The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), which was zealously maintaining its quality by limiting the number of chartered accountants should try to increased its members as the nation needed them, said Nirmala Sitharaman, union minister of state for commerce and industry, on Saturday. 

She was speaking at the 46th regional council of the southern India regional council (SIRC) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI) here on Saturday. The minister said that there was a lack of good-quality, dedicated chartered accountants to support various institutions on the path to development. `Most institutes find the going very tough, due to lack of guidance from good chartered accountants,' she said. It is time for the chartered accountants to understand that they were indispensable in every field, said, adding that more number of professionals needed to be produced to meet the demand. 

The greater issues in the trajectory of chartered accountants should be to support the Prime Minister's initiatives to uplift the country from its economic dormancy, she said. "You have found the right PM," she commented. She touched upon the ICAI's demands to amend the Companies Act and called the goods and service tax (GST) an absolute necessity. The chartered accountant's body should be equipped to meet the needs of the Act, she said. 

The international financial reporting standards (IFRS), which will come into effect from 2016 and be made mandatory by 2017, will help improve their international compatibility, she said, adding that it will ensure transparency and the chartered accountants would enable the creation of this transparency. 

She advised that chartered accountants who guided corporates on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) should ensure that the activities are used to transform India. It should be used to transform social causes and not just for beautifying a roundabout near their premises, she said. (Times of India)