Thursday, November 27, 2014

CESA SALUTES MARTYR HEROES OF 26/11 & CONDEMN CRIMINAL FAVOURITISM



                                                                                                                                                              Ref:     CESA/86/2014
                                                                                                                                                              Date:   26.11.2014


Ms. MALA SRIVASTAVA,
Hon’ble Member, Customs, CBEC,
Incharge of Mumbai Zone,
New Delhi.

Respected Madam,

            Sub: - Functioning and concern of senior officers in most sensitive Customs Preventive Commissionerate, Mumbai – reg.

            Today, the country and Mumbai is in the mourning mood to commemorate the 26/11 tragedy in Mumbai, wherein several innocent people were killed and top cops of Mumbai police lost their lives because their weapons were inappropriate and they were in short of equipments.  Yesterday the High Court of Bombay severely came out on the weapon policy of the State Government.  But we have not learnt any lesson from the tragic incident and have not geared up to tackle similar situation. 
 2.        Madam, CESA Mumbai, vide its letter dated 22.09.2014 requested the Commissioner (Customs) Preventive, not to keep the post of divisional Assistant Commissioner in the field vacant or give any additional charge to those officers and post them in Mumbai.  On 31st October 2014, adequate number of Assistant Commissioners was posted in each formation.  However, the position of both the divisions’ viz., Bassein and Alibaug, remains, as it is.  CESA was compelled to take up the issue with the CC Customs vide its letter dated 13.11.2014.  But in vain.  Therefore CESA is constrained to take up your valuable time to appraise the situation.  Both the divisions are known for their notoriety and several landings have been reported and several seizures have taken in the past.  But it is unfortunate for the sake of penutary benefits both the divisional ACs were given additional charge and have been kept in Headquarters.  In the field JSP, NRP, DRP are carried out regularly and for any petty work officers from the Divisions are coming to Mumbai for Orders.  Being a preventive organization such type of arrangement is dangerous to the formation.  CESA can say, this is a criminal favour with a malafide intention and defeating the very purpose of the post sanctioned for the division office.

3.         Madam, Mumbai people are going to observe 26/11 anniversary but if these things come to the knowledge of the public and that nothing has been learnt from 1993 and 26/11 incidents, the pointing finger will be towards the department and for that ‘who is responsible’, is the question which is to be introspected. With deep regret and anguish we bring it to your kind notice and request to make the formation and authority responsive to such things such lapses will not be ignored by public again and again so not to play with national security for the comfort of some senior officers.
            Thanking you,
                                  Yours sincerely,



                                     A.K. Sasmal
                                                                                                                           General Secretary
Encl: As above. 

DEDICATED FORCE REDUCED LIKE A FARCE.



                                                                                                                                                              Ref:     CESA/85/2014
                                                                                                                                                              Date:   26.11.2014


Ms. MALA SRIVASTAVA,
Hon’ble Member, Customs, CBEC,
Incharge of Mumbai Zone,
New Delhi.

Respected Madam,

            Sub: - Creation of Infrastructure Cell in Mumbai to implement CR smoothly and office of own for CC Service Tax’s office, Service Tax
                        commissionerate I to VII, Service Tax Audit Commissionerate - Reg.

            Kindly find enclosed herewith our letter Ref. No. CESA/82/2014 dated 20.11.2014 addressed to the Chief Commissioner Central Excise Mumbai Zone –I & II on the above subject matter.  CR was projected and got approved and rolled out with an intention to yield more revenue as well as to improve the career progression of the staff.  Mumbai Service Tax zone, which fetches 30% of the total revenue, has strategically failed in all front, to provide even basic facilities to the staff who are supposed to strive their best for more revenue to the exchequer. 

2.         In paper, two Commissionerates of Service tax has been split to seven Commissionerates and three Audit Commissionerates and two more Audit Commissionerates for central Excise and one Audit Commissionerate for LTU Mumbai.  Orders have been issued, lower staff has been posted and relieved and additional charges of the Commissionerates is given to the current Commissionerates to run the affairs.  The intention of the Board is not to humiliate the staff rather to motivate the staff so that their services can be properly utilized to the optimum. 
 3.        Service Tax needs around 4 lakhs sq. ft for its office premises.  Around 1 lakh sq. ft is in the pipeline. And there is no proposal for the remaining 3 lakh sq. ft.  Space cannot be shaped, cannot be created can only be acquired through rent or on lease basis.  Can your goodself, being an incharge of the zone, allow to run the sorry state of affairs, like this. 
 4.        The third quarter of the financial year is going on and the last quarter is fast approaching, but the officers of the Service Tax do not have an office of their own, computers, and other infrastructure, forget about offering hospitality to the trade as well as housing facility for the staff.  The position of the officers, is worse than a chicken in a poultry farm, even they have some space in the baskets.  But the officers having put in 20 to 30 years of service are at the mercy of others.  On the other hand austerity on any count is not visible as far as the seniors are concerned, which aggravates the agony and frustrations, further. 

