Bengal News Grid // ICAI President unveil the institute's vision "Drishti”

KOLKATA,FEBRUARY 2024: Chaired by the President, ICAI – CA. Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal and attended by the Vice President of the Institute – CA. Charanjot Singh Nanda along with the Council Member from Eastern Region, CA. Sushil Kumar Goyal. Also present were the Regional Council Members, CA. Sanjib Sanghi, Chairman, CA. Vishnu K. Tulsyan, Vice Chairman, CA Mayur Agrawal, Secretary cum Treasurer, newly elected office bearers for the term 2024-25 and also CA. Debayan Patra and CA. Ravi Kr. Patwa, both members and Past Chairmen of the Team EIRC.

In his address, CA. Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal highlighted the pivotal role of the ICAI in shaping and upholding standards, augmenting revenue, and instilling financial discipline in the nation. With a membership base of 4 lakhs and over 8.5 lakhs students pursuing the CA course, the ICAI stands as the largest accounting body globally, operating in 81 countries. Emphasizing gender equality, he noted that 29% of members and 43% of students are women, reflecting the institute's commitment to inclusivity.

Aligning the Institute's objectives with the Government of India's vision of achieving developed nation’s status by 2047, CA. Agarwal announced a strategic roadmap spanning 2024 to 2049, marking it as the "Golden Period of the Profession," with the centenary year of the institute as a focal point.

CA. Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal, assuming the esteemed position as the 72nd President of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), and the 12th President from the Eastern Region, held his inaugural Press meet to unveil the institute's vision, "Drishti," to a packed audience of journalists from various electronic and press media outlets.

Under the theme "Drishti," CA. Agarwal outlined key initiatives:

D for Digitalisation: Implementing E-Office and integrating technology like AI and blockchain into CA practices, with the formation of the AI in ICAI committee.

R for Research: Collaborating with the government to enhance the tax-to-GDP ratio, signing MoUs for accounting and auditing issues, and establishing an Aggregation of Firms committee.

I for Integrity: Introducing the UDIN scheme for authentic document certification by the Chartered Accountants.

S for Skill: Launching a new education and training scheme in CA Course, emphasizing ethics and technology.

H for Handholding: Each One Teach One scheme and collaborating with C&AG for accountability in local governance.

T For Transparency: Mandating peer review mechanisms to enhance audit quality.

During the Q&A session at the end, CA. Agarwal took a few queries from the audience. The meet concluded with a note of serious commitment to advancing the profession ensuring its part in nation building.

In order to create opportunities for accounting professionals abroad, ICAI has provided comments and inputs to the government on a regular basis in the area of Accounting, Bookkeeping, and Auditing services (CPC 862) in the ongoing negotiations on trade in services with its FTA partners - UK, Canada, and Australia. Further this year, ICAI has constituted a new committee named as Committee for Aggregation of CA Firms. The mandate of this committee is to bring together the smaller firms and make them globally competent by pooling their resources.

Towards strengthening infrastructure development, Presidents shared that 11 (CoE) Centres of Excellence across the country are in the pipeline. As a socially responsible institution, CA. Agarwal added that the 3rd such Centre would be functional by December 2024 at Kolkata, West Bengal after the two centres at Hyderabad and Jaipur, which would be of immense benefit for the profession.