ALL INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL EXCISE
GAZETTED EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
President:
Address for communication:
Secretary General:
A.
Venkatesh 240, Razapur,
Ghaziabad-201001 (U.P.)
Ravi Malik
Vice Presidents: Apurba
Roy, P. C. Jha (East); A. K. Meena, Somnath Chakrabarty (west); Ashish
Vajpayee, Ravi Joshi (North); B. Pavan K. Reddy (South); K.V. Sriniwas, T. J.
Manojuman (Central) Joint Secretaries: Ajay Kumar, R. N. Mahapatra
(East); B. S. Meena, Sanjeev Sahai (West); Harpal Singh, Sanjay Srivastava
(North); N. Nagraj, P. Sravan Kumar (South); Anand Kishore, Ashutosh Nivsarkar
(Central)
(Recognised by G.O.I., Min. of Fin. vide letter F.No.
B. 12017/10/2006-Ad.IV A Dt.21.01.08)
Ref. No. 23/AIB/A/17
Dt. 06.07.17
To,
Sh. Arun Jaitley,
Hon’ble Minister of Finance, Govt. of India,
North Block,
New Delhi.
Sub: Retention of General Pool accommodation in Delhi
to the officers transferred to NCR.
Sir,
It is submitted with due regards that a good number of
officers, working under CBIC, have been transferred to National Capital Region
on implementation of GST. Many of them are having General Pool accommodation in
Delhi.
2. It is further submitted that the families including
old aged parents and school/college going children of these officers are
settled in Delhi for many years. Their wards are making due studies in the
schools, colleges and institutes situated in Delhi itself. Parents and other
family members of these officers may also be under medical treatment in the
various hospitals situated in Delhi. Many of other family affairs of them may
be settled in Delhi.
3.
But the retention of General Pool accommodation is not permitted as per the
existing guidelines of the Directorate of Estates, Ministry of Urban
Development, if an officer is transferred out of Delhi. Retention of
accommodation is not allowed, even if the officer is posted in National Capital
Region. Thus, such officers are finding it difficult to retain the govt.
accommodation allotted to them in Delhi.
4. In this regard, it is also worth to mention that the
Noida Export Processing Zone (NEPZ)/Noida Special Economic Zone (NSEZ) were
allotted a quota of ten houses in Delhi by the Directorate of Estates. The
officers posted at NEPZ/NSEZ, Noida can retain such accommodation in Delhi.
They are also permitted to apply afresh, if they desire so. The copy of the
relevant OM in this respect is enclosed herewith for ready reference. No need
to say that the National Capital Region has now become an integral part of
Delhi. Accordingly being assured of retaining the accommodation in Delhi, shall
help these officers to perform their duties peacefully under the GST regime.
5. In view of the above, it is requested that the
officers transferred from Delhi to NCR may kindly be allowed to retain the
accommodation at Delhi by earmarking a minimum quota of General Pool
accommodation to the officers of CBIC on the lines of the above said OM.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Encl: As above.
(RAVI MALIK),
Secretary General.
ALL INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL EXCISE
GAZETTED EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
President:
Address for communication:
Secretary General:
A.
Venkatesh
240, Razapur, Ghaziabad-201001 (U.P.)
Ravi Malik
Vice Presidents: Apurba
Roy, P. C. Jha (East); A. K. Meena, Somnath Chakrabarty (west); Ashish
Vajpayee, Ravi Joshi (North); B. Pavan K. Reddy (South); K.V. Sriniwas, T. J.
Manojuman (Central) Joint Secretaries: Ajay Kumar, R. N. Mahapatra
(East); B. S. Meena, Sanjeev Sahai (West); Harpal Singh, Sanjay Srivastava
(North); N. Nagraj, P. Sravan Kumar (South); Anand Kishore, Ashutosh Nivsarkar
(Central)
(Recognised
by G.O.I., Min. of Fin. vide letter F.No. B. 12017/10/2006-Ad.IV A Dt.21.01.08)
Ref. No. 36/AIB/P/17
Dt. 10.07.17
COURT MATTER/REMINDER
To,
(1)
Sh. Hasmukh Adhia,
Revenue Secretary,
North Block, New Delhi.
