Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh ji; Hon’ble Minister for Corporate Affairs, Shri Prem Chand Gupta ji; Hon’ble Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Shri K. Rahman Khan ji; my Vice-President Shri Uttam Prakash Agarwal, Secretary of the Institute Dr. Ashok Haldia, my colleagues in the Council, Past Presidents, fellow professionals, Hon’ble Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Shri Anurag Goel ji, other dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen!

Good morning and welcome to you all.

We are extremely honoured that on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, we are blessed with the august presence of the Hon’ble Prime Minister. Friends, we all know Hon’ble Prime Minister as a well renowned economist, a man of few words, a man who has with his unique zeal and meticulous planning, catapulated India into one of the fastest growing economies of the world; A man who is selfless, is a thinker, is a doer, is a leader and a man who inspires one and all. A man who has only one mission; To take India forward; To make every Indian - a proud Indian. Hon’ble Prime Minister, you are an ideal for many many of us and we are overwhelmed with your presence and we heartily welcome you.

We are also delighted to have the august presence of Hon’ble Minister of Corporate Affairs, Shri P.C. Gupta ji. “A dynamic minister, the one who has been able to bridge the gap between the corporate sector and the Government. by making and implementing a revolutionary programme MCA-21, the biggest e-Governance programme in the country. We heartily welcome you, Sir.

We are specially delighted to have with us Hon’ble Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Shri Rahman Khan ji. We are proud to have you with us – a distinguished humble man, holding such a high office – a qualified Chartered Accountant – a member of our Institute. This goes on to prove that today Chartered Accountants are and can be, in any important position, be it in private sector or Government.

Hon’ble Prime Minister, our Institute is the single largest educational institute in the country. We have during the last 60 years, produced 1,45,000 brilliant Chartered Accountants and today, we have more than 3,50,000 young men & women registered with us as students, who are aspiring to be Chartered Accountants of tomorrow. We are, therefore, a family of 5,00,000 members.

Sir, our educational curriculum is one of the best in the world, the most cost effective and available to all strata of society across India. Our accounting and professional norms are well integrated with the global norms of accounting, auditing and governance.

Sir, the spectacular growth of Indian economy has lead to enormous increase in the demand of qualified chartered accountants and accounting professionals, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, with the support and under the guidance of Ministry of Corporate Affairs is doing its’ best to meet this requirement. Today, Indian Chartered accountants are much in demand in India and globally, and more than 10,000 chartered accountants are working in different parts of the world.

Sir, apart from accounting and auditing, we at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, understanding our social responsibility, are fully committed to take up the social aspects as well.

We have a Committee on Government Accounting and on Public Finance to study and make policy suggestions for improvement in public finances at Central and State Governments. Our Institute is working with different Ministries of the Central and State Governments, sector specific regulators and we are providing policy inputs and assistance in resource mobilization, management of public expenditure, implementation of economic reforms, e-governance, simplification and rationalization of taxes.

Hon’ble Prime Minister Sir, today on our Diamond Jubilee day, we commit ourselves to provide the best of accounting education and re-dedicate ourselves to give transparent and truthful accounting, audit and governance service to the industry and the Nation. On this historic and momentous day, each one of our 500,000 fraternity, commit to uphold the best of our declared norms as listed in our charter and we shall continue to support the Government and be a helping hand in your dream and vision to make India an economically and socially strong and proud Nation.

Hon’ble Prime Minister Sir, we are blessed with your presence and we whole-heartedly welcome you. I request you all to please join me in welcoming the Hon’ble Prime Minister.

Jai Hind!