5.         Madam, being incharge of Mumbai Zone we request that our suggestion of creating an infrastructure cell at Mumbai directly reporting to DGHRD and to expedite the matters of hiring of building for newly created offices and providing the basic infrastructure in that for smooth functioning is extremely necessary.  Targets are fixed to achieve revenue from Mumbai but not for improving the working conditions, needs immediate attention.

6.         CESA, Mumbai requests your goodself to bestow some time for this very basic and genuine problem which directly leaves an impact and tarnish the image of the Department and also effect the tax collection, substantially.
            Thanking you,
                             Yours sincerely,



                                 A.K. Sasmal
                                                                                                                        General Secretary

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

SIMPLICITY OR COMPLEXITY ??



IT IS AN INSULT TO THOSE WHO HAS TOILED HARD TO ROLL OUT CR, THE DIGNITY IS LOST, HUMILIATION BECOME A TREND & DEDICATED WORKFORCE REDUCING LIKE A FARCE.
---NO VISION OR IS IT A CLEAR INTENTION TO INSULT &HUMILIATE THE CADRE THOSE WHO ARE ASPIRING FOR PROMOTION----


Sunday, November 23, 2014

AADHAR BASED BIO-METRIC ATTENDANCE SYSTEM FOR ALL CENTRAL GOVT EMPLOYEES BEFORE 26.1.2015

No: 11013/9/2014- Estt (A-III)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training

New Delhi, dated 21st November 2014.

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Sub: Introduction of AADHAR Enabled Bio-metric Attendance System

It has been decided to use an AADHAR Enabled Bio-metric Attendance System (AEBAS) in all offices of the Central Government, including attached/ sub-ordinate Offices, in India. The system will be installed in the offices located in Delhi/ New Delhi by 31st December 2014. In other places this may be installed by 26th January 2015

2. The equipment will be procured by the Ministries/ Departments as per specifications of DeitY on DGS&D Rate Contract from authorized vendors. The expenditure will be met by the Ministries/ Departments concerned under their O.E. The manual system of attendance may be phased out accordingly.

3. The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) will provide the technical guidance for installing the system. The equipment already procured by DeitY have a built in AMC of three years. The Ministries/ departments may ensure that the equipment being procured by them have similar provision.

4. Biometric attendance system is only an enabling platform. There is no change in the instructions relating to office hours, late attendance etc. which will continue to apply. As per extant instructions, (contained in DoPT O.M. No: 28034/8/75- Estt-A dated 04-07-1975; No:28034/10/75-Estt-A dated 27-08-1975; No: 28034/3/82 —Estt-A dated 05-03-1982) half—a-day’s Casual Leave should be debited for each day of late attendance, but late attendance upto an hour, on not more than two occasions in a month, and for justifiable reasons may be condoned by the competent authority. In addition to debiting Casual Leave (or Earned Leave, when no CL is available). Disciplinary action may also be taken against government servants who are habitually late. Early leaving is also to be treated in the same manner as late coming.

5. These orders come into force with immediate effect.
6. All Ministries/ Departments are requested to bring this to the notice of all concerned.

(J.A Vaidyanathan)  

Director (Establishment)

Thursday, November 20, 2014

SPECIAL INFRASTRUCTURE CELL

Before Reorganization of the commissionerates, CESA requested to have an ADG, HRM office for Mumbai so that all the infrastructure related work can be processed smoothly and expeditiously as the Bombay is having acute shortage of  office Space as well as staff quarters. Board has ignored the request reason is best known to them as they do not want to de-centralize their authority, however CESA continues to strive for better infrastructure. Latest communication is as under:
Shri V. S. Krishnan
The Hon’ble Chief Commissioner,
Central Excise Zone I & Service Tax zone,
Mumbai.
Respected Sir,

            Sub:   Request for creation of infrastructure cell for the new Service Tax
                        Commissionerates and Audit Commissionerates – Reg.

