BCAS President CA Abhay Mehta’s Message for the Month of July 2022
When I am penning down my last communication with you all as the President of this august and largest voluntary Society of Chartered Accountants there are mixed feelings of joy, satisfaction and hollowness. The joy is for the celebration which has been throughout this journey. The satisfaction is the end of the old beginning (being my term as President) for commencing a new beginning towards a new end (as a Past President). The hollowness will be felt as I shall not be multi-tasking the work as President along with my professional and personal commitments. During the term I can say from my heart that the experience has been overwhelming with the kind of recognition which is showered from various circles of influence just being the torch bearer of such a vibrant and selfless Society. When I started my journey as President, I had one thing always uppermost in my mind, “Do not try to demystify each and everything brought before you. There may be times when you have answers. There may be times you have questions, when you should simply drop the questions and move ahead.” Frankly this approach has brought mental peace to me and I have been able to enjoy the journey and been able to live the moments with zest and energy. I had been totally guided by my GURU Mahatria Ra’s following quote:
There is no ‘there’ to reach,
No end. No beginning.
Life is a perennial flow…
Live every moment, usefully.
I would share that the thought process during the year was to have new beginnings for which newer things will have to be done. Accordingly we embarked on some of the initiatives for the smooth functioning of the Society as well as planned events on topics of professional interest which would meet the objectives set at the start of the year through the theme for the year i.e. ESG – Empowering, Scaling and Golbalising. I will leave the critical evaluation of the year gone by to the wisdom of the members of this Society.
On the economic front there has been an increase in the repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.90% by RBI to control the inflationary pressures which is predicted to average 7.5% in the quarter April-June, 2022. This is much beyond the upper tolerance level. However, subsequent to the rate hike, things are brightening a bit with prices of staples and edible oil moderating and accordingly supply side shocks are receding to a certain extent.
According to Christopher Wood, internationally renowned investment strategist, India is the best structural growth story in Asia and emerging market equities for the next 10-15 years. His confidence is based on the fact that there are very few major economies where residential property prices have lagged nominal incomes to the extent experienced by India in the past seven years or more. The residential property price to household income ratio has declined from 6.1x in FY13 to 4.4x in FY20-FY22. Another reason is that the gross NPL ratio of the Indian banking has also declined from 11% in FY18 to 7% in FY22. I hope that the predicament of such an influential investor which is based on hard facts comes true and India is able to continue its journey of becoming a major economic power at the global level.
This message is being written at the end of a very satisfying week when we were witness to the “Josh” of very young talented CA students who performed at the 14th Jal Eruch Dastur CA Students’ Annual Day “TARANG 2022”. This event enables CA students to show case their hidden talent other than at exceling in studies. The students performed with full enthusiasm and their organizational capabilities too came to the fore. I am really amazed at the latent skills of the students. I am very much convinced that the profession will have many emerging stalwarts with multi-faceted talent. I congratulate the Human Resources and Development Committee for the untiring efforts in making this event a resounding success.
The other event during the week which concluded was the 11th IndAS RSC at Daman which was organized by the Accounting & Auditing Committee. Again it also left the indelible mark of excellence through excellent topics covering not just IndAS but also current reporting requirements and the upcoming non-financial reporting requirements. The faculties were excellent imparting substantial value to the participating delegates.
During the month the other two memorable events were also held physically. One was the Indirect Tax Committee’s 16th GST RSC at Goa. This RSC was rich on technical content, had excellent faculties, very effective group discussions and great networking. Another was by the Internal Audit Committee, Internal Audit Conclave. The Conclave was very well received by the participants with sessions dealing with technology led novel approaches to internal audit as well as other upcoming areas to specialize for professionals.
All these four annual events were held in physical mode after a lapse of two years due to pandemic. The participation and the enthusiasm at all the events proved that participants were eager to meet in person at such events and share their knowledge with dose of camaraderie to instil confidence that all is back to normal.
There will be change of guard at BCAS on 6th July and I am sure the ensuing year under the leadership of the incoming President, Mr. Mihir Sheth will definitely achieve greater heights for BCAS. I convey my heartiest congratulations to the team of Office Bearers for the year 2022-23.
At the time I am concluding my message, I would like to convey my gratitude to the Chairmen, Co-Chairpersons of the ten committees through which BCAS’ activities are carried out throughout the year. It is their dedication and guidance which enabled us to provide very relevant and critical events and publications throughout the year. Under their able leadership, the conveners of each committee left no stone unturned to leave a mark of excellence and ensure smooth functioning. I would like to thank all the Past Presidents who have been pillars of strength and source of inspiration throughout the year. The BCAS staff has also dedicatedly performed their duties and co-operated for new initiatives embarked during the year for the effective functioning and serving the members of the Society. The year has been made memorable by my Office Bearer colleagues who spearheaded various goals set at the start of the year. Lastly, the kind of affection which I have received from the members of BCAS as feedback for my messages as well as for the events and lecture meetings held throughout the year has been really humbling.
Frankly, I had commenced the year by setting goals which I was sure would not be achieved fully, but I am of the firm belief that to climb up the ladder and to fulfill your goals there should be strong willingness to pursue the goals. May be all of them will not be achieved, but there will always be sense of satisfaction of putting in the efforts to the extent of your potential.
Lastly, as has been throughout the year of my communication, I would again end my message with a quote from my GURU Mahatria Ra:
Set goals big enough,
that makes you wonder,
“I don’t know how?”.
Let your beliefs be strong enough,
that makes you say,
“I know I will”.
I bid adieu,