(2) Sh. Ajay
Mittal,
DOPT
Secretary,
North Block, New Delhi.
(3) Ms. Vanaja N.
Sarna,
Chairperson, Central Board of Excise & Customs,
North
Block, New Delhi.
Sub: Verdict given in OA No. 2323/2012
by Principal Bench of Hon’ble CAT.
Sir/Madam,
Kindly refer to the letter Ref. No.
35/P/17 Dt. 09.03.17 and consequent communications of the Association.
2.
It is submitted with due regards that the Association filed the said OA seeking
amendments/revision of the Recruitment Rules to bring all the Inspectors (i.e.
Inspectors of Central Excise, Preventive Officers and Examiners of Customs) recruited in a particular year through All India
Combined Examination in parity to maintain the principle of equal opportunity
& equality before law and to save the senior
Central Excise officers from humiliation of working under their juniors of
Customs belonging to the same cadre of Inspector in CBEC. Accordingly the Govt. undertook
before the Hon’ble CAT that the amendment of the Recruitment Rules to the said
effect is already under process.
3.
The
Hon’ble CAT has directed to expedite the process of amendment of the
Recruitment Rules by taking effective steps for Notification of the Recruitment
Rules, within a reasonable period, preferably within four months from the date
of receipt of a copy of the order. In this regard, it
is worth to mention that the four months time has already expired.
4. RR’s may kindly be re-framed prescribing the qualifying services
in consonance of the DOPT OM No. AB-14017/61/2008-Estt.(RR) dt. 24.03.09 without trifurcating the cadre at
group ‘B’ non-gazetted/group ‘B’ gazetted level. This OM stipulates the promotion
of the Inspector grade to the grade of Joint Commissioner, Additional Commissioner
& Commissioner respectively after completion of 12, 17 & 20 years of
service. The validity of this OM was also not questioned by CBEC during the
presentation of cadre restructuring proposal on 18.01.11 but CBEC showed its
inability to implement the same due to the want of the required number of
vacancies/posts. Regarding the want of the required number of vacancies/posts,
it is requested that the officers may kindly be granted in-situ promotions (requiring no creation of posts) after
completion of the prescribed service. A little deviation from the above
mentioned DOPT guidelines, already framed with due diligence & application
of mind by DOPT, may be understood but the non-implementation of the same at
all is never understandable. If the grant of the prescribed grade is not
possible within 20 years, we may be granted the same after completion of 21,
22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 or even 30 (after completion of 1½ times of
qualifying service based on the precedent of CSS of promoting all the Section
Officers to the STS post of Under Secretary after completion of 1½ times of
qualifying service in 1999) years. In CSS, they still have provisions of
in-situ promotions upto the level of Joint Secretary.
5. Accordingly, the Association has already suggested to form
the RR’s on the following lines to benefit already stagnated as well as new
generation of the officers prescribing qualifying service as follows based on
the above mentioned OM of DOPT after unifying all of 3 categories into single
stream (without trifurcating the single cadre) at group ‘B’ non-gazetted (Inspector) as well as group ‘B’
gazetted (Superintendent) level–
(i) 2 years for promotion to a post with a grade pay of Rs.
4,800/- (Level-8) after joining as Inspector (Level-7) as there is no
justification to enhance this residency period above two years keeping in view
the mere benefit of Rs. 200/- being granted on promotion.
(ii) 7 years for promotion to a post with a grade pay of Rs.
6,600/- (Level-11) after joining as Inspector (There is no justification of promoting an officer from a grade pay of Rs.
5,400/- to 5,400/-. It is also submit-worthy that the most of the group
‘B’ gazetted officers including CSS are being promoted to a senior group ‘A’
post instead of junior group ‘A’ in Central as well as State governments.).
(iii) 12 years for promotion to a post with a grade pay of
Rs. 7,600/- (Level-12) after joining as Inspector.
(iv) 17 years for promotion to a post with a grade pay of Rs.
8,700/- (Level-13) after joining as Inspector.
(v) 20 years for promotion to a post with a grade pay of Rs.
10,000/- (Level-14) after joining as Inspector.
