BE BOLD AND BRAVE...

                                                                                                 Ref: CESA/20/2016

Date: 15-Jun-2016.

Shri. Najib Shah,

The Chairman [CBEC],
North Block,
New Delhi.

             Sub: Request to raise our concerns in the “Rajaswa Gyan Sangam” –
                         like the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India – Reg.

Respected Sir,

For the first time in the history of tax administration, the Hon’ble Prime Minister has shown keen interest and is interacting with the top Tax Administrators of the country, to impress upon them the idea of ‘Make in India’ and pressing for its smooth implementation.

Earlier, in an interaction with the Hon’ble Justices of India, the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India had, without any reservations, boldly expressed the difficulties faced by the judiciary across the country, in the presence of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, which had an instant impact.

Sir, in many Ministry/s of Govt. of India, there are a number of Boards headed by the Senior officers of their respective service/s, who are very pro-staff.  Similarly, in the Finance Department too we have 2 boards, namely, CBEC and CBDT. But as compared to other Boards and CBDT, in CBEC the staff/officers from Group A, B & C, (i.e. top to bottom) are unhappy with the Administration, in their day-to-day functioning.

 Issues are many, but nothing gets resolved, except the file/issue gets tossed around resulting in passing/wasting of time and increasing the frustration levels of the officers/cadre. This attitude coupled with indecisiveness, further irritates, demotivates and demoralizes the employees. Ultimately, this affects the efficiency of the staff/officers, from right from the top to bottom. Many officers are patiently waiting for the implementation of the 7^th CPC before opting for VRS, seeing no hope in the improvement/resolution of their grievances or in the advancement of their career progression.

 The pain and the agonizing wait, you had to undergo before your elevation as Member and thereafter as Chairman of CBEC, is known to all. The way the revised Group-A Recruitment Rules have been framed arbitrarily, by not including the temporary 2118 JTS posts, even after it being approved by the Cabinet and thereafter with directions from Mumbai-CAT, has shaken the trust between the staff and Administration.  Further keeping approved posts vacant, at all the levels, in Grp-A, JTS & delaying promotions from Group-B to Group-A has affected your credibility and has dented your well known competency and reputation.  

The occasion of “Rajaswa Gyan Sangam” appears to be the right time, opportunity and the proper forum to raise all the issues which we are facing from all sides, especially in view of switching from the present tax regime to GST. The issues that the staff are facing, as detailed below, needs an immediate redressal :-

Ø  Promotions to Principal Chief Commissioner, Chief Commissioner, Principal Commissioner should take place on an urgent basis and not to keep these positions at Zones, Commissionerate  / Directorates vacant or under ad-hoc or additional Charge ( as approved by the Cabinet in the last restructuring ), causing inconvenience to the Trade and hardship to the staff.

Ø  Promotions from Group-B to Group-A by holding DPC and filling all the temporary posts of 2118 Assistant Commissioners. [Better, if all are upgraded to STS under approval of the Hon’ble PM] Undue delay in holding of DPCs is causing stagnation and aggravating frustrations in the cadre.

Ø  Recently, newly recruited Inspectors as well as direct Group-A officers were posted in various Zones. Mumbai Central Excise Zone got around 800 Inspectors from SSC-GL and more than 20 Assistant Commissioners from UPSC-CS. There is lack of sufficient space for their seating arrangements, not enough residential quarters for them, and they cannot afford private apartments near their place of posting. As like CBDT, who has hired additional premises for residential accommodations for their newly recruited staff, similar steps may be adopted in CBEC too.

Ø  The anomaly in MACP and its implementation, varies from zone to zone and the indifferent attitude by the Administration is forcing the Grp-B cadre to resort to litigation for redressal of their grievances in this area. The need of the hour is to restore the spirit of the ACP/MACP scheme and to grant them the benefits as per the spirit of ACP/MACP and also in view of the various court/CAT judgements in the favour of the officers.

Ø  Due to shortage of funds, the reimbursement of medical claims are remaining pending for more than 3 years, forcing the staff/officer to take highly expensive personal loans to meet their medical expenses.

Ø  Untimely death are many - maximum applications are pending for appointment on compassionate grounds. This area needs an urgent solution and employment to the nearest family member of the departed staff / officer is very essential.

Ø  Position of Infrastructure in Mumbai is very pathetic / insufficient  in as much as, even after expansion, some Commissionerates are still functioning on an as-and-where basis, which  needs immediate intervention, for getting fast approvals (financial as well as administrative) for the hiring of new premises.

Ø  Disposal of vigilance cases in a time-bound and non-discriminatory manner vis-à-vis Grp-A and non-Grp-A officer, as envisaged by the recent Supreme Court order.

Sir, in the field, you were known as the most dynamic, dashing and admired officer and the entire Cadre have high expectations from you.  Since the departure of the earlier Chairman, everything has come to a standstill and the cadre frustration levels have reached alarming levels and may have crossed the saturation point. Therefore, it is requested that immediate promotions at all level/s are carried out, the MACP issue is ironed out & necessary actions are initiated for improvement of infrastructure to bring it at par with the corporate sector, all these are the need of the hour. This is very necessary to motivate the organization & to rejuvenate staff/officers to gear up and implement the new tax regime under GST, which the Government is trying its best to roll out in the near future.

 CESA Mumbai hopes that, you will rise to the occasion and express to the authorities in a bold and brave manner, as our Chief Justice of India had done.

Hoping that this opportunity shall be used for maximum benefit of the decade long stagnated Grp-B officers from Central Excise – who shall be the torch bearers for the successful implementation of GST. 

Thanking you,

  Yours sincerely,

   A. K. SASMAL

    General Secretary

 

Copy to:-

1.            Ms. Vanaja Saran, Member(P&V), CBEC, New Delhi.

2.            Ms. Neerja Shah, Member(Central Excise, CBEC, New Delhi.

3.            Shri B. K. Bansal, Member(Customs), CBEC, New Delhi.

4.            Shri K. K. Sharma, Member(Service Tax), CBEC, New Delhi.

5.            Shri Ram Tirath, Member(Budget), CBEC, New Delhi.

6.       Ms. Ananya Ray, Member(L&J, IT), CBEC, New Delhi.