By CA. Sunil Gabhawalla
President
Dear Members,
Fifty years, six
hundred editions and countless impact points it is. As BCAJ crosses one more
milestone of completing its Golden Jubilee, my thoughts are full of pride.
Starting with humble beginnings in 1969 with a 40 page bulletin priced at an
annual subscription of Rs. 18/- and covering only direct taxes, the BCAJ has
matured into a 140 page edition containing all relevant laws, regulations and
practice areas for the Chartered Accountant. In essence, the BCAJ represents
the chartered accountancy profession.
The essence of
the Journal, to my mind, is the passion of its volunteers to deliver latest
relevant content, in an easily readable form with impeccable quality of English
and Grammar. The ability to stay relevant in ever changing external landscape is
derived from countless efforts undertaken at the Editorial Board Meetings and
the Ideation meeting popularly called “Marathon Meeting”. Indeed, the annual
event in January is nothing less than a marathon of ideas – some implementable,
many not so. However, to my mind, this Marathon Meeting sets the fertile ground
for the development of the most relevant content.
The task of the
Editor of such a prestigious Journal is very intense. The countless ideas and
suggestions thrown up at the Marathon Meeting need to be garnished with a pinch
of realism and then actioned out. This is where the biggest challenge of the
Editor lies. Identifying potential authors, requesting them to write and making
them actually write is by no means an easy assignment. Doing this month after
month requires tremendous commitment and deserves special acknowledgement.
As we celebrate
the Golden Jubilee of the BCAJ, it is time to step back and reflect and
identify some learnings.
One thing which
strikes me the most is the fact that over the last fifty years, the BCAJ has
never fallen short of content. The ability to disseminate something of extreme
relevance month after month for more than 50 years tells a lot about the ever
changing external environment. Be it the birth and death of taxes like fringe
benefit tax, or the progression of principle centred accounting standards to
rule and disclosure based standards and thereafter to the Ind AS, the
consolidation of various state level indirect taxes into VAT and the ultimate
consolidation of state as well as central indirect taxes into GST, the Journal
has witnessed and reported it all. The learning is evident, the only thing
which is constant is change.
Another important
aspect which I observed during the Editorial Board Meetings is the extreme eye
for detail – not only for the legal and the interpretational aspects but also
the semantics like the consistency of writing style, the acronyms used, the
placement of the nouns, choice of correct words, etc. There is just so much to
learn from these meetings.
One can go on and
on. But it is not the ethos of the BCAJ to rest on past laurels but to move
ahead and scale even larger peaks. Knowing fully well that going digital is the
need of the hour, the BCAJ has its online avatar in the form of www.bcajonline.org.
The Journal also regularly includes articles and features on effectively using
technology in the professional practice. The traditional journal which had
features and articles now caters to multiple needs through multiple formats
like interviews, view and counterview, surveys and the like.
While the BCAJ always evolves to identify new topics, features and
articles, it also nourishes existing features and articles which are relevant
to the readers. The feature “Tribunal News” is the oldest feature in the BCAJ
and is being carried out for more than 30 years. It requires tremendous efforts
on the part of the feature contributors to consistently find out time from
their busy schedules and contribute content month after month for such a long
period.
As the President
of this esteemed Society, I take extreme pride in the BCAJ achieving this very
important milestone and I congratulate the Editor Raman Jokhakar, who has put
in tremendous efforts to constantly “up” the bar every time, month after month.
I wish the BCAJ all the best and would look forward to the 60th year
as well.
This being the
Special Issue of the BCAJ, I feel it appropriate to only talk about the BCAJ
and not about the other happenings within and outside the profession. I will
cover those thoughts in my subsequent communication. Till then, happy reading.
CA. Sunil Gabhawalla
President