(vi) and
so on.
6. In addition to the above
residency periods and keeping in view the extraordinarily acute stagnation of
Central Excise executive officers, there should kindly be incorporated the
permanent provision in the recruitment rules
to promote the officer automatically to the higher grade as soon as
he/she completes 1½ times of qualifying service in r/o any grade. This will not only remove the
regional disparities but also grant the opportunity to our officers to reach
higher levels like the common entry counterparts. It is also well pertinent to
mention that any officer is called stagnated, if he/she doesn’t get promotion
even on completion of 1½ times of qualifying service prescribed for promotion
by DOPT.
7. As per the minutes drawn against
point No. 2 of the meeting held under the Chairpersonship of the former Member
(P&V) on 31.01.13 issued vide No.C.30013/6/2012-Ad.IV.A. Dt. 15.02.13 of
CBEC, it was mentioned that the work of framing new RR’s is going on and its
progress is being monitored very closely on regular basis.
Further, it has been mentioned that the RR’s as per DOPT guidelines would be
finalized soon. So, the matter is required to be expedited immediately in
strict consonance of the relevant DOPT guidelines issued vide OM No.
AB-14017/61/2008-Estt.(RR) dt.24.03.09 as per prayer of the Association.
8. In view of the above, it is requested to expedite the
finalization of the Recruitment Rules at an early date to bring all the
Inspectors (i.e., Inspectors of Central Excise, Preventive Officers and
Examiners of Customs) recruited in a particular
year through All India Combined Examination at par in the matter of promotions
to save the senior Central Excise/GST officers from humiliation of working under their juniors of Customs.
Thanking
you,
Yours faithfully,
(RAVI MALIK),
Secretary General.
GAZETTED EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
President:
Address for communication:
Secretary General:
A.
Venkatesh
240, Razapur, Ghaziabad-201001 (U.P.)
Ravi
Malik
Vice Presidents: Apurba
Roy, P. C. Jha (East); A. K. Meena, Somnath Chakrabarty (west); Ashish
Vajpayee, Ravi Joshi (North); B. Pavan K. Reddy (South); K.V. Sriniwas, T. J.
Manojuman (Central) Joint Secretaries: Ajay Kumar, R. N. Mahapatra
(East); B. S. Meena, Sanjeev Sahai (West); Harpal Singh, Sanjay Srivastava
(North); N. Nagraj, P. Sravan Kumar (South); Anand Kishore, Ashutosh Nivsarkar
(Central)
(Recognised by G.O.I., Min. of Fin. vide letter F.No.
B. 12017/10/2006-Ad.IV A Dt.21.01.08)
Ref. No. 37/AIB/P/17 Dt. 10.07.17
To,
Ms. Vanaja N. Sarna,
Chairperson, CBEC,
North Block, New Delhi.
Sub: Charge of Asstt. Commissioner to the
senior-most Superintendents for the want of the vacancies at the level of
Asstt. Commissioner.
Madam,
It is submitted with due regards that the practice of
giving additional charge to the officer working on the equivalent post is very
much prevalent in the Govt. of India including our CBIC in case the sufficient
number of officers are not available to look after the charge. Likewise, the
charge of a higher post is also given to the senior-most officer working on the
just-below post for the want of the availability of the sufficient number of
officers to work on the said higher post. For example, many of the Principal
Commissioners have been looking the charge of Chief Commissioner in our
CBEC/CBIC too.
2. No need to submit that a good number of the posts of
the Asstt. Commissioner are lying vacant in CBIC as on date due to the want of
the holding of DPC for the said post for two consecutive years. The work of the
GST may also be affected adversely due to the said posts being laid vacant.
Under such circumstances, the services of the senior-most Superintendents may
be utilized to look after the charge of the post of Asstt. Commissioner in the
concerned zone/commissionerate.
3.
Your kind attention is also invited to the
minutes of the meeting held on 04.03.14 with the Association, minutes for which
were issued vide letter F. No. 8/B/49/HRD(HRM)/2014 Dt. 26.03.14 by the ADG
(HRM) and dispatched vide No. 1272 to 1275 Dt. 26.03.14. The point No. 5
discussed in the meeting was “Promoting all Superintendents completing 1.5 times of
qualifying service on the lines of CSS and regularisation of ad hoc
promotions based on the rules existing on the date of regularisation.” The minuted decision taken on the point
was, “This issue will be taken
up after implementation of cadre restructuring.” Now, this is the proper
time to implement the said decision.
