Dear Mr. President of the ICAI,
You may be aware below ⬇️ is a message that’s today doing the rounds virally on the WhatsApp social media circuit:
“Today is a unique combination of five important days !!
1. Doctors Day – The Professionals that strengthen the health of citizens !!
All across India National Doctors’ Day is celebrated on July 1 in memory of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, physician and the second Chief Minister of West Bengal. He was born on July 1, 1882 and died on the same date in 1962. He was also awarded the Bharat Ratna.
National Doctors Day in India is a significant occasion to honor and appreciate the invaluable contributions of doctors, promote medical awareness, and encourage the well-being of the medical community. It serves as a reminder of the critical role doctors play in the healthcare system and their tireless efforts to save lives and improve the health of the nation.
2.Chartered Accountants (CA) Day – The Professional that helps to strengthen the economy of Country !
Chartered Accountants Day, also referred to as CA Day, is observed on July 1 every year. This day marks the establishment of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in the year 1949 by an Act of Parliament in India. ICAI is the second-largest professional body of Chartered Accountants in the world.
3.State Bank of India Day – The Bank that helps to strengthen the wealth of citizens !!
State Bank is the Largest Bank of India with the Largest Network as well as Number of Employees.
4.Goods and Service Tax (GST) Day – The Tax that aims to strengthen the tax reform !!
GST was introduced on 1st July 2017 to replace complex Central, State and Local Octroi laws and establish a single simple unified Indirect tax structure across the Country.
5.Architects Day – These professionals help to build dream homes, offices and factories of the citizens.
Congratulations and Best Wishes to everyone who are part of the above professions and Organizations for being a part of services to the society.
(END OF WhatsApp message)
The above message I did find had very useful information indeed! By sharing such a positive message on this auspicious day July 1, 2024 to celebrate the stature of five of the most important professions on social media does greatly help to spread a warm sense of pride, self-worth and self-esteem amongst the professional fraternities concerned ! 🌟
******* ******* ********
I am a hard-nosed CA of 1982 vintage. I was trained long and hard in the profession and I have weathered a 37-year long, roller-coaster career in Corporate Finance in India and abroad. It should surprise no one if while reading the rest of this Open Letter below, I come across as a bit of a grouchy old veteran when it comes to hard-nosed and hard-to-please self-appraisal, both as a professional and as an individual.
The above information shared on social media today — that is well intended to celebrate the 5 professions and their importance to the country at large — makes me as a CA begin to look rather critically at a certain specific aspect of the profile of each of the 5 professions listed above : Doctors, Chartered Accountants , Bankers, Taxmen and Architects .
I find myself asking myself this uncomfortable question:
If asked to do so, how would I go about,estimating or assessing the comparative contribution of each profession to the nation’s Gross National Income or GDP ?
Is it possible to quantify with any reasonable clarity if not total accuracy the true worth of each profession, the net-aggregate value it creates for the country or the relative weightage that the the CA’s contribution to national net-worth is able to command relative to the that of the others?
1. Let’s start with Doctors .
The size of the Medical and Health care industry sector in India’s total GDP is easily measured and published in the public domain .
*The Indian healthcare market, which was valued at US$ 110 billion in 2016 is now projected to reach US$ 638 billion by 2025.
*The healthcare sector, as of 2024, is one of India’s largest employers, employing a total of 7.5 million people.
* India’s public expenditure on healthcare touched 2.1 % of GDP in FY23 and 2.2% in FY22, against 1.6% in FY21, as per the Economic Survey 2022-23.
2. Next, let’s take a look at State Bank of India …. (whose employees often pride themselves to be the first ranking amongst the Bankers of India!)
The State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest lender in India and makes up around 25% of the market share. SBI’s balance-sheet size was Rs 52 lakh crore ($675 billion) as of September 2022. In comparison, the total outstanding loans of Indian banks stood at ₹130.4 trillion, or 50.3% of GDP, while total bank deposits have jumped to ₹175.4 trillion, or 67.6% of the GDP, by September 2022.
