DR IRS Association plea and that of the JAC

And the JAC's plea

JOINT ACTION COMMITTEE

OF INSPECTOR BASED ASSOCIATIONS OF CBEC

[Representing the Associations of Inspectors, Superintendents and Promotee IRS Officers in CBEC]

Address for Correspondence:

Abhishek Kamal, Convenor, JAC, Ground Floor, C.R.Building (Annexe), Bir Chand Patel Path, Patna (Bihar) – 800 001 (M: 09852743525)

 

Ref: Memorandum/07/JAC                                               Date: 06.11.2017

 

To

The Chairman,

CBEC, New Delhi.

 

Respected Madam,

Sub: -Full Board meeting demand by the IRS Services Association and our related demands for consideration on the same lines – reg.

                                ***OO***

          We are given to understand that the IRS Service Association representing the Direct Recruit IRS Officers in the CBEC have sought a full Board meeting on very vital issues pertaining to our department, before the next GST Council meeting scheduled for 10.11.2017.

          In this regard, at the outset, we wish to place on record that we sincerely empathize with the DR IRS Officers of our Department.  Not only because their positions have suddenly been threatened by the process of implementation of GST, but because we understand the humiliation and distress all the more since we have been living through that for decades. We, as an Inspector based cadre of the CBEC, have faced humiliation and discrimination vis-à-vis our own counterparts within the CBEC – those on the Customs side, with our counterparts in the Revenue - those in Income Tax, counterparts in the State Governments - those on the State VAT, in respect of promotions, pay, allowances and other paraphernalia. When we had been facing all these humiliations, many of the DR IRS Officers in the field had been philosophizing and pontificating with us –that we should have chosen a different stream, a different department and be contended with our salary and a roof over our heads. They, further perorate that if we are dissatisfied with the service conditions, nothing stopped us from leaving. We recount all those derisive and contemptuous comments, with a heavy heart. 

In spite of all the above conditions, our cadres have been performing like the back bone of the entire department at the cutting-edge level in the field, implementing the laws as per the changes effected from time to time, interpreting them, counseling the trade when in doubt and feeding the DR IRS Officers with drafts, notes and materials for their adjudication and review functions, getting Audit paras, gathering intelligence, booking cases, conducting searches, recording statements, preparing investigation reports, defending the cases at the quasi-judicial as well as judicial levels and recovering tax dues. Execution of all authority of the department flowed through us.

Even the GST implementation on Centre’s behalf, be it through trainings, outreach or handholding of taxpayers, has been largely left to be attended by the Central Excise Inspector borne cadres, while the DR IRS were busy undergoing trainings abroad on GST!!

AND most of the DR IRS Officers had taken all that for granted and like the anthropocentric faith, as a general rule believed and behaved as if the entire department belongs to them and them alone and other staff and officers down in the hierarchy are there only to carry out their instructions and for their benefit.  The Board has also so far by its proceedings, allowed a feeling to develop among various cadres of the department that all policy decisions, whether on promotions, restructuring, demarcation of jurisdiction, positioning of headquarters or other offices, allotment of vehicles and their use, availability of space in office and for residential purposes, are all primarily intended only to facilitate the expectations of the DR IRS Officers and any benefits that may accrue to other cadres are only incidental at best or inevitable at the worst.  There have been many complaints that even the recent weekly letters of the Chairman have mostly concentrated only on the issues pertaining to the DR IRS Officers.

Yet, we sincerely wish that they do not come to the same depths of distress that our cadres have got used to all these years.

          In this context, when the DR IRS Officers deem it fit to demand a Full Board Meeting on their immediate demands, we feel it is our duty to demand a similar Full Board Meeting to take note of our long pending demands on the related lines and also take appropriate decisions for implementation along with those demands set by the IRS Services Association. Briefly the chief points are enlisted below:

1)    The entire Audit and Anti-evasion of GST assessees should be performed by the Officers of CBEC, under the supervision of the GST Council to avoid unnecessary litigation due to different interpretations, differences in classification of goods and services and make investigations easy and also avoid the tax payers from facing multiple authorities in investigations.

 

2)    Laying down well-delineated duties and responsibilities of each cadre and provision of adequate infrastructure to each cadre and post accordingly.

 

3)    Formulate a written transfer policy at all levels, in consultation with the concerned Staff Associations and ensure adherence to them by insisting upon the consultative machinery at all levels.

 

4)    The 1996 decision of the CBEC to integrate the three feeder cadres of CBEC at the level of Inspectors of Central Excise, Preventive Officers and Examiners of Customs should be implemented from the date of its decision. Or else the Board has to be bifurcated from the level of Commissioner at least between Central Excise/GST and Customs and allow the Officers on either side a one-time option to choose their stream. If the integration of cadres is not an option, then bifurcation becomes a necessity as the Customs authorities have no role in the GST administration. As the Board already ring-fenced the Customs functions as the exclusive domain of the Customs officers, in the fitness of things Customs officers should not be allowed into GST administration.

 

5)    All Officers be given a one-time relaxation to enable NFU to the grades shown against each to gain parity with their counterparts within the CBEC, Revenue and State VAT:

On completion of	NFU to Pay Scale of
25 years from entry as Inspector	Assistant Commissioner
30 years from entry as Inspector	Deputy Commissioner
35 years from entry as Inspector	Joint Commissioner

 

6)    The ad hoc promotions to JTS (Assistant Commissioner) be reviewed and regularized from 01/01/1997 in the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court Order, dated 03/8/2011, to bring about “just and fair representation” of all the three feeder cadres.

 

7)    A definite time frame is to be fixed for getting the ACs promoted against Temporary posts to regular posts in symmetric alignment with regularisation of ad hoc promotions from 01/01/1997.

 

8)    Extension to be sought for the 2118 posts of ACs for another 5 years from the date of actual promotion and fill them up only from the stagnating cadres. In light of the functional requirements during the Goods & Services Tax regime these posts should continue for keeping pace with the SGST administration and subsequently can be regularized at a definite residency period to the STS level.  Even the Cabinet note for creation of these temporary posts has given the scope for continuation if functionally justified.

 

9)    Filling up of all vacancies in the cadre of Assistant Commissioners and Superintendents immediately after implementation of the Order of various Courts in respect of Seniority as laid down by the Hon’ble Apex Court in the N.R. Parmar Case.

 

10)  Expedite implementation of Stagnation Committee’s recommendations after due consultations with all the stake holder associations.

 

11)  The IRS (C&E) Recruitment Rules be suitably amended where temporary Assistant Commissioner & Assistant Commissioner DR will be the feeder Cadre for the STS post and Group-B Gazzetted will be the feeder Cadre for the Assistant Commissioner (Temporary). This will not disturb the ratio of Organised Service.

 Yours truly,

[ABHISHEK KAMAL] CONVENOR SECRETARY GENERAL, AICEIA M: 9852743525	[R. MANIMOHAN]   JOINT CONVENOR SECRETARY GENERAL AIACEGEO M: 9443063989	[BA CHAKRAVARTHI] JOINT CONVENOR SECRETARY GENERAL IRS [IDT] OA M:9080190606

 

Copy for information submitted to:

1)    The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

2)    The Hon’ble Finance Minister of India.

3)    The Hon’ble Mos (PMO), Government of India.

4)    The Hon’ble Mos ( Revenue), Government of India.

5)    The Hon’ble MoS (Finance), Government of India.

6)    The Revenue Secretary to the Government of India.

7)    All Members in the CBEC, North Block, New Delhi.

                                                                                       

                                               

[ABHISHEK KAMAL] CONVENOR SECRETARY GENERAL, AICEIA M: 9852743525