The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India entered into its 50th year of service to the nation on the 1st of July, 1998. The Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Institute were inaugurated by Hon'ble Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee on this day at the Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi. Hon'ble Shri Suresh P Prabhu, Minister for Environment & Forests and Shri Vijay Goel, Member of Parliament also graced the occasion. The inaugural function was followed by Panel Discussion on `Positioning India as a Global Economic Power'. Hon'ble Shri Yashwant Sinha, Finance Minister delivered the Keynote address. Subsequently Prof. Y.K. Alagh, Former Minister of State for Power, Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Finance Secretary, Government of India, Mr. Subodh Bhargava, Group Chairman, Eicher, Mr. T.N. Ninan, Editor, Business Standard and Mr. P.M. Narielwala, Former President, ICAI participated in the panel discussion.

Speaking at the inaugural session the Prime Minister said there was need to introduce transparency and accountability in Government spending on development scheme, and sought the advise of Chartered Accountants in monitoring the end-use of public funds.

Referring to the matter relating to the proposal of imposing service tax on Chartered Accountants, raised by Shri Rahul Roy, the then President, in his welcome speech, the Prime Minister said "I am not the Finance Minister. I did not impose it. So I can not withdraw it. I can recommend your case very strongly to the Finance Minister. Kindly show me the way in which service tax will remain intact but Chartered Accountants will be out of it." He urged the Chartered Accountants to develop technical excellence comparable to International Standards while maintaining high ethical standards.

Hon'ble Shri Suresh Prabhu in his address described Chartered Accountants as the book-keepers of the nation and Mr. Vajpayee as the Conscience keeper of the nation. He then went on to disclose that the Government was toying with the idea of introducing environmental audit to ensure environmental compliance by companies.

Shri Vijay Goel, Member of Parliament from Chandni Chowk, Delhi recalled how he had been tempted to become a Chartered Accountant as a student at Shri Ram College of Commerce and said "But the fact that people cleared the examination after several attempts, scared me away". He urged the Chartered Accountants to help in nation building by checking growth of black money. On the issue of service tax, he urged the government to review the matter.

Shri Yashwant Sinha in his thematic address on 'Positioning India as Global Economic Power' said
The estimate of $ 2 Billion to cost India because of sanctions imposed by some countries following the nuclear tests is doubtful. He added that India was not ready to be dictated by anyone in any field. He said "We must be in the position to earn respect from others, which is possible only if we can get over our perceived weaknesses". As regards the issue of service tax, the Finance Minister said that his Ministry is giving a fresh look on the issue of service tax in the wake of representations received by the government since the announcement of the Union Budget 1998-99. He indicated that a final decision to this effect will be taken after giving due consideration to the revenue requirement of the government. He said "We do not want to create road block and want to take the country forward"

Shri P.M. Narielwala Past President of ICAI said
Economic power is far more relevant in today's world than military power. He said "In order to turn into an economic power it is necessary that manpower training in India undergoes a sea change, most people in India are unemployable as they lack technical skills". He further stated "Education in India has to undergo a drastic change, people with BAs and MAs are no good in a modern industrial state, they lack technical skills,".

Talking about accounting standards, Shri Narielwala said Indian companies will gradually have to move to towards globally acceptable accounting standards. 'The problem in introducing GAAP at the moment is because banks and institutions do not accept consolidated accounts', he said. 'Under GAAP deferred tax accounting will not be possible which will leave no room for tax measurers like MAT', he added.

Prof. Y. K Alagh, Economist and Rajya Sabha member said
The country cannot turn into a global power unless there is a vision for doing so. "We cannot wish global player status on ourselves, appropriate conditions have to be created, "he said. Industry in India cannot compete against global industry unless interest rates in India are comparable with the developed world, he remarked. One of the primary pre-requisite is a financial system which can compete with the rest of the world, he added.

There are several strengths which have built India and which can be used for its future growth, he said. 'India has the only fast-breeder reactor in the world at Kalpakkam which runs on Thorium, we can use our proficiency in nuclear technology to solve the power problem' he underscored. "We have to take stock of our achievements, India's life expectancy is as good as that of South Korea and better than that of other south-east Asian countries.". he said.

Representing industry, Shri Subodh Bhargava Group Chairman and CEO Eicher said Indian Industry has developed several strength . It is good in operational matters and it has attained a certain proficiency in developing appropriate technology, he said. These strengths must be leveraged by the country for building its own economic model, he added.