Our Official reaction to the Promotion orders issued on 24.12.2020

Dear friends,

After promotion orders were issued on the night of 24.12.2020, the rumour mills came to a halt at last - after almost 2 years.  Though these promotion orders were expected in January 2021, after the orders for the higher posts were over by this month end, sudden developments ensured that it was issued on the night of 24th.

We have immediately conveyed the message of the Chairman and Member (Admn) to our members through our previous blog.

In return, we have received abuses over phone and also a lot of messages through whats app. In response to that blog also several members have expressed dissatisfaction over the orders.

Not that any of them had any quarrel over the presently promoted.  Only many felt that they were also eligible, equally, if not more, to have been considered and promoted.

This fall out has been anticipated by this Association all along and hence only for that matter we have been pursuing court cases and the alternate proposal for re-designation.

All of you will be aware that the Hon'ble High Court of Madras had issued notice in our contempt petition regarding non-uniformity in implementation of N R Parmar across all zones.  The notice was issued on 17.12.2020.  The CCO, Chennai is understood to have conveyed this to the Board on 23.12.2020.  But the DPC had been completed by then.  All these are understandable only.  We are all officers of this department and we can know how and why things happen or don't.

We have put in our letter to the Chairman the strong sentiments of the cadre and reiterated that the zonal imbalance has to be set right and NOW.  We have emphatically stated that if the ratio between the Inspector and Superintendent posts are better in some zones or not and that there had been more Superintendents posts in some zones than others, it is not the fault or merit of the officers of those zones.  We expect that the Board also like the Association itself, stands for equity, fairness and justice. 

Our letter could be accessed by clicking here

We strongly advocate that only organisational methods and negotiations are a practical way to solve our problems.  Litigation will not take us anywhere because the bureaucracy has an entrenched habit of negating any court order which is not to its liking.  The Executive shows that it is superior because ultimately implementation of any order lies in it's hands.  

We are forced into litigation only to continue with whatever the Association has got into earlier.  Further, on matters of pay etc where the CBIC has hardly anything to do, we have no option but to take it to Court when the Government fails to negotiate and settle.  

Hence, members are requested to kindly organise at their unit levels STRONGLY and show their resentment in an organised manner instead of wasting money in Court cases.

It has been brought to our notice that using this promotion order again, some people are begging for funds.  While Mr. Jagannathan deserves to be applauded for toiling for his Association and his comrades in spite of his health condition, members who got promotions have to be cautioned against some others trying to take credit for it and capitalizing it.

Let us hope that the new year will also see a new dawn in the approach by the Board.

with fraternal greetings,

R. Manimohan,

Secretary General

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE JUST PROMOTED ASSISTANT COMMISSIONERS

AIASCT congratulates all its members who have been promoted as Assistant Commissioners in yesterday's order.

The Chairman and Member (Admn) have conveyed their best wishes to the promoted Superintendents.  

It has been brought to the notice of the Member that the gap between the year of recruitment of those promoted and those not promoted but have put in a longer service should be bridged by re-designation if the feel good factor of the promotion order is not lost.  The Member has indicated sympathy to our view.  

Let us now hope to start working on that, now that the ball has started rolling.  

We will be analysing the order in detail and will send our proposals for filling up of the remaining vacancies and re-designation.

Medical check up for Gr 'B and 'C' yet to take off

Dear friends and comrades, 

Though it is going to almost one year since the CBIC announced its ambitious project of getting the scheme of Annual Medical Check up for all Group 'B' and 'C' officials above the age of 40 years funded by the Customs Welfare Fund, as is being done in the case of Group 'A' Officers by the GOI, CLICK HERE FOR THE DGHRD LETTER the scheme is yet to take off since the Department has yet to enter into MOUs with the Hospitals.  Though the last date for entering into MOUs has been extended upto 31.12.2020, CLICK HERE FOR THE LETTER EXTENDING THE TIME LINE it has not reached any where.  Particularly, during this pandemic and when our members are being exposed to the risks due to our nature of duties, this facility should have become available at the earliest.  Hence, all units and members are requested to urge upon their zonal authorities to get the above MOUs signed at the earliest so that the efforts of the CBIC is not rendered useless, during this financial year.

