There is a 30 per cent rise in students vying to pursue a career in company secretaryship in the last three years, according to president of Council of Institute of Company Secretaries of India CS S N Ananthasubramanian.

Addressing reporters here on Monday, he said in the last three years, a total of 3.76 lakh students registered for the course, of which 47,336 are from the Southern region.

He said the council had implemented a new syllabus for  the executive programme last month and would implement the new syllabus for a professional programme from September 2013.

He said presently students who have completed their foundation examination of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India or Common Proficiency Test (CPT) of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, or of any other accountancy institution in India or abroad, are exempted from the corporate secretary foundation programme and are eligible to apply for the corporate secretary executive programme.

He said the institute is also in the process of introducing a post-membership qualification course in Competition Law, which is developed with the support of the Competition Commission of India.

Ananthasubramanian also said that ICSI plans to develop a model for corporate governance rating.

He said the institute would build on its existing insights and exposure to governance practices in terms of the corporate governance awards that it has been giving for the last 12 years.

The ICSI has chalked out a five-point action plan for the current year to equip company secretaries to meet the new requirements of Companies Bill, 2012. (Indian Express)