WILL THE INSPECTOR RAJ RETURN?

Members have brought to our notice the reply given in the Parliament for a starred question regarding whether Uniform is there for CGST.  

The reply went on to rely upon the vintage Office Procedure Manual, which many of us have not even seen with our eyes.  It was last published in 1975.

The formations in the said OPM like Circle Offices and Multi Office Range do not exist.

The OPM was running parallel to the TEM (Tobacco Excise Manual) which was merged in the BEM and declared that whichever provisions of TEM are not available in the BEM cease to exist.  That was in 1989 - the era which ushered in PBC, RBC checks and consciously walked away from the Physical control on most of the products.

Still, almost every year, we used to be flogged by use of the term 'INSPECTOR RAJ'

As an Association we tried hard to inculcate the necessity to treat the Trade as our bread earners and not as enemies and therefore not to use the terror of uniform, which had been dropped in the BEM.

The Central Excise Rules of 2001 and 2002 also dropped the word Uniform.

Nowhere we used Uniform, other than of course for PROTOCOLS.

What is PROTOCOL? asked the Vice Chairman of the 6th CPC, when we discussed the issue and said that if Uniform is continued, it should be continued with proper allowance and dignity and not for merely doing PROTOCOL.

The Joint Secretary who was nearby informed the Vice Chairman that PROTOCOL meant accompanying Higher Officials to Airports and Railway Stations.  

For that? No. Said the Vice Chairman. The 5th CPC has already abolished it, he said.

The 6th CPC gave no recommendation for allowances.

The Khelkar Committee had also recommended abolition of Uniform.

All this was unmindful of the fact that the BEM had already abolished it.

Yet, from time to time the ghost would arise.

On one hand we will be flogged for INSPECTOR RAJ.  On another 'for discipline', they would say, it has to be worn once in a while.

The then General Secretary of the Inspectors Association at Chennai, Shri. G. Natarajan had asked, 'does it mean that others who are not prescribed with uniform do not require discipline'?

Before the CIC, the CBEC itself conceded that what was prescribed in the pre-Independence era was being continued as a matter of Custom.  As per the CIC direction, a draft guidelines were also attempted in 2013. It was not however concluded.

Now after more than 7 years, they have lead the Hon'ble Ministry into believing that the 1975 OPM unknown in most of the Head quarters Offices of CGST even, is still ruling.

Due to pressure from members from across the country, the CEC has brought the facts to the notice of the Hon'ble FM. COPY OF THE LETTER COULD BE ACCESSED HERE

Just a glance at some of the attires prescribed in the OPM Rules will enable any one to assess the truth of the matter.

SOLA HAT

JACKET

WEBB BELT

In spite of all this, if the Government wants the CGST officers to be Uniformed Officers, we hope they will provide the necessary infrastructure and facilities to behave on par with the Uniformed Officers of the Police at least.

    

CEC RESOLUTION ON CADRE REVIEW

THE CEC WAS SHOCKED TO LEARN THAT THE CADRE REVIEW PROPOSAL HAS BEEN CLEARED BY THE CBIC WITHOUT DISCUSSIONS WITH THE STAFF ASSOCIATIONS. 

IT WAS FELT THAT IT IS SIMILAR TO WHAT HAPPENED IN 2001-02 CADRE REVIEW WHEN ALL ASSOCIATIONS TOOK UP THE MATTER WITH THE THEN HON'BLE FINANCE MINISTER.  THE HON'BLE FM ORDERED THAT THE CBIC SHOULD RENEGOTIATE THE ISSUE EVEN THOUGH THE CABINET APPROVAL HAD BEEN GRANTED TO THE CBIC PROPOSAL.

SINCE HISTORY REPEATED ITSELF, CEC DECIDED TO TAKE UP THE MATTER WITH THE HON'BLE FINANCE MINISTER. 

THE LETTER ALONG WITH THE RESOLUTION IS REPRODUCED BELOW:  

Ref. No: FM/01/2021                                                                                     Date: 17.03.2021

To
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman,
Hon’ble Minister of Finance,
North Block,
New Delhi.


Hon’ble Madam,

Sub: Cadre Review in CBIC – implications for CGST – reg.

