ICAI has around 2.10 lakh members at present
More than one lakh
students join the chartered accountancy course every year with 45 to 50
per cent of them being girls. This was mainly due to the lower education
costs for pursuing CA when compared to other professional courses,
according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)
president Jaydeep Narendra Shah.
While the ICAI had around 2.10
lakh members at present, a total of 10 lakh students were currently
pursuing the course in various centres across the country. Besides 21
chapters in foreign countries, this apex body of chartered accountants
had five regional head quarters, 128 branches and 275 CPE study centres,
making it one of the largest organisations.
SEMINAR
He
was addressing a continuing professional education (CPE) seminar held in
the city on Sunday as part of `Vithagam' seminar series organised by
the Coimbatore Branch of Southern India Regional Council (SIRC), ICAI.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Lauding
the infrastructure at new ICAI Bhavan in Coimbatore, a 34,000
sq.ft-large building with modern IT facilities inaugurated a year back,
he said that these were required for development of the profession.
The
ICAI had now made mandatory 100 hours of training in information
technology besides 15 days in general management and communication
skills (GMCS) and 35 hours of orientation.
Further, another 125
to 150 hours of training in SAP, banking software and other advanced
audit tools have also been just approved by the council, he added.
K.
Jalapathi, chairman, Coimbatore branch, said that around 4,000 students
from Pollachi, Udumalpet, Coimbatore, Mettupalayam and the Nilgiris
were pursuing CA through the Coimbatore Branch, which had a around 1,350
members.
P. Viswanathan, secretary, ICAI; Shah Dhinal
Ashvinbhai, Central Council Member, ICAI; G. Ramaswamy, past president
of ICAI; K. Shanmukha Sundaram, past chairman, SIRC of ICAI; A. Sai
Prasad, a chartered accountant from Bangalore, and a resource person for
the seminar, spoke.