The Chartered Accountant

own residential Centre of Excellence at Jaipur,
the foundation stone of which was laid in September,
2008, is going on and I am confident
that this Centre of Excellence will become operational
by next year. This will help us in making
the 3-month residential course mandatory
for all CA students before they are admitted as
members of the Institute.
Residential Course for Senior Members
at Hyderabad
The aforementioned three-month residential
programme for students and newly qualified
members was started to groom chartered accountants
into a class of matchless professionals.
However, at the same time there is a pressing
need to ensure that senior members who
did not have the opportunity of undergoing
such a residential course, both in industry and
practice, also have an opportunity to enhance
their competitive competence and communication
skills as well as their practical skills and
professional and leadership abilities. Accordingly,
it has been decided to start residential programmes
of short duration for senior members
as well and to have a Centre of Excellence for
them. I am very happy to inform you that the
ICAI’s first such Centre of Excellence is going
to be inaugurated at Hyderabad by the end of
December, 2008. This Centre of Excellence at
Hyderabad is spread over about three acres of
land and is being equipped to have world-class
facilities for holding a top level residential programme.
This Centre of Excellence at Hyderabad
has been conceptualized to be a landmark
in the field of education and training, a learning
and research hub for accountancy in India, and
also a centre to help formulate economic and
financial policies. In the Diamond Jubilee year
of its service to the nation, this will indeed be
yet another feather in the ICAI’s cap.
Revamped Online Payment System
It has been our constant endeavour to improve
the functioning of the systems in the Institute
to suit modern-day requirements. As part of
this process, the online payment system of the
Institute has been totally revamped to facilitate
easy and real time online payments towards
membership fees, enrollment of members,
registration of students, registration for examination,
ordering of publications, registration
DECEMBER 2008 948 THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT
FROM THE PRESIDENT
for conferences/seminars, registration for elearning
courses, donations if any and many
other services being offered by the Institute.
I may assure you that the new online services
portal is highly reliable and user-friendly payment
gateway.
Need to fulfil CPE Requirements
As you know, the main objective of the Continuing
Professional Education (CPE) requirements,
which are mandatory for all members
of the Institute with effect from 1st January
2008, is to enhance the skills and capabilities
of the professionals. Tremendous efforts are
being put to fulfill this objective of CPE by
organizing a series of programmes in different
areas of professional and related activities for
the benefit of members. During the period 1st January, 2008 to 10th November this year, the
total number of CPE hours generated has been
a mammoth 7,65,000. Even more encouraging
is the fact that out of the total membership
of 69,582 holding Certificate of Practice
(excluding the senior members and members
residing abroad) around 14,000 members have
already completed the minimum requirement
of 20 CPE hours in the calendar year 2008
much before the stipulated time. I congratulate
all such members for completing the CPE
requirements so enthusiastically.
However, I am concerned about a large number
of members who have apparently not
taken the CPE requirements seriously. It is
disturbing to note that despite the fact that
first calendar year 2008 of the rolling threeyear
period 2008-2010 is nearing its close,
many members are yet to initiate the process
of acquiring CPE hours for 2008. I appeal to
all such members to complete CPE Credit requirement
for the calendar year 2008 and plan
their work schedules for 2009 in such a manner
that they complete the CPE requirements
comfortably throughout the year instead of
making a last minute rush for the same in the
last months. Completing the CPE Credit requirements
hurriedly, just for the sake of it, is
hardly desirable. This defeats the very purpose
of the CPE and is not in the interest of the
profession.
You could verify the number of CPE credit
hours earned by you through the CPE Portal,