary, but he couldn't attend the function due to his preoccupation with the Cabinet meeting held in the morning today.

Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Shri Anurag Goel highlighted the thought process that has gone into conceptualizing the Next Gen MCA21 and said it is being designed to meet the needs of the future. He said his Ministry considers partnership between the Government and corporates most essential for economic growth and good corporate governance. He invited top level corporates, professionals, IT experts etc. to partner with his Ministry in the series of e-Governance initiatives that are being planned. Shri Goel said that initiative for embarking upon Next Gen MCA is not for an incremental improvement in MCA21, but under it the Ministry would like to achieve a Quantum jump by bringing in concepts and elements which do not exist in MCA21 today. The architecture of Next Generation MCA21 should make it possible to take up effective regulation and enforcement through at all stages, including inspections, investigations and prosecutions. Secretary said the Next Gen MCA21 should be able to provide a single regulatory portal for business. It should be linked internally to various regulatory Ministries, individual regulators etc., so that a single B2G&R (Business to Government & Regulation) window is available to the business, capable of dealing with tomorrow’ business requirements, accounting systems, reporting systems etc, like multiple balance sheet, CSR reports etc.

Shri Kiran Karnik, former President NASSCOM in his Address said that MCA21 has brought in lot of transparency in the sphere of corporate affairs and has helped all the stakeholders; not only private sector and the government but also the public at large. He said that Next Gen efforts should concentrate on something totally new, which is not just mere extension of the present programme but leads to a total change in the very thought process. Shri Karnik said this will also help in compliance of rules and regulations too. He said MCA21 project of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is an example of how public- private partnership should be implemented.

Sh Karnik also chaired the deliberation session. The Thinkshop was attended by leading corporate personalities and experts in e-Governance.

( Source:PIB)