Unity And Trust Are At Stake (GST)....

     Those who have visited the famous Victoria Museum in Kolkata, might have come across the above declaration at the entrance of the museum. The said proclamation, comprising of three paras, of which the last one is really amusing.

     The Victoria Memorial was funded by Indian states, individuals of the British Raj and the British government in London. The princes and people of India responded generously to Lord Curzon's appeal for funds, and the total cost of construction of the monument, amounting to One Crore,Five Lakhs of rupees, were entirely derived from voluntary subscriptions.

     The relevance of the above proclamation, which was signed with an intention - “In their prosperity will be our strength, In their contentment, our security, and In their gratitude, Our best Reward”.
   कथनी और करनी, saying something and doing the opposite is quite common - taking permission for trading, then converting into self enrichment, resulting in exploitation at all levels in the society.
     Time was running out in the Ninth GST Council, several decisions were taken which appears to ring the the death knell for All Cadres in CBEC. The steering committee which was formulated for the cause was found to be missing - having no action plan...
     However, On 3^rd Feb., under a different name (JAC) meeting was held at New Delhi and a decision was taken to go for Lunch Hour Demonstration on 10^th Feb., and mass Casual Leave on 17^th Feb. A common minimum program was adopted which is as follows :-

1. Parity with counterparts ensuring at least 5 functional promotions and immediate DPC for all vacant posts;
2. Parity in pay matters with counterparts;
3. NFU at par with counterparts;
4. Two representatives from each Association will participate in meeting with Administration  including Finance Minister;
5. All Associations will support the cause of each Association without any deviation for furtherance of feeling of trust;
6. If even a single officer is victimized belonging to any cadre, all Associations/ Cadres will fight for him/ her even legally, if required;
7. IRS Association will write to all CCAs to hold JAC as well as employee grievances redressal mechanism meetings in a time frame manner;
8. Seniority list and pending RRs of all the Cadres should be finalized immediately;

·          IRS (C&CE) Association will appeal to all the CCAs of Customs & Central Excise to immediately abolish control room duty, PRO duty, protocol duty of Inspectors in their respective Zones.  Further, on the request of Inspectors’ Association, IRS (C&CE) Association will write a letter to the Chairman, CBEC informing that “Uniform” is not required for Inspectors in the ensuing GST regime.  The letter will be issued before the submission of Joint Memorandum.

     We welcome and don’t oppose the implementation of GST, but it should not have an adverse effect on our career prospects.  Rather our career prospects should improve due to the implementation of GST. We feel that if the above genuine demands in National & Revenue interest are not considered then this disciplined service will be forced to initiate peaceful means of demonstration to display their displeasure.

     On 4^th Feb., apart from other issues the decisions of JAC were endorsed by AIACEGEO in its meeting in New Delhi.

     A meeting was scheduled on 07^th Feb., with the Hon'ble Finance Minister, but due to some unforeseen reasons, it was not held. In various places the anger of the cadre was visible when the peaceful demonstrations were carried out.

     Meeting with the FM was held on 10^th February, who assured that the sanctity of the service of CBEC will be protected, officers will not be jobless, the work of CBDT which appears to be surplus will be diverted, further that Mr Jaitley has assured the central excise officers that their promotions would be fast tracked and other HR issues would be taken care of.

     In our cadre there is strong resentment against the officers presently heading the Board, who are unable to protect the interests of the personnel and that of the organization as well; as safeguarding the base of the structure. The issue of resentment is GSTN which is privatized without any accountability. The officers are having a bitter experience of ACES for no fault of theirs, they have been subjected to severe harassment and humiliation by their Seniors as if the work is pending with them & not due to the malfunctioning of ACES. Further, the issue of 12 nautical miles is a clear-cut encroachment on the territory of the CBEC by the VAT officials. If these two issues are logically settled then the officers do not have any problem with scenario of the Pre-GST or the Post-GST.

     It is a fact, that the officers of this organization are more loyal, dedicated and service oriented without any discrimination. They are more law abiding officers as well as disciplined and in the past, there is no record / incidence of indiscipline reported, as like BSF, CISF and other uniformed Service Cadre towards their seniors.

     The Department and its staff are tried, tested and trusted ones and even with bare facilities, they have excelled, whether it is at the border doing land Customs work, SEZ, Service Tax etc.

     Another meeting of GST Council is scheduled on 17^th & 18^th Feb., which will decide precisely the rules and laws that are to prevail.

     The posts lying vacant for promotions from Group-B to Group-A, for the years 2014-15 & 2015-16 (between 800-900 posts) are likely to be filled shortly. The process is on. The resentment of the cadre partially may be pacified but the issue of recasting of the Seniority as per the spirit of the  Apex Court Parmar’s Judgement is the main issue which needs to be settled across the zones so that parity within CBEC partially may be restored.

     The issue of Financial Upgradation and Recovery Proceedings of Senior Officers on account of ACP/MACP needs a compassionate consideration so that the trust which has been breached by the Board and the senior officers recently may be restored again. The cadres in the CBEC are unique and unless it is united like other organizations, the desired prosperity and career progressions cannot be achieved, the principle of Divide And Rule will prevail.

     In conclusion, the proclamation signed by Queen Victoria will always rekindle the faith that the sign and design should always prevail, even though sometimes it takes a back seat, in the face of greediness.

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