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D. Murali

YEARS after much was in the news about the goings-on in the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), there is finally some action from the Department of Company Affairs (DCA).

A show-cause notice has gone to Sudder Street, asking the Institute to state why it should not be dissolved for certain acts of non-compliance of the directions of the Central Government.

There is talk about deterioration in the Institute's financial position and decline in the number of student registrations.

Of expenditure shooting beyond income, and office-bearers travelling beyond means. Plus malpractices in exam results. For the thousands of cost accountants on the membership register of the ICWAI, this must be a sad day.

One can reason that it is the council that may ultimately get the boot, not the professional body as such, because that would be like throwing bathwater plus the bucket.

There would also be the brave who take heart in today's news where the Election commission has issued show-cause notice to the Congress asking it why its national party status should not be suspended or withdrawn for having violated the model code of conduct.

It is quite probable that parties continue after violations, just as people survive warrants, companies live after restructuring, patients outlive doctors, and professional bodies endure elected members.

Which is why it may not be all right to think of the ICWAI in the past tense, even as we get ready to bid adieu to the council incumbents who brought the edifice down.

However, much blame may lie on the DCA too for not having performed its overseeing function a bit too promptly. Its own legislation, the company law, keeps doing a yo-yo every now and then.

The latest experiment, the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2003, beat a retreat after much fanfare, though queerly, the DCA continues to invite suggestion on the Bill. And the link that the DCA has provided for the ICWAI does not work.

In an age where survival depends on how much one can cut costs, it is apt to think of reengineering the ICWAI as a body that focuses on the best cost-practices. Also, the qualification should work for moulding cost managers, rather than cost accountants.

hindubusinessline@hotmail.com

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