From The President
Dear Professional Colleagues,
I wish you all a very happy Diamond Jubilee Year. The Bombay
Chartered Accountants’ Society celebrated its 59th founding day and entered the
Diamond Jubilee Year. I am grateful to all of you for having reposed your trust
in me, and bestowing on me the honour of being the president of this august
institution in a landmark year. I am conscious of the responsibility that this
office carries and I will make every effort to discharge it to the best of my
ability.
I have already expressed my thoughts for the ensuing year in
my acceptance address at the Annual General Meeting, which appears elsewhere in
this issue. To recapitulate, the thrust areas would be
- A
comprehensive programme for students — our future.
- Programmes to reach out to members in industry.
-
Events/programmes to make the busy professional a complete individual.
- To spread awareness of the activities of the Society among the public.
In this year, various committees of the Society and the
Diamond Jubilee Celebration Committee headed by K. C. Narang and Narayan Varma,
will organise number of programmes to celebrate this year. One of them will be
the Diamond Jubilee Conference scheduled on 8th November 2008. I would request
you to mark the date in your diary.
As I write this piece, the Government has just won a trust
vote. The high-voltage drama which commenced three weeks ago has ended.
Newspapers are filled with stories of how events unfolded in the Parliament.
Many citizens feel that the actions of many to whom we have entrusted the
responsibility of governance, are shameful. When such events occur we feel sad,
but that sadness does not translate into action.
We must share a part of the blame. When enlightened citizens
shy away from public duty, the nation suffers. Corruption is one of the greatest
ills that our country suffers from. The short-term remedy is to keep the members
of the public well informed. To meet that objective, the Right to Information
Act is serving as an excellent tool. However, I fear that its overuse may blunt
this weapon and unscrupulous users may reduce its credibility. In the long term,
an educated citizen will act as a great check to the spread of corruption. I am
under no illusion that education will eradicate this evil, being aware that it
exists in most developed countries where the entire public is expected to be
well educated. It will however, act as a strong deterrent.
In this context of education, I must commend the ‘Teach
India’ initiative. Projects like this must receive all the support they deserve.
I appeal to each one of you, your relatives and family members to enrol for the
programme in whatever capacity possible. We at the BCAS must also find ways and
means and explore as to how as an organisation we can contribute to this cause.
This brings me to the aspect of education in our profession.
Over the last year or so, the curriculum has been changed in a manner that
students entering the course are of a far younger age. Like every change, this
change has had its share of criticism. Every change has its own advantages and
problems. While the technical content of the curriculum is at the same level
that it was earlier, there is little provision to take care of the inherently
lower levels of maturity of the students. The young students joining the course
are bright and many of them are focussed on their careers. However, the
significance of the practical training that is imparted during the period of
articleship is not fully appreciated. This results in conflict and a great gap
between the expectations of students and their employers. The need of the hour
is counselling of students, their parents and Chartered Accountants as well.
This year is also the Diamond Jubilee Year of our alma mater,
the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). The ICAI entered its
Diamond Jubilee Year on 1st July 2008. We at the Society are just 6 days
younger. The Society has always believed that it can play a role complementary
to that of the ICAI. The selfless devotion of its founders, its illustrious past
presidents, its enthusiastic core group have made the Society a premier
institution. In this Diamond Jubilee Year, it is this brand image of the BCAS
that we have to protect, promote and enhance.
For the success of the programmes that the Society will
undertake, I will need your support and I am sure I can bank on it. What I need
further is your response and feedback. Please feel free to communicate with me
or my team, about your thoughts, suggestions and yes, your criticism, for I am
sure that you have the interests of the Society at heart.
With warm regards.
Anil Sathe