CLICK HERE FOR COPY OF OUR LETTER ON THE SUBJECT

with regards,
R. Manimohan,
SG, AIASCT

RED SALUTE TO COM. S.K. BISWAS

 

One of the foremost leaders of the Central Excise Inspector/Superintendent community, Com. Shankar K Biswas, passed away at Kolkata on 17.12.2020. He was 76.

Shri Shankar Biswas became Secretary General of All India Federation of Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers during 1991. He was re-elected during 1995 and continued in such post up to 2002. He became the President of the All India Pensioners Association of CBIC during 2016 and again during 2019. Till date he is continuing in such post.

Shankar Da as he was fondly called by his contemporaries was a quintessential organizational man. He served the All India Organisations of the Inspectors as well as the Superintendents. He there after continued to represent the Pensioners of CBIC also.

He was Co-convenor of the COC of Associations in the Revenue Department along with Com. K.K.N Kutty during 1998-99 when we had gone on the historic 3 day Mass Casual Leave demanding parity of pay scales with CBI. He undertook tours to all parts of the country to mobilise the cadres for the agitation. It was that movement which subsequently, after being revived in 2004 which achieved prospectively the new pay scales for the Inspectors and Superintendents in our department and comparable cadres in Customs and Income Tax.

He was hospitalized due to COVID 19 in the last week of November 2020. However he recovered and got discharged.

Com. V. Unnikrishnan the former President of AIFCEEO recalls as below:

Com. Shankar Da is no more.

Recall the 1980s, Jaipur Convention of 1987 of AlFCEE0, the closely contested election etc. The sincere commitment with conviction had no parallel.

In Supdts’ Assn also he was President, When Mr. V.V.S. Marar ji from Kerala was the General Secretary.

The JAC of all C Ex Associations and also of ITEF was his efforts to forge a united front of common demands before CPCs .

Remember the simplicity, when our then Kerala President, G. Sasidharan ,was introduced in 1988 as a qualified ACWA , Shankar Da told he is ACWA since 1970s.

Even after retirement as Supdt. he continued his commitment for common demands of Pensioners as the President of CBIC Persioners’ Assn before 7thCPC .

My sincere tributes to beloved comrade.

Pranaam.

A TRIBUTE TO Comrade S.K.Biswas BY COM. G. GNANASUNDARAM formerly General Secretary of the Central Excise Executive Officers Association, & GENERAL SECRETARY , GAZETTED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION , TRICHY

In the sudden demise of COM.BISWAS I LOST one of my very personal friends. Our relationship was such that he always used to call me fondly as ‘GRANDSON’. The very thought that Comrade s.k.biswas is no more, is so painful. Ever since I took charge of the Association at Trichy he was so closely associated with the Central Excise Executive Officers’ Association, Trichy for more than two decades,

My association with COM.BISWAS dates way back to sometime in 1987 when the All India INSPECTORS ‘ Associations , which was hitherto managed by the Calcutta Association , for the first time came under the leadership of late Com. Chandrasekar of Madras INSPECTORS ‘ Association . In fact from that time onwards , COM.BISWAS , either being the General Secretary OR otherwise being an office bearer of CALCUTTA ASSOCCIATION , as a good comrade assisted Comrade Chandrasekar in carrying out his functions as Secretary General of All India Association ..

As General Secretary of the Trichy Association , between 1987 and 1990 , for assisting COM. CHANDRASEKAR , on his invitation I had travelled with him to visit all Associations for the purpose of activating them in our struggle against stagnation in the cadre and also against the controversial Group “ A” Recruitment Rules 1987. During all such occasions I had noticed Com. SK.Biswas guiding and motivating Com.Chandrasekar . During all such occasions Com.Biswas was always there accompanying us and guiding us in reaching out to the members in Calcutta , Gauhati, Bhuvaneshwar , Shillong , Patna , Bhopal and many other places .