3. Now, for a quantifiable assessment of the enormous contribution that the highly professional and very large cadre of India’s Taxmen (assessing officers, field investigators, enforcers, arbitrators, commissioners, advocates etc.) make to the national exchequer:
Just one self-explanatory infographic chart tells us the whole story:
4. The contribution of the professional Architect to the national GDP is not so easily quantifiable… It’s most certainly not available readily on the internet powered by the most popular search-engine Meta. To my question posed on the matter, the answer that Meta returned to me was this :
5. Finally , let’s try to understand what exactly in real quantitative terms the contribution which the Chartered Accountancy professional brings to the table of India’s GDP.
Once again , I had no other credible option but to search the internet using Meta AI engine to discover the real net-value of the contribution that the CA profession is making to the nation’s wealth. Meta disappointed me with this message below:
I read the above stark message again and again and again … and the mixed feelings it aroused in me as a Charteted Accountant ranged from sadness to incredulity. It struck me as such supreme irony that the nation’s accountant who was otherwise entrusted with the profession job of maintaining the integrity and comprehensiveness of whole country’s books of accounts however had absolutely just no clue whatsoever about any measureable index of the true worth of his services, his toil and his sweat! He could not account for his own value to the country !
In a very gushing, self-congratulatory article written by a CA in 2021, a very young professional member, Sri.CA. Pushp Kumar Sahu wrote these following words which only underlines the cruelty of the ironic predicament in which the Indian Chartered Accountant finds himself:
Quote : “In India, CA’s are engaged in providing services right from the inception of the business till the closure of the business.
A business can never grow and prosper without a Chartered Accountant.
CA’s has played a very important and crucial role in Nation building, they are partners in building nation’s economy, that is the reason why CA’s have got special powers from the government and parliament for auditing of books of accounts.
In India only a CA can perform the work of Auditing of financial statements. Apart from auditing and accounting, CA’s are engaged in proper implementation of various tax laws in the country like recently CA’s has played a very important role in successful implementation of GST law by providing quality suggestions and consultancy to the government on timely basis.
On the occasion of GST implementation and CA Day i.e. 1stJuly, 2017 our Hon’ble Prime Minister i.e. Narendra Modi has delivered a wonderful speech and has told that a signature of CA is more powerful than the signature of PM.
Moreover many CA’s are engaged in providing consultancy to central and state government for making annual Union and State budgets.” Unquote
The young, idealistic CA Sri. Sahu however ends his article with a candid confession and apology couched in a couple of sentences syntactically stilted and constructed, embarrassingly, with scant respect to rules of English grammar:
“At last would like to conclude that role and contribution of Chartered Accountants in Indian Economy was unquantifiable and will continue in future also, will take Indian economy to new heights one day”.
The Indian CA’s plight of irony is there for anyone to see in Sri Sahu’s abject admission: “At last would like to conclude that role and contribution of Chartered Accountants in Indian Economy was unquantifiable and will continue in future also …. “
Difficult as it might be, I wish the ICAI (the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) whose Research Committee boasts of a formidable think-tank of eminent pundits and pedagogues must understand the idealism of young CAs like Sri Sahu. They should not be left in the lurch when it comes to enabling them to be able to assert and articulate clearly in the public square the true value of the service to the nation that their profession delivers. There has got to be a way , an index , a metric , any meaningful or significant statistical means to which any young Indian CA representing his professional status to the public at large should be able to refer to instantly and proudly claim while presenting his credentials.
The CA Institute must realise that when people want to know what contribution the profession is making to the Country, they are in effect saying , “Don’t tell me, show me!”. It then makes no sense at all to sheepishly and so abjectly mumble (as poor CA Sahu does): “we will take Indian Economy to great heights in future also…” but then, oh so sorry …. “ the role and contribution of Chartered Accountants in Indian Economy is unquantifiable….”
Come on ICAI ! Stand up for yourself and for the self-respect of your Members! Don’t give us the usual pablum about how “CAs have played a very important and crucial role in Nation building”, and how “they are partners in building nation’s economy….”. Spare us all the usual “blah-blah”, please, and tell us instead in pure and plain accounting terminology what exactly is the extent of our profession’s contribution to the material wealth and ethical worth of our country.
Sudarshan Madabushi . FCA
(CA membership no: 022178)