We are given to understand that the Cadre Review Proposals of the CBIC have been cleared by the Board. But the Board has not conducted any hearing or consultation with any of the Staff/Service Associations before deciding upon the Draft CR Proposals submitted by the DGHRD. Though the DGHRD, had consulted the Service Associations, it was found that the draft submitted by the DGHRD was far below the expectations of the cadre to tackle the work load in the CGST on par with the GST departments of the States and Union Territories and to set right inequalities. Hence, our objections/suggestions on the draft proposals of the DGHRD had been submitted to the CBIC and we had sought an opportunity to be heard by the CBIC before the proposals are finalised by the Board. However, it is learnt that the Board had finalised the proposals without hearing the Staff/Service Associations. Hence, we beg to bring to your kind notice some of the main concerns of our cadre in the above matter so that before the proposal is submitted to the Cabinet, necessary corrections could be incorporated in the interest of maintaining the best practices in the CGST.

2. Since this is a Cadre Review undertaken after introduction of the CGST, the structure of the department was to be made comparative with the GST set up of the States and Union Territories in respect of number of personnel at each cadre level, their positions in the hierarchy, commensurate to work load and comparable promotional avenues. The draft CR proposal of the DGHRD was found lacking in this perspective and we had put it on record.

3. Further, some major works like PV, IGST verifications of risky exporters and L1 and L2 suppliers, detection of fake invoices for misuse of ITC, etc have increased the work load in a major way, after the DGHRD had finalised their CR proposals. Hence, the CR has to cover all the above areas.

4.1 The CR was expected to do away with inequalities in promotional avenues between officers of CGST/ Central Excise and Customs and within various regions of the CGST/ Central Excise. All efforts taken earlier with regard to this issue for thepast several decades had failed to bring about any positive results. The present state of affairs is that while a person who joined as Examiner in 2002 could become an Assistant Commissioner, a person who joined as Inspector through the very same SSC common exam in the year of 1985 is yet to get promoted as Assistant Commissioner. Within the different zones of CGST/ Central Excise also there is a difference of 7 years.

4.2. The ratio of promotions to the promotee Group A cadre has also been distorted. Though in the case of S.P. Dudeja & Ors (C.A No 1198/2005) the Hon’ble Supreme Court had ruled that the ratio between the CGST, Customs Preventive and Appraisers that was being maintained at 6:1:2 should be altered to secure a just and fair representation for all the three feeder cadres, the revised ratio of 13:2:1 was adopted only from 2011. As a result, the excess posts that went into the Customs side for 14 years was lost for the Central Excise altogether and further, promotions within that which occurred more by retirements from the Central Excise side had again got distributed to the Customs in the next round of promotions. This multiplied the injustice. The net distortion could be seen from the data below where the current ratio is only 6.2:1.8:2 against the feeder cadre ratio of 20:3:1.

CGST/C.Ex

Customs Prev

Appraisers

Total


Sanctioned strength of Supdt and equivalent cadres*

15526

2388

1194

19108


Ratio

20

3

1


*Source: Half Yearly Brochure as on 1.7.2020 on the DGHRD website


No of Promotee Group A Officers working from different streams in CBIC as on date*

Additional Commissioner

0

0

122



Joint Commissioner

0

0

63



Deputy Commissioner

56

2

57



Assistant Commissioner

1251

383

190

Total

1307

385

432

2124


Ratio

6.2

1.8

2

* Source: Civil List in the CBIC Website

4.3. With an intention of putting an end to the above gross distortions in promotional avenues between officers recruited through the same examination but getting posted in different parts of the same Department, this Association had suggested a Group B Service (Branch B Service) in such a manner that there would be equity and upward mobility for the officials. But the draft of the DGHRD, though in principle recommended the Branch B Service did not make it applicable for the existing officials by bringing about parity in terms of process of selection for the promotions within the Branch B Service and hence left it futuristic without addressing the above issues. This was also raised by this Association and we had sought to be heard by the Board before finalisation of the draft proposal.

4.4. Since the 2118 Temporary Group A Posts created for taking care of stagnation had also failed to resolve the above imbalances, as an additional and supportive measure to assuage the distortion in promotions between different streams and regions, this Association had sought for a re-designation of all the Superintendents who had already reached the pay scale of Assistant Commissioners as Assistant Commissioners as done in the State/UT GSTs. This was proposed since this would have broken the above distortions to a great extent and also brought about parity with conditions of service in the State/UT GSTs without any additional expenditure. This has also not been incorporated in the CR proposals.

