India's President Murmu sees practicing women CAs over 50% by 2047

India's President Droupadi Murmu expects the percentage of practicing women chartered accountants to be over 50% by 2047, the time when the country would mark 100 years of its independence.

"I have been told that currently, the percentage of women chartered accountants who qualify exam is around 42%. I hope that by 2047, when the country would mark 100 years of its independence and your (CA) Institute would also be nearing 100 years, then by that time percentage of practicing women Chartered Accountants would be over 50%.” Murmu said on the occasion of the 75th Chartered Accountants’ Day at an event held by the regulator, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

It is to be noted that July 1, 2023 marks 75 years of the CA profession. The ICAI is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament back in 1949.

“You would all agree that women are usually successful finance managers or accountants. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is an example of this. As you are aware in India, savings in households has been a ritual. Especially it the habit of women to save for rainy days,” Murmu said.

Need for collaboration

The President admitted that Indian accountancy firms have not yet reached the stature of big multinational accounting firms, and highlighted that they should think about regulations of different fields and collaborate with law firms.

Technology

President Murmu emphasized the importance of technology for the accounting profession in the times to come. She said as the use of artificial intelligence will gain more traction, data mining through machines will bring significant changes in the structures of auditing and accounting. Technology will help expose wrongdoings, she added. The ICAI should use technology to implement correct and ethical practices in the profession, she stressed.

The President also spoke about the unique document identification number (UDIN) which the ICAI has recently developed to facilitate its members for verification and certification of documents. As of 13th June, around 5.06 crore UDINs have been generated and over 1.39 lakh members have registered themselves on UDIN Portal.