(a) (i) "The role of Board of Directors is to govern and not to manage." Comment on the statement and bring out the elements of…

(a)(i) The statement is broadly correct: the Board governs by setting strategy, monitoring risk, approving compliance and overseeing management, while management executes operations. SEBI LODR and the Kotak Committee reinforce this through independent directors, audit committees and board-CEO separation. Governance elements are transparency, accountability, fairness, responsibility, independence and disclosure. The Tata-Mistry dispute and Infosys board restructuring show how independent oversight, shareholder rights and disclosure discipline correct management overreach. It is not passivity; boards must challenge strategy.

(a)(ii) PDS contributes to food security by converting MSP procurement and buffer stocks into Targeted PDS supplies under NFSA 2013, giving priority households entitlement to subsidised cereals; NFSA covers 67% population, with 5 kg per person per month for priority households and 7 kg for vulnerable groups. This reduces food expenditure, protects the poor from price shocks, and supports farmer incomes, thereby aiding poverty eradication. Its goals are food security, price stabilisation, poverty alleviation and social justice. Yet leakage, exclusion errors and stock wastage weaken outcomes. Aadhaar seeding, e-POS machines and online rationing improve targeting and accountability.

(b)(i) Under CPA 2019, Chapter VI (Sections 82–87) creates product liability. Section 84 makes manufacturers liable for harm from manufacturing, design or warning defects; this is largely strict, though the consumer must prove defect and causation, and statutory defences apply. Section 85 covers service providers, but liability is not pure strict; it turns on defective service and negligence/failure to exercise reasonable care. Section 86 makes sellers liable where they substantially controlled or altered the product, gave an express warranty, knew or ought to have known of the defect, or failed in reasonable care. E-commerce sellers are covered if these conditions apply. Remedies include refund, replacement, compensation and punitive damages, enforced through CCPA and consumer commissions. It is balanced but needs faster e-commerce adjudication.

(b)(ii) The New Industrial Policy 1991 supported environmental preservation and sustainable growth through its environmental clause, which made environmental protection a policy objective, required compliance with pollution laws and environmental clearance, and encouraged clean technology, resource conservation and pollution abatement. Later policy instruments operationalised these clauses through the polluter-pays and precautionary principles. Programmes such as Perform, Achieve and Trade, ZED certification, Ecomark, corporate environmental reporting and Extended Producer Responsibility push firms toward energy efficiency, waste reduction, circular production and environment-friendly business practices.

(c)(i) Cyber security law in India rests on the IT Act 2000 (as amended), SPDI Rules 2011, CERT-In directions and the DPDP Act 2023. Section 43A imposes compensation for failure to protect sensitive personal data; Section 66 penalises computer-related offences; Section 72A penalises unlawful disclosure. Organisations must adopt reasonable security practices, build cyber-resilience frameworks, obtain consent, notify breaches, maintain records, appoint data protection officers where required, and report incidents to CERT-In/NCIIPC within prescribed timelines. The DPDP Act adds data fiduciary duties, breach notification and children’s data safeguards. DPDP unifies data protection.

(c)(ii) To make SSI/MSEs competitive against large domestic and multinational firms, the Government uses PMEGP for micro-enterprises, SFURTI and the Cluster Development Programme for technology, marketing and shared infrastructure, MUDRA for credit, and the Public Procurement Policy 2012 reserving a substantial share of government orders for MSEs. GST compliance, technology gaps and scale diseconomies remain constraints. Hence policy must combine credit, digitalisation, skill upgradation, cluster branding and faster compliance support. MSEs also need quality certification, export readiness and productivity support to move up value chains and survive competition.

Overall, governance, consumer accountability, environmental policy and cyber/data law are interlinked: credible boards reduce risk, sustainable practices lower costs, and SSI competitiveness needs compliance support. India should strengthen enforcement, digital compliance and cluster upskilling.