5. In the light of the above, this Association unanimously resolved (Copy of the resolution is enclosed for ready reference) to put forth the following before your good self so that necessary directions are given to the CBIC to incorporate necessary changes before the Cadre Review :

a) That the structure of CGST should be made comparable with the GST structure of the States/UTs to make it competitive and productive;

b) That the Officials in the CGST should be placed in a comparable position with their counter parts of State/UT GSTs. (In earlier regimes, the State Officials had to seek parity with the Central Government Officials)

c) That the in-equality in terms of the promotions between the Customs and Central Excise (CGST) which is 17 years, as well as within the different Zones of Central Excise (CGST) which is 7 years, should be done away with to improve the morale and efficiency of officers in CGST by:

i. either adopting the Branch B Service proposed in the Cadre Review with base cadre seniority of current Officers to be promoted as the criteria (instead of prospective merger);

ii. or adopting Recruitment Rules for the said Branch B Service with post based quota separately for Customs and CGST/ Central Excise along with base cadre seniority in Customs and CGST/ Central Excise respectively;

iii. and if the Branch B Service concept is not being accepted by the DOPT of UOI, then adopting Recruitment Rules for the Group A with post based quota within the promotee quota separately for Customs and CGST/ Central Excise along with base cadre seniority in Customs and CGST/ Central Excise respectively;

iv. or have restructure in such a manner that the present CBIC be bifurcated by having the Board to administer only Customs and the CGST Officials be brought under the direct charge of the Revenue Department to enable them to attain fair and equitable treatment in their service conditions on par with the GST officials of the States/UTS; to enable the existing officials of the CBIC to exercise an option to choose between the two streams; and, to overcome the problem of lack of sufficient hands in the Customs for manning Customs work hitherto performed by the CGST Officials, such formations/posts be manned on deputation basis by the CGST Officials from the Department of Revenue.

6. We request your good self to kindly issue necessary instructions to the Department of Revenue to study the above issues and make necessary corrections to the Cadre Review proposal submitted by the CBIC before it is put up for further action.

7. It may not be out of place to mention here that in a previous Cadre Review held in 2001-02 also, the CBEC had failed to consult with the Staff Associations before getting the approval of the Cabinet. Only after the Staff Associations brought this to the notice of the then Hon’ble Finance Minister, the CBEC was forced to conduct discussions with the Associations. Hence, the cadre will be highly obliged if we are given an opportunity to elaborate our above points before any authority in the Department of Revenue with more data and details, before any further action is taken on the proposal cleared by the CBIC.

With regards,

Yours truly,

Encl : Resolution of the CEC Sd/-

(R. Manimohan)

Secretary General

Copy submitted to the Chairman, CBIC for information.

(R. Manimohan)

Secretary General

RESOLUTION OF THE EMERGENCY CENTRAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

OF THE ALL INDIA ASSOCIATION OF SUPERINTENDENTS OF CENTRAL TAX

PASSED IN THE VIRTUAL MEET ON 14.03.2021

This Emergency virtual meeting of the CEC of the All India Association Superintendents of Central Tax held on 14.03.2021, takes note of the following developments with regard to our cadre demands:


(i) The proposal of this Association for re-designation of Superintendents as Assistant Commissioners as done in SGST and UTGST, without any change in pay is not being pursued by the Board;

(ii) The Board has not given an opportunity to this Association or other Service Associations to place their points regarding the draft CR proposals of the DGHRD before sending the same to the Revenue Secretary/DOPT. It is apprehended that by reasonable belief, the draft of the DGHRD only has been adopted by the Board without changes and hence the proposed Branch B Service with only a prospective effect is not going to be of any use to the Superintendents who have been stagnating for 20 to 35 years without getting even a second promotion from the grade of Inspector.


This meeting feels that in the above scenario, there is no scope for enabling evening-out of the differences in promotional avenues between officers recruited through the same SSC Exam but posted in Customs and various zones of Central Excise/GST and also there is no possibility to get proper infrastructure, hierarchical position and promotions on par with the officials of the State /UT GSTs.

