PLAYING WITH PAIN WITH FALSE ASSURANCES

It is always painful leaving own place whether it is on promotion or any other pretext.  Those who have undergone exile leaving their family in one place and working in other area and coming weekly/fortnightly/monthly to meet their family they know the pain and trauma which they have silently beared. The life of Mumbai is always hectic but when we join and settle in this city it has become our favorite place despite of its merits and demerits and pace of life.  Mumbai zone is a stagnated one and on promotions in the fag end of the career the officers are forced to go out of Mumbai for a period of one year as an exile.  No officer willing to leave this place and   several officers denied their promotions when they are posted outside,  At present there are 46 Superintendents of Mumbai in Pune Zone.  Five officers have completed one year service and thirty officers have completed six months and the rest have completed less than that period.  Nineteen officers (17+2) are posted in Goa and 2 in Kolhapur,4 inpune customs. At present the working strength in Pune is 452 where as the sanctioned strength is 567 thus there is a vacancy of 115 Superintendents and if the current 46 officers are added then there will be a vacancy of 161 posts (i.e., about 28.39%) whereas at present Mumbai is having vacancy percentage of 27% as number of officers posted in various formations are not repatriated although they have completed their loan tenure.  If all such officers are repatriated, there will be an improvement in the Mumbai Zone position.

            A meeting is scheduled on 12.09.2017 which is long pending, wherein Chief Commissioner, Pune Shri A.K. Pande, Shri Gawai Commissioner, Pune-I and Chief Commissioner, Mumbai Zone Shri S.C.Varshney will assess the staff positions to maintain  a uniform vacancy in all the three zones viz., Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Aurangabad.  The demand of Mumbai Zone to repatriate all the 46 officers as there are huge work load as the tax base has been increased more than 6000 assesses are recently allotted in the new tax regime plus there is a demand from M & P to post at least 10 Superintendents and 15 Superintendents to DGCEI.    

            As the present C.C. of Nagpur Zone having jurisdiction of Nashik and Aurangabad Commissionerates, is  holding Additional Charge of Pune Zone also had recently posted 8 officers of Aurangabad Commissionerate  to Mumbai as they do not have vacancy in Nashik and Aurangabad.  In Pune zone, the local officers are reluctant to move from Pune to Kolhapur, Customs and Goa Commissionerates.  When the officers of Mumbai are posted on promotion to Pune Zone, they are forced to post in these three places although they are seniors in ranking.  If the proposals mooted by the Mumbai agreed upon by the Pune C.C. then, the vacancies in Kolhapur, Customs and Goa are to be filled by their own officers of Pune zone.  From the history of the Mahabharat till now no one wants to leave a single inch of place, for others let us hope the best.

            It is a practice  that the officers .who have completed one year in Pune (i.e., 5 officers) can be relieved and in their place no officers from Mumbai to be posted plus any officers any education of their wards and officers on compassionate grounds can be relieved and in their place no substitute can be posted.  The officers of Aurangabad posted in Mumbai are equally undergoing hardship postings.  When proportionate vacancies are under discussions then the vacancy of Nashik and Aurangabad are to be taken on the same foot. 
 As regards, to DGCEI, Mumbai Superintendents are to be posted on loan basis or on regular basis, then all the officers be given deputation allowance as admissible.  Their service should not be taken as bonded labour.  Further, the space occupied in NTC House are too cozy to accommodate even the officers presently posted therein.  Further, the performance and the success rate needs to reviewed and the officers are not to be posted forcibly to carry out the legacy work or for the pending junk.

            Now, M&P in the new tax regime the officers of Central Excise are discriminated day by day the base/ existence   are marginalized.  From October, 2017, onwards the Customs work carried out by the Central Excise officers are to be switched over to the Customs the reason given by the Board as well as the stand taken is totally unfair towards central excise faternity.  CESA, Mumbai feels no officers be posted to M&P and the officers already posted therein are to be repatriated.  The stand taken by the then Chief Commissioner, Zone-II Ms. Arusha Vasudevan and Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Zone-I Shri V.S. Krishnan that the work of M&P to be manned by the Customs Staff and not by the Central Excise staff as proposed at the time of re-structuring in 2014. 

It is to appeal to the officers of Mumbai posted at Pune not to fall into the trap of any individual for illusionary suggestions and tempting for any inducement or adapting unfair practices they can be brought back to Mumbai is totally false and mis-leading one.   Both the Chief Commissioners are very fair enough and clear in their stand. The factual positions are narrated so that you will not be a victim.  After the meeting, the detailed decisions will be posted.