In lot of cases companies have been exploiting contractual and labour law loopholes. For instance, non-compete is not enforceable in India, as they are considered to be in restraint of trade and against Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act but some employment contracts continue to include it - the same is with respect to unionisation as well. Companies include clauses that prohibit unionisation, discussing terms of employment.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thanks Sanjeev for reading. Yes, independent directors are also getting appointed at Pre-IPO stage and independent audits are also happening in few cases.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thanks Virat for reading. Funds are certainly trying to safeguard their investments but more importantly create accountability. Since these are private contracts, terms differ. These practices are same across Indian/US or EU funds but might not be universal for each case. Based on negotiations, terms may differ.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thanks Virat for reading. Funds are certainly trying to safeguard their investments but more importantly create accountability.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thank you so much Jitesh for reading. More importantly for creating an accountability framework.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thank you for reading Aniruddha, we have fixed it.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thank you so much Abhishek for reading. Yes, there is a significant difference in how US or EU or an Indian based VC approach governance & term sheets. For example, with Porsus Venture who is an investor in Swiggy - their primary focus is on ESG considering how ESG reporting is mandatory in EU and hence their portfolio companies also prioritise on ESG which is not the case for US based VC firms and yes, it is also a function of market maturity. Earlier US based VC firms focused more on being an observer and now they are getting actively involved.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thanks Siddharth for pointing it out. We have now fixed it.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thanks Karan for writing in. Would certainly ensure to bring in more nuance and depth in future stories. To answer some of your questions - Sangeeta Verma's retirement is due this year and hence there was a new chairperson needed in any case. If we look at the history of chairpersons of the Commission, they are all bureaucrats and none of them have been from a legal background. Also, the commission does not envisage that the chairperson needs to be from a legal background. However, like pointed in the article it is pertinent to have commission members from diverse backgrounds like economics, public policy, law, administration, public affairs, finance because the application of competition law is an interplay of all of these fields. When the commission only have two -three members it gets robbed of this diversity.

Vanita Bhatnagar

I agree Shilpi there are considerable trade offs, however, I believe with appropriate safeguards and code of ethics the interchange of skills and experience between the public and private sectors can be mutually beneficial and provide significant benefits to society as a whole.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thanks for writing in Abhinav. CCI not only plays a critical role in promoting fair competition and outlawing anti-competitive behavior in the Indian market, it also takes up matters to protect the interest of consumers, for example the commission took up a consumer complaint and investigated inflated drug pricing by big hospitals chains. It’s important to raise concerns if such an organisation is not operational for the past six months solely because of not having the requisite quorum. Also the story is not just just about an appointment, it's also about how CCI's own rules are curtailing it's functioning. CCI runs on public money and if they are not working because of delay in the appointment then it does become important to ask relevant questions.

Vanita Bhatnagar

It's over 5000 nursing colleges and not medical colleges. There are 5327 nursing institutions in India including both government & private as per the Indian Nursing Council data. You can see here: https://indiannursingcouncil.org/uploads/annualreports/16727359593275.pdf

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thanks Karan for writing in. Would certainly ensure to bring in more nuance and depth in future stories. To answer some of your questions - Sangeeta Verma's retirement is due this year and hence there was a new chairperson needed in any case. If we look at the history of chairpersons of the Commission, they are all bureaucrats and none of them have been from a legal background. Also, the commission does not envisage that the chairperson needs to be from a legal background. However, like pointed in the article it is pertinent to have commission members from diverse backgrounds like economics, public policy, law, administration, public affairs, finance because the application of competition law is an interplay of all of these fields. When the commission only have two -three members it gets robbed of this diversity.

Vanita Bhatnagar

I agree Shilpi there are considerable trade offs, however, I believe with appropriate safeguards and code of ethics the interchange of skills and experience between the public and private sectors can be mutually beneficial and provide significant benefits to society as a whole.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thanks for writing in Abhinav. CCI not only plays a critical role in promoting fair competition and outlawing anti-competitive behavior in the Indian market, it also takes up matters to protect the interest of consumers, for example the commission took up a consumer complaint and investigated inflated drug pricing by big hospitals chains. It’s important to raise concerns if such an organisation is not operational for the past six months solely because of not having the requisite quorum. Also the story is not just just about an appointment, it's also about how CCI's own rules are curtailing it's functioning. CCI runs on public money and if they are not working because of delay in the appointment then it does become important to ask relevant questions.

Vanita Bhatnagar

It's over 5000 nursing colleges and not medical colleges. There are 5327 nursing institutions in India including both government & private as per the Indian Nursing Council data. You can see here: https://indiannursingcouncil.org/uploads/annualreports/16727359593275.pdf

Vanita Bhatnagar

Yes, there are 5327 nursing colleges (including both government & private) as per the annual report of Indian Nursing Council 2021-2022. (https://indiannursingcouncil.org/uploads/annualreports/16727359593275.pdf) Maharastra has 714 colleges,Karnataka 668.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thanks Vansh. I meant affordability of talent, modifying it.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thank you Nitin.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Correct. The Audit will help the business determine two things: one, if the gap is explainable. Like in your example, after doing the audit the company knows the exact reason for the gap, in some cases they might not even know what is causing the gap. Second, are there any biases creeping in the performance review method.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thanks Shriram! Certainly.

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thank you Malliketh!

Vanita Bhatnagar

Thank you Raunak!

Vanita Bhatnagar