FARCE & FORCE OF CENTRAL EXCISE DAY CELEBRATION...

Tomorrow is the Central Excise Day, which would be celebrated in all the Central Excise & Service Tax Zones across the country. You will find messages in all the leading newspapers by our FM, MoS-Finance, Revenue Secretary, Chairman & Member-CX of CBEC.  There is nothing new or inspiring in the messages, as they are more or less similar to the earlier year messages. There appears to be no introspection as whether what was proposed in the messages – of improving the administration and the manner of revenue collections, were accomplished or not.

It is hoped that the improvement in the amount of Revenue collected in this FY is not attributed to the increase in the efficiency of the senior officers of the Department...  

It is also hoped that international prices of crude oil will not go up, then, for meeting the next FY revenue target, the efficiency of the senior officers of the Department will be severely exposed...

CESA, Mumbai remembers the then Chairperson Smt. Shantisundaram, who because of her dynamic action was able to roll out Cadre Restructuring and re-organisation of the Commissionerates. Thereafter, everything has come to a standstill, although many heads have come & gone.

CESA, Mumbai remembers the then Member Shri V. S. Krishnan for his vision and taking action according to the need of the times. He was also instrumental in arranging seminars for training the officers of Service Tax and in Central Excise Audit Commissionerates and making the staff knowledgeable and skilled, so that they are not intimidated by the CAs, consultants and lawyers. He took keen interest in the improvement of the infrastructure for new Commissionerates and also in maintenance & repairs of existing quarters and acquiring new residential accommodations. It was his dream to set up a computer forensics lab in the Service Tax Commissionerates for facilitating extraction and analyzing data from seized computers and hard disks. This will enable the Anti-evasion teams to detect concealing, clubbing, camouflaging of accounts by the ST assessees. His concern towards the staff irrespective of the cadre was touching and an endearing trait. He was very pro-active when it came to the needs of the staff especially during medical emergencies and was quick in granting assistance. He was simple, humble, honest, was an able administrator and never succumbed to any pressure tactics.

The motto and aim of celebrating Central Excise Day should be to infuse belongingness, increasing affinity, bonding and to increase the level of interaction & camaraderie among the staff and officers of the Department, to become and function like one large family.  Unfortunately, over the years, the Central Excise Day function is becoming more pompous & hollow, and is lacking any participations of the staff, forget about the family members. When it is our in-house function, no invitation is required because all of us are the hosts. But it is ridiculous to see that the invitation cards are sent only to the Group-A officers, whether retired or in service. What message does it convey ?

The time has come for the Department to stand united, when every wrong step taken is being pointed out or highlighted by either by the Judiciary / CESTAT or RTI activists. Instead of gearing up with knowledge, skill, infrastructure to serve the tax payers better, we should not look like a divided house - having less interest in our jobs and more interested in playing the blame game…

Mumbai being a city of dreams, the Central Excise Day function becomes the centre of attraction, not for the message of the dignitary, but for the entertainment programme by film personalities. Earlier, movies used to be made on the basis of real-life events & on real heroism shown by the officers of the Department. But alas, we are now crazy about the reel-life heroes... 

When staff are under terrible stress, there appears to be no mechanism for its redressal. In addition to the work stress, lack of supporting staff at all levels & lack of basic infrastructure, another factor increasing stress in staff are the medical bills not being disbursed due to lack of funds and therefore forcing employees are taking loan from the banks for their treatments. Another factor is the denial and / or curtailing of leave which creates a rift in the family and agitates the employee, resulting in stress both in the office and at home.

Excellent officers are quitting by giving VRS and others are waiting for the implementation of the 7^th Pay Commission and thereafter opt for VRS.  Departmental officers should introspect about their style of functioning and ensure that the staff should be content in all respects and to put a stop to the brain-drain.

CESA, Mumbai appeals to all the staff and officers of the Department to help each other and to be support to those who are facing difficulties in both their personal & official capacities. 

Officers will come & go, but what they say & do will remain in the hearts & minds of the officers forever.

On the eve of the occasion, CESA, Mumbai extend its best wishes to the entire Central Excise fraternity.

JAI HIND...

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