Elections to the Central Council and the Regional Councils will be held
in the month of December 2012. Those aspiring to be council members will
have, by now, filed their nominations. The Code of Conduct has come
into force from 5th September 2012.
Council members play an
important role in deciding the destiny of the profession in general. It
is important that the profession gets a capable and an efficient council
consisting of members who can shoulder that responsibility.
The
Institute, established as a statutory body, is entrusted with the
responsibility of regulating the profession of accountancy in the
country. This includes training and education of students aspiring to be
chartered accountants. Alongwith regulating the profession, the
Institute wields a significant influence at various levels. Opinion of
the Institute matters and should matter, while framing various economic
and corporate laws and policies.
Our Institute, to a large extent, is an
autonomous body. If the autonomy of the Institute has to be preserved,
then it is important that the profession conducts itself well and the
Council, the body that represents the profession, performs its functions
in a manner, that respect for the views of the profession is enhanced
in the government as well as within the industry. Great burden lies on
the shoulders of the members of the Central Council.
As a member of the
profession, what do I expect from the Council members who represent the
profession? I believe we must convey our expectations to those aspiring
to be our leaders. First and foremost, any person who aspires to become a
Council member must have impeccable integrity. Just as citizens expect
politicians to be honest, so also the professionals expect their
representatives to be persons of integrity. Is it too much to ask?
I
expect my Council members to have the will and the capacity to serve the
interest of the profession alongwith the interest of the nation. I put
the two – the national interest and the professional interest – together
because by encouraging the complicated laws, one may apparently serve
the professional interest by creating work for the profession, but that
certainly would not augur well in the national interest.
Our Institute is of the professionals, so it is important that the council members have good domain knowledge and the capacity to think ahead, take a holistic view, form a considered opinion and convey it effectively. As an emerging economy with a large market, India evokes great interest amongst the developed countries. At this juncture, it is necessary that our Institute plays a greater role at international accounting bodies in formulating accounting and auditing pronouncements.
This requires research and that is possible if the Institute collaborates with those in the industry and academics. Last but not the least, the ethics. Ethical behaviour goes beyond the Code of Ethics under the Rules and Regulations. Can a Council member change his name (albeit following all the legal formalities) to include a phrase as a part of his name that indicates he represents CAs? To me, that is seeking publicity in an inappropriate manner. Members of the Council that regulates the profession must refrain from such gimmicks.
Members of the profession expect more transparency. Every year, there are elections for the post of the President and the Vice-President. When one attempts to get the information about who were the candidates and how they fared in that election, that information is just not available. Why not make this information public? There have been frequent changes in the criteria for joining the CA course. One is unaware of the thought process behind these frequent changes. There are many such issues where transparency will only inspire confidence of chartered accountants in the Council and its members. Elections are still more than two months away.
So, let us give a thought to these issues and also give some food for thought, to the candidates for the Central Council and the Regional Councils. If we don’t think and act, we don’t have the moral right to blame our representatives.