COM.SK.BISWAS an untiring personality he is, with clarity on the issues concerning the cadre, was very grasping and talented in presenting the issues before the administration. Whenever myself and Com.Chandrasekar camped at Delhi in connection with court cases, Com. Biswas would always be there to give a helping hand. All issues drafted for (JCM) Departmental Council Meeting, JAC and Co Ordination Council meeting of Central Excise Employees and CBEC, from the side of our Federation, had the finishing touch BY Com.SK.Biswas . Such was his unrelenting involvement in association activities and his desire to work for the upliftment of the cadre of Inspectors of Central Excise.

On my invitation he attended some of the General Body Meetings of our Trichy Association and addressed the members. He also attended a JAC Meet at Thanjavur, convened by the Trichy Association, coming all the way from Calcutta. For Comrade SK.Biswas region, distance, language etc were never a barrier in his union activities. His involvement is so amazing that at the time of his death he was President of the All India Pensioners’ Association, CBIC (CBEC).

I FEEL THAT AFTER COMRADES RAYMOND, MARAR , CHANDRASEKAR AND SK. KARUPPPAN NOW THE UNEXPECTED DEMISE OF SK.BISWAS , IS A GREAT LOSS TO THE CADRE AS A WHOLE .

MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE.

A photo from one of the meetings of the General Body of Trichy Central Excise Inspectors’ Association is given below. Sitting along with Com. Biswas are Com. Gnanasundram, Com. V.V.S Marar and Com R.C.Sharma.

 

   

Emergency measures needed in times of emergency

 

Ref. No: CBIC/58/2020 Date: 18.12.2020

To

1) The Finance Secretary to the GOI, North Block, New Delhi.

2) The Chairman, CBIC, North Block, New Delhi.

Sirs,

Sub: Certain emergency measures required to cope up with the present emergency situation in CBIC – reg,


We are acutely aware of the emergency situation arising out of increased smuggling activities and other illegal economic activities on the GST front, by way of issue of false invoices, illegitimate refunds, bogus registrations, etc. Our officers are on the ground on a 24X7 basis as per the instructions of the CBIC.

But, without proper manpower, infrastructure and sufficient time to complete the processes/investigations undertaken, we are afraid that all the efforts of our members would go in vain if the Show Cause Notices are issued without being able to complete investigations. Hence, considering the emergency situation we would like to request you to press for the following measures immediately:

1) To get the time limit for issue of Show Cause Notices (Central Excise, Service Tax & Customs) extended at least up to 31st of March 2021, where the time limit is to currently end on 31st of December 2020, so that the increased work in the field due to increase in investigations into fraudulent cases being reported in Customs and GST every day, Physical Verification of units, cancellation of registrations, verification of refunds, DGRAM verification, review and correction of service tax paid and payable, measures to be taken for revenue augmentation etc, do not deprive the department and Government precious revenue as a result of issue of half-investigated and incomplete Show Cause Notices.

2) Issue instructions for setting up of exclusive teams at the Division Office level for conducting Physical Verifications. 

3)Immediately replenish the ground level staff with orders to employ Multi- Tasking Staff (MTS) in adequate numbers in all field formations since there is a great inadequacy in assisting hands for conducting the investigations, file works, etc at almost every field formation. In certain areas, this is compounded by non-availability of support staff/assistance having knowledge of local language also.

4) Issue instructions to take the assistance of the Police or CRPF or any other constabulary, for assisting our officers during raids, searches, etc (as is done by Income Tax Officials) so that more number of investigations could be undertaken and more manpower of the department is not wasted just to be in strength in certain premises, for the sake of safety, security and collection of documents or evidences.

5) Direct all Supervisory Officers (numerous as they are in ratio to the working hands in the field when compared to the State GSTs) to collect any data from their own Computer system instead of disturbing the field level officers for any data in whatever form any of them require at any time in the day or night, whether monthly, fortnightly, weekly, daily or hourly, so that the officers who are in the field and toiling to contain real-time evasion are not distracted for the purpose of preparation of such reports for studies and

6) Towards this, immediately make available a robust back-end/software which will be able to throw up any data in any form at any time of the day. It will be a great tragedy if we are not able to make use of technology even for this, at this crucial hour.


We would also like to further point out that, even upon extension of time up to 31st of March 2021, the risk to revenue due to incomplete investigations could continue to plague the Show Cause Notices issued, if measures mentioned in Sl. No 2 to 6 are not adopted early.

