Dear Members,
At the outset, I express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you for bestowing upon me the honour to be the 68th President of the Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society. It is indeed a great privilege since BCAS has evolved over the years as an organization committed to the development of the profession and society at large. Along with the honour of being the President of this august institution, I am also aware of responsibility and challenges. I look forward to diligently performing my duties and striving to achieve the vision of the Society. I am sure of support and encouragement from the managing committee, respected past presidents and members. It will indeed be a privilege of interacting with you through BCAJ which is one of the most prestigious and widely read professional Journal.
25 years of Economic Reforms
Mr. Manmohan Singh, a true visionary, concluded his budget speech in 1991 with the words “India is now wide awake. We shall prevail. We shall overcome.” Yes, we did overcome and time has come when India speaks, the world listens. We are living in exciting times. A buoyant economy and a robust growth rate have made India the toast of the entire world. Foreign direct investment is pouring in steadily and many multinationals that ignored India are now scrambling to either set up manufacturing facilities or tap its burgeoning market. There are opportunities aplenty for everyone! This happy situation was not always so – it has been in the making over the last twenty-five years when liberalization of the Indian economy first began.
The unshackling of the Indian markets and the freeing of enterprise from a plethora of controls has facilitated accelerated growth. India has leapfrogged from being dependent on foreign aid to one that stands tall, shoulder to shoulder with the developed countries of the world. Per capita income and GDP have spiraled up steadily, and India is today the third largest economy in the world in PPP. One of the finest reflections of India’s growth story is the fact that many Indian companies are today multinationals acquiring global assets and operations. India’s image of a cheap labour market has been replaced by that of a knowledge hub.
Indian rockets are now ferrying satellites into space and Indian software specialists are coding success stories across the world. But there are still many initiatives and programmes that need to be undertaken to improve the life of the common man. In underlining India’s stratospheric success, I am only reminding all of us of the huge opportunity India is, and of the vast potential that lies ahead. In fact, India’s economic success will complete only if it is more inclusive – extending to citizens in big cities and small villages alike. I am sure that most of you share my feeling of living in dual India – India on one side and Bharat on another. While many citizens enjoy the growth story, nearly 300 million people are reeling under endemic poverty. Our country is home to one-third of the world’s poor. The gap between haves and have-nots continues to widen, malnutrition still consumes 100 children every hour while 30% of grains do not reach the intended beneficiaries. To summarize, prosperity has begun to spread across India, but has yet to reach the last man, woman and child at the bottom of the pyramid.
Abuse of power had become an acceptable routine in the world’s largest democracy, and the entire political class had been hand in glove till the last elections to prevent game-changing reforms. However, since the current government has taken up reins, there are green shoots of major reforms initiated or in the offing. India is on the cusp of achieving in the next decade much more than what has been achieved in past twenty-five years.
The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act
Let us take a look at an Act that has been in the news for the wrong reasons. The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act has been equipped with teeth to check allegations of corruption against public functionaries. In its enthusiasm to regulate and restrict corruption, NGOs, and charitable institutions have been brought under the purview of this act. As a result, trustees and its officers – who are volunteers, have now become public servants and are expected to declare their assets in the public domain. This action is responsible for many genuine people who have volunteered to serve the public to step down and relinquish office. The uproar has reached the ears of FM and a decision seems to have been taken to refer the matter back to the Standing Committee for review. We look forward to playing a role in resolving the issue and ensuring that there is no mass exodus of good people from NGOs and charitable organizations.
Member Deliverables
My resolve for the year is to offer members an enriched service experience from BCAS. I am aware of certain grievances of members remaining unattended. To resolve these and to compress timelines for attending to them, we have set up a dedicated task force at BCAS, which I am sure would improve upon service to the members in a timely and efficient manner.
It is our resolve to bring BCAS to your doorstep be it through website, through live streaming or online payment for all services. By the time you read this page, online payment facility for all transactions with BCAS would have become a reality. May I request you to use this facility to the fullest and save your staff time of sending cheques to BCAS. From buying a book to renewing your membership to paying for an event, www.bcasonline.org will be your window to ease of doing business with BCAS.
As I sign off, I would like to draw your attention to a unique opportunity. You can now open the doors of learning by gifting BCAS membership to freshly qualified CAs. Be it your article student or an acquaintance who passed out from the May 2016 batch, you can make a gift that will take their new prefix to a new height. The icing on the cake is a complimentary e-kit that is being offered to such qualified CAs. The Society, as a mark of recognizing the rank holders will be giving them free membership. I request all the members to make this endeavour a grand success.
