Dear Member,

We are just round the corner of the year 2005. Soon we well usher in the year 2006, make New Year resolutions (which are seldom followed and broken most of the times). I am sure you will make New Year resolutions too. Let your resolutions be to towards service and growth - to serve to your family, your profession and the society and the under privileged ones. Let your resolutions be for your personal growth in terms of adding new skills, learning and sharing.

In retrospection, since I have assumed this august office I have been thinking about the growth of the Chamber. Leaders create an enterprise for long term. Leaders are stewards of legacies inherited from the past. The Chamber has a rich past and very illustrious leaders. Ours is an enduring organisation and we need to uphold and sustain the rich traditions which have been set. Our past leaders have been people of high values, character, ethics, beliefs, and integrity. My respect to them for being a guiding force.

I once read Peter Drucker I quote "The leader of the past knew how to tell, the leader of the future should know how to ask". Today I ask myself "What needs to be done?" What needs to be achieved?" One needs to listen and learn from everyone. Friends, I ask you these questions. Let us put our minds and hand together to forge ahead. We will need the courage to accept the thing which we can not change.

Successive Prime Ministers and Finance Ministers have emphasised the need for the next generation of reforms across a wide varieties of sectors. Particularly every Finance Minister has very proudly announced the simplification and rationalisation of the fiscal laws. In the garb of rationalisation, the fiscal laws have been made more complex and arithmetically difficult. The government’s anxiety to raise revenue with haste has made life of businessmen and the tax payers more difficult. The Finance Ministry had launched a media campaign recently to ensure better compliance of law. But some how one gets the impression the government has a desire a install ‘fear’ in the minds of tax payer rather than having an "assessee friendly" image. Promoting an assessee friendly image will bring in better rewards to the Department.

To promote fellowship amongst the members, a picnic has been arranged for members and their family on 8th January 2006. Please enrol alongwith your family and friends. The next 29th RRC in mid February 2006, is at Hyderabad at a very glamorous location of "The Ramoji Film City". A mix of education, entertainment, thrilling experience of visiting the world’s largest film city. I am sure you will enrol and join us and be a part of the excitement.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year.