The Hindu Business Line : On Indian CAs looking for jobs in Kabul

`Suryanarayana was killed on Pak orders: Taliban,' CNN-IBN, India - three hours ago, reads a news feed at the time of writing this. Unfolding news, and more will be known on this in due course. So, let me take you back by a couple of weeks, to April 30, on which date CNN.com reported, `Indian hostage killed in Afghanistan.'

India was outraged. And professionals lost sleep thinking about their brethren in a foreign soil. Anxious to know about our chartered accountants in Afghanistan, I sent a mail, on May 1, to Mr T.N. Manoharan, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), with two questions: "How many Indian CAs are working in Afghanistan? Any idea about their safety?"

Strangely, the reply that came the next day read: "What is your suggestion about ICAI's role in ensuring safety in Afghanistan?"

In response, I clarified that my concern was about the accounting professionals who had gone from here to a country where violence was escalating all of a sudden. I put my poser in context, by citing what an earlier president of the Institute had announced in August 2004: "Opportunities are emerging in post-conflict situations. Many of you would also have seen the advertisement on our Web site by the Afghanistan Reconstruction and Development Agency."

The 2004 message expressed confidence that, beginning with the conversion of accounts of several agencies of the Afghanistan Government, the `opportunities' were on the rise."Those who can take advantage of these opportunities will certainly find themselves in an envious position as more post-conflict nations (perhaps Iraq in another three years) demand the services of professional chartered accountants to help them get back to normal," it continued. I wondered if Indian CAs had responded to that forceful call, delivered though not in commendable taste.

Meanwhile, trawling on the Net yielded a link to a press clipping of a job advertisement from the World Bank, posted on the ICAI's placements site (www.placements-icai.org, March 27). The ad was for `Financial Management Analyst'; and, worryingly, the `Location of Position' was `Kabul, Afghanistan.' An e-mail ID was given in the ad, and to that I sent the following mail: "I shall be happy if you can provide me with the following info: 1) Are there any Indian CAs in the employ of the World Bank already, in Afghanistan? 2) What has been the response of Indian CAs to the above ad? Number of CAs who have applied ... I've marked a copy of this mail to the President of the ICAI for info."

Response was super-fast. "We had an Indian CA in World Bank Kabul office for two years. He left Kabul last month. And we have many Indian applicants for the FMA position. We have received around 40 Indian CAs for this position."

E&OE@TheHindu.co.in

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