This meeting takes note of the total demoralization felt by the cadre in Central Excise/CGST all over India due to the above scenario. The meeting also observed that already the demoralization in the cadre has led many seniors to opt for VRS.


Hence, this meeting unanimously resolves to put forth the following before the Hon’ble Minister of Finance, the Revenue Secretary and Secretary, DOPT, so that necessary directions are given to the CBIC to incorporate necessary changes before the Cadre Review :


(1) That the structure of CGST should be made comparable with the GST structure of the States/UTs to make it competitive and productive;


(2) That the Officials in the CGST should be placed in a comparable position with their counter parts of State/UT GSTs. (In earlier regimes, the State Officials had to seek parity with the Central Government Officials)


(3) That the in-equality in terms of the promotions between the Customs and Central Excise (CGST) which is 17 years, as well as within the different Zones of Central Excise (CGST) which is 7 years, should be done away with to improve the morale and efficiency of officers in CGST by :

i. either adopting the Branch B Service proposed in the Cadre Review with base cadre seniority of current Officers to be promoted as the criteria (instead of prospective merger);

ii. or adopting Recruitment Rules for the said Branch B Service with post based quota separately for Customs and CGST/ Central Excise along with base cadre seniority in Customs and CGST/ Central Excise respectively;

iii. and if the Branch B Service concept is not being accepted by the DOPT of UOI, then adopting Recruitment Rules for the Group A with post based quota within the promotee quota separately for Customs and CGST/ Central Excise along with base cadre seniority in Customs and CGST/ Central Excise respectively;

iv. or have restructure in such a manner that the present CBIC be bifurcated by having the Board to administer only Customs and the CGST Officials be brought under the direct charge of the Revenue Department to enable them to attain fair and equitable treatment in their service conditions on par with the GST officials of the States/UTS; to enable the existing officials of the CBIC to exercise an option to choose between the two streams; and, to overcome the problem of lack of sufficient hands in the Customs for manning Customs work hitherto performed by the CGST Officials, such formations/posts be manned on deputation basis by the CGST Officials from the Department of Revenue.

Further resolved unanimously to take up the above demands in all possible forums to get justice for the cadre.

(R. Manimohan)

Secretary General

 

 

  

ENERGY THY NAME IS WOMAN

 

When the West shouted ‘Frailty thy name is woman’, the ancient wisdom of this country proclaimed Woman as Sakthi.

Sakthi is mistaken as Power. It is Energy.  Power was considered as a Male symbol.  Energy was just ‘being’, not exerting.  Power is exerted.  Energy could get converted as Power.  But it could also get converted as Consciousness.

And yet, over the centuries, this Sakthi got trampled upon, by mad exercise of powers – always ill-gotten, not with the purpose of serving others, but to cater to ones’ own bloated egos.

 The greatness of womanhood is that it can co-operate, co-ordinate, accommodate, bring forth and sustain. It is all about life.

It does not rationalise between the rights and wrongs.  It feels.  It lives and dies for what it feels is itself.

It does not calculate on earthly terms. It goes down to the needy, the famished, the sick and the hurt.

It does not hold its head in pride of knowledge, intellect and positions.

It revels at the joy and weeps at the sorrow, of the near and dear.

And to sustain itself, at times, it has to enrage like that flame that is tried to be put out.

Tagore first wrote:

‘God says to man, I heal you, therefore I hurt.  I pardon, therefore punish’. 

He later corrected pardon as love to make it read as:

‘God says to man, I heal you, therefore I hurt.  I love, therefore punish’. 

That was a profound statement.  Change of one word makes a lot of difference.

The first statement comes out of a Male mind.  The second refined one, from the Female mind.

The wise try to synthesize the two, for a balanced way of life.

One is not to conquer or destroy the other.  They are to co-exist and make the wonderful whole.

And nothing survives without that primordial energy.

That Energy, the woman hood, the Sakthi, we remember and celebrate today, on this International Woman’s day.

 

Red Salute to Com. Venkatakrishnan

 

The ever smiling face of Com. Venkat shall remain etched to our minds ever.  He left us today morning at around 8.30 am.  

