ICA Needs to Reform

Indian Commerce Association (ICA) is one of the oldest academic associations that has been known to uphold the best traditions in Commerce and Management research by integrating the teaching fraternity and researchers from all over India. It has been responsible for creating an ecosystem that addresses the dynamic challenges of Business Studies encouraging the best research practices. Not only that it has been able to bring the best minds in Commerce together and share their methodologies with the young scholars and keep them on the right academic track.It has been able to do this by organising the annual ICA Conferences unhindered for 75 years without a break.This itself speaks about the vision of the founding fathers who saw the future well in past and invested the scholarship to take Commerce education to new heights of excellence. Another instrument that has made it possible for the innovative researchers to publish their original works is the ICA journal.But there is a dilution in maintaining this tradition. Over the years it has shifted its focus from quality to quantity.It invites research papers from the teaching fraternity and researchers from across India and even abroad. But it has no mechanism to segment the contributions.The focus has shifted from upholding quality research to generating revenue.The focus is on registration that involves the depositing the fee for the Annual Conference.These Annual Conferences are held every year at different venues all over India and for this there is a process to select the venue for this annual event.As the focus has shifted from maintaining the academic standard and encouraging the promising researchers to generate revenue to render the conference to a travel and tourism event.The delegates register for this conference to visit the new destination areas in the state or UT where the venue is decided.This year’s Annual Conference is being held at Udaipur, Rajasthan.In the last one decade the standard of the ICA conference has been reduced to a Kumbh Mela where people gather for the sake of a mere gathering.It can be witnessed from the paper presentations where papers that have no quality in terms of research are entertained.Not only that when paper presenters are invited for the presentation then are given nearly two minutes to present the papers.This is something worth seeing..A research paper is rendered into a two minute advertisement and researchers whole work goes down the drain. This year the message has multiplied. The ICA is duty bound to provide the accommodation to the registered delegates and their accompanying persons who are registered beforehand. In this case mostly the people who arrived together as a team are authors and co authors.Even after the payment of online registration only one author was given conference kits and certificates that is a mockery. This created a ruckus. The some life members questioned this unethical practices and managed to drive wisdom into the minds of the organisers but it didn’t solve this issue.There is an urgent need to do introspection on the part of ICA to save the Association from degradation.Moreover the Life Members must assert and unite at the national level and zone level to uphold the prestigious tradition in Commerce and Management research.The ICA must not render the Association into a mere annual election holding body turning it into a theatre of politics to seek the posts and focus on making serious contribution to Commerce education.Life Members must vote for acclaimed and innovative academicians and researchers from across the nation to save ICA from imminent issue of division in the Association.As dejection is taking root among the Life Members all over India.