4. In
view of the above, it is requested to kindly give the charge of the post of
Asstt. Commissioner on ad-hoc basis to the senior-most Superintendents at the
places facing the shortage of Asstt. Commissioners at least till the all vacant
posts of Asstt. Commissioner are filled. The decision as mentioned in the para
3 above may also be implemented at an early date.
Thanking
you,
Yours faithfully,
(RAVI MALIK),
Secretary General.
ALL INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL EXCISE
GAZETTED EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
President:
Address for communication:
Secretary General:
A.
Venkatesh
240, Razapur, Ghaziabad-201001 (U.P.) Ravi Malik
Vice Presidents: Apurba
Roy, P. C. Jha (East); A. K. Meena, Somnath Chakrabarty (west); Ashish
Vajpayee, Ravi Joshi (North); B. Pavan K. Reddy (South); K.V. Sriniwas, T. J.
Manojuman (Central) Joint Secretaries: Ajay Kumar, R. N. Mahapatra
(East); B. S. Meena, Sanjeev Sahai (West); Harpal Singh, Sanjay Srivastava
(North); N. Nagraj, P. Sravan Kumar (South); Anand Kishore, Ashutosh Nivsarkar
(Central)
(Recognised by G.O.I., Min. of Fin. vide letter F.No.
B. 12017/10/2006-Ad.IV A Dt.21.01.08)
Ref. No. 38/AIB/R/17
Dt. 10.07.17
To,
Ms. Vanaja N. Sarna,
Chairperson, CBEC,
North Block, New Delhi.
Sub: Relaxation in RRs.
Madam,
It is submitted with due regards that the relaxation in Recruitment
Rules for group ‘A’ posts is being taken to fill-up the posts at higher level in
CBEC/CBIC for the want of the eligible officers.
2. As your goodself knows very well, the officers joining
on the post of Inspector are forced to retire after getting merely single
promotion in the career in comparison of their counterparts including CBDT,
Customs, CSS etc. who are already getting 5-6 promotions. Under such
circumstances, some relaxations/measures are also required to be taken to grant
these poor officers parity with their counterparts. They at least must be
granted financial parity with their counterparts, if not parity in functional
promotions. No need to say that these officers are also suffering with the pain
of working under juniors due to intra as well as inter cadre promotional
disparities.
3. DOPT provisions say that these officers should get the
grade of Joint
Commissioner, Additional Commissioner & Commissioner respectively after
completion of 12, 17 & 20 years of service. But unfortunately, these
officers can’t even dream for the same due to high distortion in their
promotional avenues as compared to their counterparts. No need to say that
their counterparts are already getting the said grades in CBDT, Customs, CSS
etc.
4. In the very first meeting held
with your goodself after taking the charge of Chairperson of CBEC, you were
also pleased to intend bringing a scheme to benefit the already stagnated as
well as new generation officers. The Cabinet also recommended to bring some
scheme to remove the stagnation of these poor officers independent of cadre
structuring. The Principal Bench of
Hon’ble CAT also directed vide the verdict given in OA No. 2323/2012 to
expedite the finalization of the Recruitment Rules at an early date to bring
all the Inspectors (i.e., Inspectors of Central Excise, Preventive Officers and
Examiners of Customs) recruited in a particular
year through All India Combined Examination at par in the matter of promotions
to save the senior Central Excise/GST officers from humiliation of working under their juniors of Customs. But nothing has been done till date.
5. In
view of the above, it is requested to kindly give at least parity in
promotional matters to these poor officers with their counterparts taking due
relaxation in the relevant RRs, if not promoting within the residency periods
prescribed by the DOPT.
Thanking
you,
Yours faithfully,
(RAVI MALIK),
Secretary General.
GAZETTED EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
President:
Address for communication:
Secretary General:
A.
Venkatesh
240, Razapur, Ghaziabad-201001 (U.P.)
