It was in 1960 that the Company Law Board started a course in Company Secretaryship leading to the award of Government Diploma in Company Secretaryship. As the number of students taking up the Company Secretaryship course grew, the Government promoted on 4 October 1968, Institute of Company Secretaries of India under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 for taking over from the Government the conduct of Company Secretaryship examination. The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has since been converted into a statutory body w.e.f. 1.1.1981 under the Company Secretaries Act, 1980. According to ICSI's Annual Report for 2009-10, ICSI had 16,613 Associates and 5,226 Fellow Members aggregating to 21,839 Members on the Register of Members as on 31 March 2010. Out of these, 3,576 Members were holding Certificate of Practice as on March 31, 2010. According to the Annul Report, the number of current students is over 200,000 including 111,292 students registered for Executive Programme and 64,297 students registered for Foundation Programme
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