Amalgamation, as defined under the Companies Act, 2013, refers to the combination of two or more companies into one, with the assets, liabilities, and shareholders’ interests of the merging entities being transferred to the new or existing company. This legal process aims to achieve synergies, efficiency, and overall growth for the involved businesses. The Companies Act, 2013, lays down the legal framework for amalgamation in India, outlining the procedures and requirements that companies must follow. Below is an overview of the key provisions related to amalgamation under the Companies Act, 2013:
Types of Amalgamation:
Amalgamation of Companies in General (Section 230-232): This section provides for the compromise or arrangements between a company and its creditors or members, including amalgamation. It outlines the procedure for obtaining approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for such arrangements.
Amalgamation of Two or More Small Companies or Holding and Its Wholly-Owned Subsidiary (Section 233): This section deals specifically with the amalgamation of small companies or the amalgamation of a holding company with its wholly-owned subsidiary. The process is simplified for such cases.
: The process of amalgamation involves several steps, and compliance with statutory requirements is crucial. The key steps include:
Board Approval: The boards of the amalgamating companies must pass resolutions approving the amalgamation proposal.
Approval of Shareholders and Creditors: Shareholders and creditors meetings need to be convened, and approval must be obtained through a special resolution.
Application to NCLT: A joint application is made to the NCLT for its approval of the proposed amalgamation. The application includes details of the scheme, financial implications, and the benefits of the amalgamation.
NCLT Approval: Upon satisfaction with the proposal and after considering objections, if any, raised by stakeholders, the NCLT grants its approval.
Filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC): After NCLT approval, the scheme, along with the order, must be filed with the RoC.
Issuance of Order: Once the NCLT is satisfied, it issues an order sanctioning the scheme. This order is then filed with the RoC, and the amalgamation becomes effective from the specified date mentioned in the order.
Key Considerations:
Valuation Report: Companies involved in amalgamation must obtain a valuation report from a registered valuer to assess the value of assets and liabilities.
Protection of Creditors: The Companies Act, 2013, mandates that the scheme should provide for the payment of creditors, and their interests should be adequately protected.
Employee Consent: Employee interests should be considered, and their consent or objections should be taken into account.
Post-Amalgamation Compliance: The surviving or new company must ensure compliance with post-amalgamation requirements, including changes in the capital structure, issuance of shares, and communication with stakeholders.
Amalgamation under the Companies Act, 2013, is a complex legal process that requires careful planning, adherence to statutory requirements, and approval from regulatory authorities to ensure a smooth transition and protect the interests of stakeholders involved. Companies contemplating amalgamation should seek legal advice and conduct due diligence to navigate the process successfully.
Collaborative learning is less structured, more flexible, informal, and focused on the individual student. Students share source materials, discuss and agree upon roles and responsibilities, and assess their own work. Adult and mature students who can self-regulate their learning process and find solutions through mutual cooperation and involvement are good candidates for collaborative learning.
Collaborative learning is a student-centered approach in which students design their own activities and interactions with one another. The philosophy of interaction, which is the cornerstone of this approach, states that students exchange ideas, opinions, and resources in order to develop their own understanding and knowledge. The teacher serves as a facilitator; the group members collaborate to negotiate and determine the roles and responsibilities of the students. The teacher may or may not be present. In a less formal, more flexible, and structured learning environment, students assess the outcomes independently. Collaborative learning is beneficial for mature adult learners who are capable of both autonomous and creative work. Students who work together, engage with one another, and support one another when they solve problems
Students collaborate in groups to accomplish a common goal in cooperative and collaborative learning. They differ somewhat, though, in terms of appropriateness, assessment, roles, orientation, and structure.
Benefits of Collaborative Learning
Working together in small groups to complete the same task is the foundation of collaborative learning. It describes a style of instruction where students interact with one another to build knowledge.
The learner is therefore the main focus of instruction. As they collaborate to achieve a common objective, students share ideas and deepen their understanding.
Additionally, students make an effort to reach a consensus by having in-depth discussions and offering detailed explanations of the issue.
Cooperation and collaboration are similar; however, in cooperative learning, each student is given a specific task to complete.
In contrast, collaborative learning entails students working in groups on a single task in an effort to gain understanding.
Methods of collaborative teaching:
1. Simultaneous teaching:
This is very similar to regular teaching, except that there are two teachers, and the class is divided into two groups. In simultaneous teaching, both teachers present the same material at the same time to these two groups. This takes the load off of teachers, and they’re able to teach in a better manner.
