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NEW DELHI — President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday said that more women are becoming chartered accountants and expressed hope that they will account for 50 per cent of the total practising chartered accountants by 2047.
Speaking at a function to mark the 75th year of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), she also said that efforts should be made to ensure that the chartered accountancy profession becomes a "pillar of economic governance".
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]The ICAI, the apex body of chartered accountants, has nearly 4 lakh members and more than 8 lakh students.
Murmu said that she has been told that in recent times, among those who have cleared the CA (Chartered Accountant) examinations, around 42 per cent are women, and their numbers are increasing.
She also expressed hope that when the country celebrates 100 years of independence in 2047, 50 per cent of the practising chartered accountants will be women.
The capability and membership of the ICAI are appreciated around the world, but still, Indian firms have not reached the level of global multinational companies. The ongoing efforts in this direction would get a boost if accountancy firms pay attention to the regulations of different sectors and collaborate with law firms, she noted.
According to her, the CA community is one such strong pillar of the business sector, which gives strength to good governance and has an important responsibility of reflecting the true health of the economy.
Further, Murmu stressed the need to embrace technological advancements to ensure fair and ethical accounting practices and added that CAs have been given the important responsibility to provide a true picture of the health of the economy.
The president appreciated the ICAI's move to make Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) mandatory for all certificates issued by a practising CA.
More than five crore UDINs have been generated so far, according to the institute.
According to the president, manual assessment of data has become almost obsolete and with artificial intelligence, the structure of data mining, auditing and accounting by machines will change significantly.
The ICAI should adopt technological innovations not only to keep pace with the times but also to implement right and ethical practices in the profession, she said.
She also said that it is a well-known fact that women are generally skilled finance managers or accountants.
The ICAI has also started a 'Financial and Tax Literacy' campaign for women.
The campaign is very beneficial for rural areas, especially for tribal areas, as poor and innocent people are often deceived with the lure of high interest on savings in those areas, she said, and expressed confidence that the campaign would save those people from such frauds.
Further, Murmu said that today is a special day not only for the CA community, but also for the accounting and auditing profession.
While mentioning that the government is implementing many welfare schemes for the poor, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, she said that against this backdrop, it is the social responsibility of professionals like CAs to motivate the taxpayers.
Murmu also said that due to the efforts of CAs and the government, the country's tax base is continuously expanding. More and more people are adopting the tax compliance regime, and this makes the ICAI an effective partner in nation-building.
A new CA (Chartered Accountant) scheme was launched at the event.
Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh, ICAI President Aniket Sunil Talati and Vice President Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal, among others, also spoke at the event.