Question : Investment in Rural Areas

(a) whether the Government proposes any scheme to promote investment in rural areas, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
(b) whether the Government has taken any steps for creating awareness and protecting small investors, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
(c) whether several sections of the new Companies Act relating to protection of investors have not been notified by the Government so far, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(d) the steps taken/being taken by the Government for expeditious and proper implementation of the said Act; and
(e) whether several companies have not paid dues of small investors, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the measures taken by the Government in this regard?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW
AND JUSTICE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS (SHRI P.P. CHOUDHARY)
???? ?? ????? ??? ???????? ????? ???????? ??? ????? ?????? (???? ??. ??. ?????)

(a) & (b): There are several steps taken to promote investment in rural areas through the aegis of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development(NABARD) inter-alia which includes Long Term Irrigation Fund(LTIF), Rural Infrastructure Development Fund(RIDF) Investments, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin(PMAY-G), Swachh Bharat Mission – Gramin(SBM-G), Long Term Rural Credit Fund, Warehouse Infrastructure Fund, Food Processing Fund, Micro Irrigation Fund, Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund, Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF), Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FAIDF), Agri-Marketing Infrastructure Development Fund (AMIDF) and Agriculture and Marketing Infrastructure Fund. In addition to above, the item (x) of Schedule VII of the Company Act, 2013 prescribes ‘Rural Development Projects’ for Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) activities.
Contd…..2/

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Investor Awareness Programmes(IAPs) are organized in urban and semi-urban areas in partnership with Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) and Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAI). In rural areas these programmes are conducted through the Common Service Centre (CSCs) set up by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The year-wise details of the programmes organised are as under:

Year Total IAPs conducted by Professional Institute and CSCs
2013-14 1,869
2014-15 1,659
2015-16 2,944
2016-17 2,171
2017-18 5,915
2018-19 (up to 31.12.2018) 15,505
Total 30,063

(c) & (d): All the Sections of Companies Act relating to protection of investors are notified.

(e): As per Section 125(2) of the Companies Act, 2013 unpaid and unclaimed amounts that includes the amounts in the unpaid Dividend Account of companies, matured deposits with companies other than the banking companies, matured debentures with companies, etc. lying with the companies for 7 or more consecutive years shall be credited to IEPF. As per the investor’s grievances data maintained, action has been initiated against 89 companies in 2015-16, 145 companies in 2016-17 and 89 companies in 2017-18. As per information received by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) during the last three years, they have initiated action against 81 companies under Section 15-I of SEBI Act, 1992 (the ‘Act’) and against 216 companies under Section 11B of SEBI Act, 1992.


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