2. Instructional Stations:
As a teacher, you want to address every student. But it’s not quite possible when you have a lot of students. That’s where Instructional stations come in. In this type of collaborative teaching, the students rotate between different stations, and the teachers give them instructions related to the activities they’re supposed to carry out.
3. Lead, Observe, and Assist:
In this type of collaborative teaching, one of the teachers actually teaches the student, and the other observes and assists them. In short, he or she analyzes where the students are lacking, whether they’re doing their assignments properly, and if they’re struggling with concepts, and then helps them out.
4. Teach and Reteach:
This method is kind of like the previous one, but there’s one little change. In this method, the ‘lead’ teacher teaches the material to students, whereas the co-instructor reviews everything that has been taught. Basically, he is responsible for conducting exams or tests and evaluating how much the students remember.
5. Supplemental Teaching:
In supplemental teaching, the classroom is divided into two groups. One group has the majority of the students, while the other is a small group. The lead teacher instructs the larger group, while the other teacher is responsible for the smaller one. The small group gets different instructional goals related to readiness, etc.
Good job! You’re now very familiar with the concept of collaborative teaching, why it’s important, and its types. Now, let’s go ahead and learn how to practice collaborative teaching efficiently.
Strategies:
There are many cooperative learning strategies that you can use in your classroom, depending on your learning objectives, content, and students’ needs. Here are some examples of cooperative learning strategies that you can try:
Think-Pair-Share: This is a straightforward and useful tactic that works well for any subject or inquiry.Before sharing their answers with the class as a whole or with another pair of students, students consider the question on their own first. After that, they discuss their ideas in pairs.
Circle the Sage: Through the use of this tactic, students can benefit from one another’s knowledge. The instructor starts by determining which pupils have prior knowledge or experience with a particular subject. These pupils rise up and take on the role of the “sages.” Around each sage, the other students divide into groups and listen to their justification or example. After that, the groups switch to a new sage until they have gained knowledge from each one.
Timed-Pair-Share: This is a pair-share strategy variation that guarantees equal participation and accountability. Pupils are divided into pairs and given a discussion topic or question. Every student gets a set amount of time (one minute, for example) to speak, and the other student listens. After that, they trade places. When to switch, the instructor can indicate with a signal or a timer.
Agree-Disagree Line-ups: This tactic encourages thoughtful discussion and critical thinking. Students are asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree with a statement or opinion that the teacher has presented on the subject. Next, the students form a line representing their positions—strongly disagree at one end and strongly agree at the other. Subsequently, the instructor requests that students from varying positions clarify their thinking and address one another’s claims.
Rally Coach: This approach encourages peer coaching and constructive criticism. Pupils solve problems or finish tasks in pairs, taking turns at each step. The “player” is the other student, and the “coach” is the first. The coach reviews the player’s work and offers guidance, support, and criticism. They then trade places and carry out the procedure again with a different issue or assignment.
Conclusion:
These are but a handful of the numerous cooperative learning techniques you can implement in your classroom. Visit the following websites for additional details and examples: I hope this will assist you in improving the learning outcomes for your students and implementing cooperative learning in your classroom.
Collaborative learning is a helpful tactic to employ in educational settings because of its advantages for enhancing learner autonomy, student-centeredness, and social interaction. Students develop understanding and exchange ideas while working in groups to finish assignments, which helps them succeed. Another area where collaborative learning is effective is language learning. Through interaction, communication skills are developed.
The Government of India introduced the concept of democratic decentralisation for the good governance and development of rural and urban areas at the grassroots level. To deal with poverty and sustainable development of the country, the key component is decentralisation of power in which the authority for some functionality and resources is taken from the state government and given to the local government.
The urge for decentralisation has come from many sources. Firstly, it has been prompted by the need to deliver the basic public goods such as food, housing and water from local units of administration. Secondly, most people in the developing countries live in rural areas, which are away from the national capital located in distant urban areas. Administration has to penetrate the rural areas and link these up with the nation as a whole. Thirdly, in many countries sociological diversities manifest themselves in ethnic, linguistic and religious differences. Administration needs to be decentralised in response to regional diversities. Fourthly, regional and local resources can be utilised for the area development purposes, only if administration would move out to the regions and localities. Decentralisation, therefore, facilitates local planning and development with the help of local responses leading to better development outcomes. Fifthly, decentralisation has its own value in political and administrative terms. Politically, local participation in development activities, with intensive response paves the way for meaningful articulation of local demands.
In 1992, when the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Act passed that transfer of power to popularly elected local governments, it was a crucial step toward the decentralisation of power. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act introduced Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), which were not a completely new concept; it has been in existence since centuries with the name, Gram Panchayat. Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) are responsible for the development of the rural areas. The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act was introduced for the development of the urban areas where municipal bodies have the power and authority to plan for economic development and implementation of schemes.