Ravi Malik
Vice Presidents: Apurba
Roy, P. C. Jha (East); A. K. Meena, Somnath Chakrabarty (west); Ashish
Vajpayee, Ravi Joshi (North); B. Pavan K. Reddy (South); K.V. Sriniwas, T. J.
Manojuman (Central) Joint Secretaries: Ajay Kumar, R. N. Mahapatra
(East); B. S. Meena, Sanjeev Sahai (West); Harpal Singh, Sanjay Srivastava
(North); N. Nagraj, P. Sravan Kumar (South); Anand Kishore, Ashutosh Nivsarkar
(Central)
(Recognised by G.O.I., Min. of Fin. vide letter F.No.
B. 12017/10/2006-Ad.IV A Dt.21.01.08)
Ref. No. 39/AIB/A/17
Dt. 10.07.17
To,
Sh. M. Venkaiah Naidu,
Hon’ble Minister of Urban Development, Govt. of
India,
Nirman
BhaWan, New Delhi.
Sub: Retention of General Pool accommodation in Delhi
to the officers transferred to NCR.
Sir,
It is submitted with due regards that a good number of
officers, working under Central Board of Indirect Tax & Customs (CBIC),
have been transferred to National Capital Region on implementation of GST. Many
of them are having General Pool accommodation in Delhi.
2. It is further submitted that the families including
old aged parents and school/college going children of these officers are
settled in Delhi for many years. Their wards are making due studies in the
schools, colleges and institutes situated in Delhi itself. Parents and other
family members of these officers may also be under medical treatment in the
various hospitals situated in Delhi. Many of other family affairs of them may
be settled in Delhi.
3.
But the retention of General Pool accommodation is not permitted as per the
existing guidelines of the Directorate of Estates, Ministry of Urban
Development, if an officer is transferred out of Delhi. Retention of
accommodation is not allowed, even if the officer is posted in National Capital
Region. Thus, such officers are finding it difficult to retain the govt.
accommodation allotted to them in Delhi.
4. In this regard, it is also worth to mention that the
Noida Export Processing Zone (NEPZ)/Noida Special Economic Zone (NSEZ) were
allotted a quota of ten houses in Delhi by the Directorate of Estates. The
officers posted at NEPZ/NSEZ, Noida can retain such accommodation in Delhi.
They are also permitted to apply afresh, if they desire so. The copy of the
relevant OM in this respect is enclosed herewith for ready reference. No need
to say that the National Capital Region has now become an integral part of
Delhi. Accordingly, being assured of retaining the accommodation in Delhi shall
help these officers to perform their duties peacefully under the GST regime.
5. In view of the above, it is requested that the
officers transferred from Delhi to NCR may kindly be allowed to retain the
accommodation at Delhi by earmarking a minimum quota of General Pool
accommodation to the officers of CBIC on the lines of the above said OM.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Encl: As above.
(RAVI MALIK),
Secretary General.
GAZETTED EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
President:
Address for communication:
Secretary General:
A.
Venkatesh
240, Razapur, Ghaziabad-201001 (U.P.)
Ravi Malik
Vice Presidents: Apurba
Roy, P. C. Jha (East); A. K. Meena, Somnath Chakrabarty (west); Ashish
Vajpayee, Ravi Joshi (North); B. Pavan K. Reddy (South); K.V. Sriniwas, T. J.
Manojuman (Central) Joint Secretaries: Ajay Kumar, R. N. Mahapatra
(East); B. S. Meena, Sanjeev Sahai (West); Harpal Singh, Sanjay Srivastava
(North); N. Nagraj, P. Sravan Kumar (South); Anand Kishore, Ashutosh Nivsarkar
(Central)
(Recognised by G.O.I., Min. of Fin. vide letter F.No.
B. 12017/10/2006-Ad.IV A Dt.21.01.08)
Ref. No. 40/AIB/T/17
Dt. 10.07.17
To,
Ms. Vanaja N. Sarna,
Chairperson, CBEC,
North Block, New Delhi.
Sub: Transfer/posting of the recently
promoted Asstt. Commissioner.