            Consequent upon the implementation of the CR and reorganization of the Commissionerates of the zones in Mumbai, Trade notice was issued by the respective CC’s of Zone I and Zone II.  Accordingly new Commissionerates have been formed, i.e the two Service Tax Commissionerates have been split into 7 Service Tax Commissionerates and 3 ST-Audit Commissionerates.  Service Tax I and II Commissionerates are functioning on as and where is basis, without acquiring or occupying any new premises.  Transfer orders posting the officers to the newly formed ST Commissionerates have been issued.  The officers who have joined their new postings do not even have any place to sit.   
The space position in LTU, Mumbai, is also alarming and it has been aggravated further with the formation of new Mumbai LTU-Audit Commissionerate, which needs immediate attention for smooth Administration. 
            As per the requirement, excluding the present occupied space, we further require around 4.0 lakhs sq. ft approximately. We appreciate your constant monitoring and follow-up with the Board, due to which the proposal for acquiring Lotus building was sanctioned.  Even after considering the space which we will acquire through Lotus building, we still fall short of about 3.65 lakh sq. ft of space.
            Sir, the work-load of Service Tax is already beyond manageable levels and both the Commissioners, Shri. Sushil Solankhiji and Shri R. Sekharji, are somehow managing the show by putting in more hours over & above the office hours, even on weekly holidays and it would be unfair to expect them to spare any more time for additional infrastructure issues. Therefore, for the convenience of the staff, trade and administration, it is requested to form an Infrastructure Committee for identifying, processing & follow-up of infrastructure issues exclusively to cater to the requirement of present infrastructure requirements.


            The proposal to acquire the premises at AIR INDIA building for Service Tax and MTNL building at Borivali & Thane for Central Excise, Ist floor at ABHA building at Kalyan for Central Excise are still under process.  If all the proposals are centralized and monitored, then it will be easy to pass through all the formalities/checklist prescribed by the DGHRD and it will be easier to acquire them for our requirements. 
Sir, it will be worth mentioning, that after reorganization of the Commissionerates, we are striving to acquire new office premises, for their smooth functioning.  It is also true that we are one step behind, in looking for office premises.  We are several steps behind, in looking for accommodation for the officers i.e. staff quarters/transit accommodation.  In Mumbai, newly joined officers of any cadre, cannot afford to acquire rental premises, leave alone purchase/have their own house.  Thus they are solely dependent on Government quarters or rental premises.  The rent for residence, in Mumbai, is so high that they are forced to go to far off suburbs, which increases their commute time apart from causing inconvenience, which will compel them to leave this department for other departments/for inter Commissionerate transfers to their native place under some pretext or other.
            The speed of growth of Service Tax is beyond manageable limits and we cannot wait for the completion of the Suleiman Estate project at Wadala.  The construction at Suleiman Estate has not yet started and its completion is not visible in the near likely future. Hence the consolation or advice to accommodate in the said project, is a distant dream; moreover Service Tax and Central Excise are jurisdiction based and not like Customs which is port or place based.           
            Mumbai Zone II, Pune Zone and DGCEI have issued advertisements for office premises, for their infrastructure requirements.  Similarly, an advertisement can be placed in the magazines for our seven new Service Tax commissionerates, three Service Tax Audit Commissionerates & two Service Tax Commissioner (Appeals).  Unless work is specifically assigned to some officers and they made responsible, there will not be any improvement on the infrastructure front, & we will unfortunately end in blaming each other and the end result is that the Service Tax Commissionerates will remain in the same pathetic state of affairs.
            CESA expects the above suggestions be considered judiciously and acted upon expeditiously and will create a committee/cell exclusively for infrastructure. This request is in consonance with the instructions of the Director General of DGHRD, made under letter F No.: D.O.No.924/16/Hiring/Cadre Restructuring/HRD/2013 dated 1st Oct. 2014. CESA will extend its fullest co-operation and render all sort of assistance in this regard. 
            Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,




A.K. Sasmal
General Secretary
Copy to:
1.   Commissioner, Central Excise, Mumbai I, Thane I, Thane II, Mumbai IV, for kind information.
2.   Commissioner, Service Tax I/II/III/IV/V/VI/VII, for kind information.
3.   Commissioner, LTU, Mumbai, for kind information.