Devolution of authority and resources are given to local governments on a permanent basis. The state government does not give the authority to gather tax from the public to the local government, but the state government funds them, handles tax, and provides staff so that they can carry out their responsibilities. Local government, which includes panchayats and municipalities, is a state subject. Consecutively, power and authority have devolved to panchayats and municipalities at the discretion of states.
It can be said that there is a design weakness in decentralization. Still, If we take a closer look at India’s political and social history, we can observe that there was a centralized power that regulated the country. Still, the problem at the grassroots levels is untouched, from which we can conclude that the state government has the authority to handle local governance. A study conducted by the Fourteenth Finance Commission shows that authority and power for five basic responsibilities – mainly sanitation, water supply, communications and roads, streetlight provision, and community asset management – have devolved into local self-government. According to the Constitution, panchayat and municipality elections should be held every five years.
The Constitution of India defines Panchayats as institutions of local self-government in rural India. The 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts, 1992 have Constitutionalism the Panchayats and Municipalities and is a step in the direction of speeding up the process of decentralisation and giving strength as well as stability to local institutions. They are historic in nature as they have got the potential to transform the existing character of our democracy (Palanithurai, 2009). Some of the features of the Acts are as follows: It has made mandatory for all the states to set up three tier (in smaller states having less than 20 lakh population – two tier) bodies both in the rural and the urban areas. Periodic elections to all the tiers at regular interval of five years and, if dissolved earlier, fresh elections to be held within six months. Reservation of seats for SCs and STs in all the panchayats and municipalties at all the levels in proportion to their population. One third reservation of seats for woman in panchayats and municipalities. All posts at all levels (with two exceptions) to be filled by direct elections. Indirect elections to the post of chairman at the intermediate and apex tiers. Creation of a State Election Commission to conduct elections to PRIs and municipal bodies. A State Finance Commission to be set up in each state every five years in order to review the financial position of the PRIs and municipal bodies. Devolution of powers to the panchayat bodies to perform 29 functions and to the municipal bodies to perform 18 functions as suggested in the Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules respectively. Organisation of gram sabhas and ward committees. The 74thConstitutional Amendment provides for constitution of District Planning Committee (DPC) and Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) to prepare a development plan. Article 243M of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment exempts application of this Act to certain areas in the country. These areas are Fifth Schedule Areas, Sixth Schedule Areas, 1996 (PESA) and other tribal areas. The tribal communities are the marginalised sections who have been for long isolated from the main stream development process. At the same time their customs and traditions are to be protected and remain uninterrupted. Their indigenous traditional institutions which play an important role are to be maintained. In order the strengthen the grass roots democracy in tribal areas, the Part IX of the Constitution which deals with panchayats has been specially extended through an Act of Parliament called Panchayats Extension to Scheduled V, Areas Act (PESA)1996.This provides for certain exclusive and wide ranging powers to gram sabhas and panchayats in these areas
Issues with local Governments in India
The restriction is in the architecture of the financial streams that send money to local governments, as well as in a lack of personnel, untimely and postponed election and corruption.
Insufficient Funding
The money or amount provided to the local government is not enough to meet the basic requirement of the local authorities.
Inflexibility in Spending the Allocated Budget
Most of the money given to the local government is inflexible, which means the use of money is restricted to a particular use. For example, suppose a road is being constructed and it is required to build sewage near the road for its durability. But it cannot be built as this much flexibility is not given to the local government because of the constraints in the allocated budget.
Lack of Staff
There are not enough human resources to perform basic tasks. The human resources they get are hired by the higher-level department that too on deputation. That is why they (staff) do not feel accountable to the local government, they think they are accountable to the higher-level departments.
Untimely and Delayed Elections
The Constitution mandates elections within six months of completion of five years for the panchayats and municipalities to be held, but states often postpone the election.
Corruption
Contractors and criminals are mostly attracted to the local government election because of the large amount of money involved.
Conclusion
Democratic decentralization is the division of power and authority in the different layers of government that is Center, state, and local government. It is said that the more powerful decentralization is when more people contribute to governance. Decentralization has firmly been established both in rural as well as urban areas. Local democracy has deepened, political participation broadened and representation diversified as a result of 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts. Decentralization has provided an institutionalized arena where the local population could participate in local government decision making. The decentralisation process has now given rural and urban local bodies an opportunity to assume greater responsibility for rural and urban governance. The new system of decentralised governance has provided an element of continuity and enlarged the participatory process at the grassroots level. The states have taken certain measures to transfer functions and devolve funds upon the local bodies.