Madam,
It is submitted with due regards that many of the
recently promoted Asstt. Commissioners have been transferred out of their zone
despite of the vacancies being existed in their zone. The posts of Asstt.
Commissioner are also lying vacant in the Directorate offices/NACEN in their
zone.
2. It is further submitted that these officers have been
promoted merely on ad-hoc basis against temporary posts to be in effect only
upto December, 2018. Nobody knows the fate of these officers after December,
2018 whether they would continue on these posts or not. If they don’t continue,
they will again be asked to work on the parent post in which zone. No need to
say that these officers have been promoted as ad-hoc Asstt. Commissioner at the
fag end of the career without benefit of even a single rupee but these officers
are well determined to successful roll out of the GST.
3. The Association was impressed that officers would not
be transferred to other zones, if vacancies exist in their own zone. If
vacancies don’t exist, the youngest officers will be transferred to nearby zone
and will be called back to the parent zone as soon as vacancies occur. Same
procedure/policy was followed in the earlier transfer orders.
4. It is also worth to submit that compassionate grounds
including medical ones have also been missed at the time of transfer orders in
many cases despite of taking due diligence. A good number of posts are still
vacant in the zones as on date but the officers have been transferred to other
zones.
5. In view of the above, it is requested to kindly-
i) Consider the transfer of the officers to their own
zone, if the vacancies exist including Directorate offices/NACEN.
ii) Consider the compassionate grounds including medical
ones as represented by the officers.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
(RAVI MALIK),
Secretary General.
ALL INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL EXCISE
GAZETTED EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
President:
Address for communication: Secretary General:
A.
Venkatesh
240, Razapur, Ghaziabad-201001 (U.P.)
Ravi Malik
Vice Presidents: Apurba
Roy, P. C. Jha (East); A. K. Meena, Somnath Chakrabarty (west); Ashish
Vajpayee, Ravi Joshi (North); B. Pavan K. Reddy (South); K.V. Sriniwas, T. J.
Manojuman (Central) Joint Secretaries: Ajay Kumar, R. N. Mahapatra
(East); B. S. Meena, Sanjeev Sahai (West); Harpal Singh, Sanjay Srivastava
(North); N. Nagraj, P. Sravan Kumar (South); Anand Kishore, Ashutosh Nivsarkar
(Central)
(Recognised by G.O.I., Min. of Fin. vide letter F.No.
B. 12017/10/2006-Ad.IV A Dt.21.01.08)
Ref. No. 41/AIB/STS/17
Dt. 10.07.17
To,
Ms. Vanaja N. Sarna,
Chairperson, CBEC,
North Block, New Delhi.
Sub: Next promotion of Central Excise
Superintendent to STS like other group ‘B’ gazetted officers.
Madam,
Kindly refer to the various communications made to the
administration by the Association on the above subject.
2.
It is submitted with due regards that the most of the gazetted officers in
Central as well as State governments are being granted next promotion to a STS
post (GP-Rs. 6600/-, Level-11) while the Central Excise Superintendents are
being promoted (if any) merely to a JTS post (GP-Rs. 5400/-, Level-10). Their
common entry counterparts in CSS are also being promoted to a STS post under
CBEC itself and reaching the level of Joint Secretary (GP-Rs. 10000/-). Their
common entry counterparts of NCB, Directorate of Enforcement, CSSS, AFHQS, Railway
Board, MEA etc. are also being promoted to a STS post.
3.
The Central Excise Superintendents are retiring merely on a PB2 (Level-8) post
after joining the job as Inspector in PB2 (Level-7) while their common entry
counterparts are retiring on PB4 (Level-13 & above) posts after being entered
into the job also in PB2 (Level-7) itself. Only 1% of the Central Excise
executive officers are able to enter group ‘A’ JTS post (Level-10) at fag end
of the career from a grade pay of Rs. 5400/- (granted on account of MACP
upgradation) to Rs. 5400/- only without benefit even of a single paisa.
4.
The Central Excise Superintendents are the ‘backbone of the government’ on
account of being the major collectors of the revenues for the government in the
form of Central Excise duty, Customs duty, Service Tax and also GST in the
present time.
5.
