<b>Amit Tandon</b>: A testing time for board members

Evaluating the performance of the board as a whole is a bigger challenge

Being far removed from the minutiae, three items in the Companies Act, 2013, agitated boards when this Act was rolled out: Having a woman director on the board, spend on corporate social responsibility (CSR), and board evaluation. India Inc. can always do more, but it has progressed on all three fronts. I will visit CSR and women directors sometime in future, and focus on board evaluation for now.
 
First, the need for board evaluation itself. The board and its functioning has always been a black box. While boards in India have had a self-imposed sense of responsibility, the largely