He had developed breathlessness on 4th of January 2021 and was admitted to the GH at Chennai.  He was diagnosed with acute kidney malfunction and also a heart condition.  Though he recovered briefly, he had to be on dialysis twice a week.  After his first bout of hospitalization, he was discharged with advice to go in for dialysis at any other hospital.  Again he had to be hospitalised for dialysis and he was retained in the hospital for four weeks due to his getting COVID infection. After his discharge he started visiting a multi-specialty hospital for dialysis.  But last week he developed loss of sleep and his condition started deteriorating.  He was again admitted to the Private Hospital in the ICU.  He passed away today morning. The COVID had taken its toll due to his comorbid health condition.

His elder son has just now completed his BE and his younger son is to appear for 10th Standard Board Exam this summer.  He has been the sole bread winner in his family, apart from taking care of his aged mother and also his in-laws.

The grief for those who have worked with him is immeasurable.

Coms. Parthiban, Chandramouli, Anbuchelvan, Muralikrishnan, Saravanan are some of whom I know have constantly been in touch with Venkat and his family and provided all possible help.  I might not be knowing some others also who had been of help to him during this crisis.

I know Venkat as a quintessential organisational man.  He never aspired for any post or position in the Association.  Yet, when the situation demanded, he never shied away from taking responsibility.  

He was the Unit Secretary representing a Division in Coimbatore when I was the General Secretary of Coimbatore Inspector Association way back in 1994-95.  

When re-organisation took place in 1997 and Hosur became part of Chennai, he was one of the persons who were transferred to Hosur and then he went to Chennai.  

He served the Chennai Inspector Association in various capacities and thereafter the All India Association of Inspectors also as Liaison Secretary and Working President.  

After being promoted as Superintendent, he worked as the General Secretary of Chennai Unit.  As per my suggestion, he occupied the post of President of the Chennai Unit to enable Mr. Titus to become the GS so that a young generation would come up in the Association.  He was the Secretary of the State Committee until Com. Kumar was elected to that post last year.  

He was a cool person, with an ever smiling face, very knowledgeable on service matters as well as technical matters.  Though a pleasing and soft spoken person, he was very firm in his views, which he took after a completely dispassionate analysis. During negotiations, he could firmly put forth the Cadre perspective whoever might be the authority he was facing. He was unflinching in his position.  The authorities also held him in high esteem.

He was one of the first generation officers who took to computers.  He was one of the first Systems In-charges in Coimbatore.  Many of those who joined that stream with him left the department for good.  But he continued with the department.  He has been serving in Chennai Systems Directorate with great zeal and enthusiasm.

Whether the cadre is going to be aware of the loss or not, it is a great loss for our cadre.

For his personal friends, the grief cannot be measured.

For his family, we can only contribute whatever we can, financially and by providing any support for his children to come up in life, beating the harsh blow that fate has brought on them.

With heartfelt prayers and a Red Salute,

BTW, Com. Mouli had informed me last Saturday when I was discussing with him regarding his health that Com. Venkat had been asking through Whatsapp messages to Com. Mouli in the last week, 'Whether we will get Recognition'.

Good bye Venkat.  You will ever remain in our hearts. The loss is irreplaceable.

R. Manimohan

CALL TO MEMBERS WHERE UNITS ARE NOT ACTIVE

Dear friends and comrades,

We have been receiving messages/calls from our colleagues in States like UP and Gujarat stating that their units are not functioning and/or the persons representing the units have not been elected in the past 2 years as required in the Constitution and that the units are not running with membership support.  They however do not know how to revive the units.  

In this regard, the following points are brought to the notice of all such members for guidance:

1) The recognition in the name of AIACEGEO has been withdrawn by the Board vide their letter dated 3.12.2020.

2) The Board stipulated that since there were two contenders for that name,  both should come with different names and prove the membership strength for renewal of recognition.

3) We have accordingly intimated to the Board our new name as ALL INDIA ASSOCIATION OF SUPERINTENDENTS OF CENTRAL TAX (AIASCT) vide our letter dated 4.12.2020.

The above facts and details are available in our previous blog for which link is given below to avoid repetition:

http://cengo1.blogspot.com/2020/12/our-response-to-letter-dated-03122020.html

In reply to our letter dated 4.12.2020, the CBIC has issued the following letter wherein certain documents and DDO certificates have been sought for renewal of recognition.