Our cadre, which has an average age of 50 and yet is taking the entire burden of execution of the CGST and Customs in the field, will be much obliged, if the above measures are implemented at the earliest.

With regards,

Yours truly, 

Sd/- 

(R. Manimohan) 

Secretary General 

Copy for information to:
1) The Member (Admn & Vig), North Block, New Delhi.
2) The Member (GST), CBIC, North Block, New Delhi.
3) The Member (Customs), North Block, New Delhi.

(R. Manimohan) 

Secretary General

 

Lies, greed and shamelessness

 Dear friends and comrades,

We have been receiving complaints from various parts of the country regarding the continued misuse of the name of AIACEGEO by Mr. Ravi Malik group.  We are all aware about the real strength of that group.  The detailed message circulated by the GS of Hyderabad unit to his members after their virtual meeting on 06.12.2020 has confirmed what we all have known in the past more than three years - that but for a few units like Hyderabad, Guntur, Vizag and Surat, there are no democratic/functional units supporting that faction.  In spite of this fact, they have had the audacity to still cling on to the name of AIACEGEO and shamelessness to ask for it 'because we have changed the name'.  Such a letter dated 07.12.2020 is seen on their blog.  

We all know that even in the previous instance when renewal was granted, it was only because there was no other claimant.  Otherwise, throughout his tenure our former SG had not been able to produce even 35% membership strength (in a single year).  Yet they call themselves original and the majority on our side are splinter group.  There cannot be a great farce than this and to think that they themselves take it seriously speaks volumes about their avariciousness to hold on to what they consider as POWER.

According to the legal requirement, we have sent a letter repudiating their claim.  CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF OF THE LETTER

LET US ALL GET TOGETHER TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS REQUIRED FOR RENEWAL/RECOGNITION SO THAT WE CAN CONCENTRATE ON CADRE ISSUES ALONE WITHOUT BEING DISTRACTED BY SUCH POWER MONGERS.

With fraternal greetings,
R. Manimohan
SG, AIASCT

Our response to the letter dated 03.12.2020 of the Board

 Dear friends and comrades,

All of you would have by now come across the letter dated 03.12.2020 of the Board .  CLICK HERE FOR THE COPY OF THE SAME

It is regrettable that by not getting the recognition of the Association renewed since 2015, the then SG has brought us all to the present state.  To add to the difficulties of the cadre, he continued to call himself as the SG even after his promotion and without the support of membership as required under the CCS (RSA) Rules.

Many of us may not be aware that in fact during his regime, the organisational strength had dwindled so much that he was not able to show a strength of even 35% of the working strength right from 2015 when the renewal was due.

Instead of fulfilling the requirement, he kept arguing that no renewal is required.  Till date the argument continues.

Our units felt that it is better to prove our strength under a new name as has been repeatedly been insisted by the Board, for purpose of enabling verification of membership.  The implication of the Board's letter is that the name of AIACEGEO will not be available for misuse by default.

Whenever we have sought the Board's intervention for settling the problem, the few units supporting the former SG come up with a plea of unification.  But when we suggest concrete steps towards such a logical course, they disappear, only to re-appear when some development takes place on that front again.

A lot of our energy has been drained in this unnecessary fight where every one knows where each one of us stand.  The comparative data regarding the strength on both sides by way of DDOs given in the letter sent by us today, will throw some light regarding the facts.  CLICK HERE FOR THE LETTER

Our request to the few units which are functional and are inclined to continuing on the other side is to kindly come along with us.  The basis was spelt out at Patna - that voting should be based on DDO certificates and by only elected representatives of each unit (with the elections having been conducted within 2 years of the General Body Meeting where the election takes place).  By no stretch of logic where democracy is the key for running an organisation, these two pre-conditions could be waived. 

Hence, all right thinking people are requested to consider the above and take steps to real unification with a purpose so that we will be able to go together to achieve our common goals.

Long live Unity and Long live the spirit of Association.

with fraternal greetings,

R. Manimohan,
Secretary General,
AIASCT (formerly AIACEGEO)