It's the time to lead !

Came across an interesting read on "India Inc." : "As many as 10,860 cases under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code were pending before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at the end of September 2019, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. As per the data provided by NCLT, a total of 19,771 cases were pending with NCLT benches on 30.09.2019, which include 10,860 cases under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016," M/o State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

In a separate reply, the minister said that out of 18,782 cases filed under IBC, 2016 at the end of June 2019, 2,173 cases were admitted under the Code. "Out of 2,173 admitted cases, 1,274 cases were ongoing under different stages of resolution process, 129 cases have resulted in resolution, 491 cases have been approved for commencement of liquidation process, 279 cases have been closed," he said."

If we assume just 100 employees at work in each of the 10860 companies facing IBC proceedings, we are talking about more than 10 lakh employees undergoing serious financial hardship alongwith the companies they work for - this is subject to the assumption that the companies are still operational. This figure also does not include thousands of proprietory firms which don't come in the ambit of NCLT. While the country is facing such a state of economic distress and so many corporate employees find themselves struggling for some revenue generating activity, is it not incumbent upon the business leaders to contemplate and lead the narrative for turning the situation around ? On the contrary, I am sorry to say, all one sees on social media are exercises in self projections and paid promotions and pretences.

Leaders - be it corporate leaders, political leaders or business leaders belong to the society. They derive their power from the society and their organizations and it is their duty and prerogative to take the lead...take a lead in creating the right narrative, in leading conversations, in contributing their thought and insights to find solutions to the problems being faced by the society, in engaging with the government and other leaders in bringing reform and thus delivering the promise. In a democratic society the cause and ownership of a problem is common and its time the business leaders also pitch in with their might and not disappoint an entire generation looking up to them.

The same leaders who appear full of ideas, projecting their success stories and quips on social media appear to be silent or clueless or may be unconcerned with the economic tragedy the nation is going through. The economy - good or bad, of a country, is not the creation of one man or one leader or political party though it is easy to wish it away thus.

The state of the economy is a sad commentary on all of us - the leaders and the led - somewhere we have gone wrong and are still going wrong. Where do we see any call for concerted action from the industry leaders for resolving any issue ? Where has the courage to dream big for businesses vanished ? Where did we bury the visionaries ? What happened to our national character of winning against all odds ?

The time to wake up and lead is now ! Let's set course on the path of resurgence now !

?Happy New Year 2020 !

https://indianexpress.com/article/business/amid-shortage-of-benches-over-19700-cases-pending-at-nclt-6149395/