"Indian economy is buoyant, strong and has kept recession at bay and to keep the progress going, the contribution of chartered accountants is important.

They must act as the watchdogs of economy and contribute to nation building," S S N Moorthy, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes, has said.

He was the chief guest at the valedictory function of Jnana Marga 2010, the 42nd regional conference of Southern India Regional Council (SIRC) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), here on Sunday.

He added that the contribution of CAs to nation building and the loyalty to the client should be delicately balanced.

In his opinion, the name Jnana Marga is very apt for the conference as a lot of changes will be introduced in tax laws and accounting standards in the next two years and CAs will have to keep learning to keep themselves abreast of the changes.

Thomas Chazhikadan MLA, a chartered accountant himself, also spoke on the occasion.

Endorsing the opinion of Moorthy, he said that "with income tax laws, sales tax laws and accounting standards poised to change in the near future, it is time for CAs to learn, relearn and unlearn if we want to excel in our profession." In his opinion, with all the changes being introduced in tax laws, government officials should also be properly informed.

He suggested that the institute should think of discussing with the government about providing guidance, advice or training to government and semi-government institutions in tax-related matters.

C A Babu Abraham Kallivayalil, chairman-SIRC, Shanmukha Sundaram vice-chairman, SIRC, and conference committee members V X Jose and Vivek Krishna Govind also attended the function.