SAMARTHA, 16th Karnataka state-level conference of Chartered Accountants (CAs) was inaugurated by honourable Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Sri Venkatrao Nadagouda along with CA Jomon George, Chairman of SIRC at Jnana Jyoti Auditorium, Central College Campus, Palace Road, Bengaluru on 10th June 2019.

The two-day conference is organised by the Bangalore branch of SIRC of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), jointly with 7 other branches (Belagavi, Ballari, Kalaburgi, Hubballi, Udupi, Mangaluru and Mysore) and 6 CPE Chapters (Vijayapura, Shivamogga, Rayachooru, Bagalakote, Daavanagere and Sirsi.)

Speaking after the inauguration, Minister Nadgonda said that it is pertinent that the common public must be educated about GST and other taxes related issues in Agricultural sector. Agriculture is the most neglected sector in India. Only 2.8 lakh CA are serving in the agriculture sector at present and there is a need for more than 5 lakh CA in the sector, he added. He also noted the need to educate farmers as they singlehandedly manage every aspect of farming - from buying seeds till selling the finished product in the market. The minister further said that the recent push from the government has resulted in educating farmers to manage their finances with the help of CAs in the country.

CA Dayaniwas Sharma, Central Council Member, ICAI said that Samarth has been taking great initiatives to ensure that the services of CAs is easily available to governments, ministries, corporate and citizen of the country. He said initiatives such as introducing Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN), launch of SSP Portal for the members and students, Digital Accounting and Assurance Board (DAAB), one of the world’s first formal body on the digital accounting and assurance to strengthen the courses of the system and forensics to take it to the next level in world recognition, SAP training to be introduced for members and after the successful implementation of GST, the members will be signing the GST audit reports.

CA Shivram Shankar Bhatt, Chairman, Bengaluru branch of SIRC of ICAI, said that Samartha aims to keep the community updated about happenings in field of Chartered Accountancy. Bhatt said that ICAI is opening up opportunities for CA professionals in India and the across the world. He added that after understanding the potential and the pressure from globalisation, the association is ready to offer its services directly to other nations. He also expressed confidence that Bengaluru will be soon considered as one of the CA cities of the world.

Several eminent and renowned speakers like CA Abdhul Majeed, member of Governance Board, PwC India, Central Council Member, CA Daya Nivas Sharma from Hyderabad, CA Amar Dutia from Melborne Australia, Prof. KS Narayanacharya, senior Advocate CA A Shankar, CA Guruprasad and CA Gururaj Acharya participated and shared their expertise in the conference.

The mega conference Samartha is being held in Karnataka for the past 15 years. This year, more than 1,000 CAs from all over Karnataka and other states attended the conference.