Our units are in the process of changing of the name of the unit and bank account as per the above requirement to produce the DDO Certificates for the renewal process.

Obviously, in the next Convention of this Association, the voting rights will be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of this Association which has already been submitted to the Board and the number of votes for each unit will depend upon the membership strength proved by the DDO Certificates in the name of 'this' Association which are to be submitted to the Board in the above process. Any unit desirous of joining us have to therefore take a quick call so that they will be able to participate in the Convention. 

In such places like U.P and Gujarat where the units are not functional, the members are free to fill up the membership forms in the format given below and after filling up the particulars, scan it and send it to the email of this Association in the id: aisacbitc@gmail.com with subject mentioned as 'MEMBERSHIP FORM'.  The signed membership forms after scanning may be uploaded and sent to the above email id from your personal email id only.

CLICK HERE FOR MEMBERSHIP/AUTHORISATION FORM

Upon receiving the same, we will submit it to the concerned DDO with our covering letter and thereafter give the modalities of forming a Unit in that place.  In this regard, it is for the knowledge of ordinary members who are not aware of this that, Recognition as per the CCS (RSA) Rules is granted ONLY TO THE ALL INDIA ASSOCIATION based on the membership strength of the cadre (category of members) that it represents.  No local unit can have a recognition on its' own.  The concept of Units within the Association is only for functional requirements and necessities.  As on date, the Units within our Association are functioning on the basis of concept of Commissionerate wise or Zone wise or for certain number of Commissionerates, as per the decision at the regional level according to the aspirations of the members.

Therefore on receipt of the membership forms, as per the aspirations of the members of the regions, we can form units in these places, after a decision is taken in our Central Executive Committee in this regard.

Hence members desirous of sending the membership forms may do so and those who would like to get them from other colleagues also may do so and send them to us in the email id give above.  

with regards,

R. Manimohan,
Secretary General

Resolution to start agitations if no solution in sight before second session of Budget Session

 Dear friends and comrades,

The Central Executive Committee had been waiting for the CBIC's work with the Budget to get over before pressing our demands for immediate resolution.

We are getting feed back from the field that the Cadre is being put to extreme pressures.  Along with the acute stagnation, the ill-treatment is crushing our souls.

Therefore the CEC has passed a resolution and communicated it to the Board today.  Copy of our communication could be accessed by clicking here.

The last promotion orders deliberately did not mention the AISL Nos or Zones etc of the persons promoted.  Hence, we have prepared the promotion orders along with the said details as available in the CBIC site itself. Click here for the detailed work sheet.

It will now be clear as to who were struggling for the really seniors.  Those who wanted parity in promotional avenues for all and thus to avoid the degrading stagnation faced by those who joined as Inspectors more than 35 years, and discrimination as compared to their 17 year juniors or those who enabled the Administration to carry out this process without making any changes to the system, so that those who joined in 2002 as Examiners are promoted while those who joined as Inspectors in our own ranks even from 1985 onwards remain only Superintendents. 

The CEC hopes that the CBIC will come up with some solution, if they are not able to take our solutions offered thus far.

Otherwise it is for the cadre to decide on the next course of action.

with fraternal greetings,

R. Manimohan,
Secretary General

Submissions to the Task Force on duties in Ranges and Divisions

 

Dear friends and comrades,

It has been a long time demand of our Association that the duties and responsibilities in all formations for all officers and staff has to be codified as done in other departments.

We suggested before the CR Committee also and submitted a copy of the duty list in CBDT.

Now the CBIC has constituted a Task Force to determine the duties and responsibilities in the Ranges and Divisions.

Click here for copy of our letter on this subject

All enclosures to the letter have been sent by email to all Office Bearers of our Units.  Those who are interested to delve deeper and help their Office Bearers in contributing more on the issue could contact their Office Bearers in the Units.

We have specifically stated that we expect that similar exercise should be conducted for all formations and cadres and based on that the CR should be finalised.

Let us hope that the CR Exercise is done in a scientific and transparent manner so that the lopsidedness between Customs and Excise (CGST), between the CGST and SGST and within the zones of CGST get dissolved.

with fraternal greetings,

R. Manimohan
Secretary General.