The 6th as well as 7th CPC has already intended to remove
the disparities between the headquarters and field officers but nothing has
changed the fate of the Superintendents of Central Excise in comparison to
headquarters officers of CSS too. They are still totally ignored &
discriminated in the matter of career prospects as well as pay matters in
comparison to their counterparts.
6.
Not only in CSS but also in Administrative Services, Police Services, Forest
Services, Rajya Sabha Secretariat, CSSS, AFHQS, Engineering Services, CPWD,
CVC, NCB, UPSC, Railway Board, MEA, Directorate of Enforcement under the
Department of Revenue itself, State Services etc., their counterparts are being
promoted to a STS post. Not only it, their counterparts are also given benefit
of seniority in group ‘A’ at many places in lieu of the service rendered by
them in group ‘B’. At many places like various services in Railways,
Administrative Services, Police Services, State Services etc., the group ‘B’
gazetted officers are allowed the weightage of minimum of 4 years at the time
of entry into group ‘A’ also giving them the due benefit of seniority in lieu
of the service rendered by them in the group ‘B’. For example, the officers of
Provincial Services in Southern States enter into IAS in a grade pay of Rs.
6600/- within 8 years with 4 years of seniority benefit while the Central
Excise Superintendents are unable to enter into IRS in a lower grade pay of Rs.
5400/ even after serving for 35-40 years. They enter (if any) into IRS in a
grade pay of Rs. 5400/- only and retire at same level without any weightage for
seniority in group ‘A’. Even time scale granted to them after 4 years of
service is in PB2 while it is in PB3 for other group ‘B’ gazetted officers.
7.
There also exists an established parity and relativity between the
Superintendents of NCB and Superintendents of Central Excise as the nature of
duties, mode of recruitment, functions and responsibilities of these posts are
the same. The Superintendents of Central Excise are also working as
Superintendents in NCB since the creation of NCB. NCB was also a part of CBEC
under the Department of Revenue and remained its part till 18.02.03. The
Superintendents of NCB were sharing common seniority with the Superintendents
of Central Excise for promotion to the same post of Group ‘A’ (i.e., Asstt.
Commissioner) till 18.02.03.
The Allocation of Business Rules, 1961
were amended vide Notification No. I/22/1/2003-CAB dt. 18.02.03 [S.O. 193(E)]
to include the NCB in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Even after that, NCB is
being monitored by the CBEC/Department of Revenue and the Superintendents of
Central Excise are till now performing their duties as Superintendents of NCB.
8. The
mode of recruitment of the Inspectors in CBEC and Intelligence Officers in NCB
is also common. The posts of Superintendents in CBEC and NCB are also filled-up
through promotion from the Inspectors/Intelligence Officers. The High Power
Committee formed by the then Finance Minister also accepted that the
Superintendents of Central Excise and the Superintendents of NCB are at par.
Further, the Sixth Pay Commission had categorically observed vide Para 7.15.20
of its report that the duties & responsibilities attached to these posts
whether in Central Excise or in the Narcotics Control Bureau are similar and
recommended for parity of Inspector of the Central Bureau of Narcotics with the
Inspector of Central Excise.
9. It
is further submitted that the Superintendents in Narcotics Control Bureau were
also granted the enhanced pay scale as well as non-functional time scale on
completion of 4 years of service based on the precedent of the grant of the
same to the Superintendents of Central Excise.
10.
The rationale behind such a provision of weightage or direct promotion to STS
group ‘A’ is based on the fact of the promotee officers having gained rich job
experience at the time of working as group ‘B’ officer as compared to direct
recruit group ‘A’ officers. But very unfortunately, the Central Excise
Superintendents are not being given the said benefit despite of being served
for the longest period in group ‘B’ as compared to any other category of the
group ‘B’ employees of the Govt. of India. They are not allowed the benefit of
their rich experience even despite of the Adjudication Orders also being
prepared by them for the Commissioner level officers. New higher responsibilities of
judicial nature were conferred upon Central Excise Superintendents vide Circular No. 922/12/ 2010-CX issued vide F. No. 208/2/2009-CX-6 Dt. 18.05.10 and 130/12/2010–ST issued vide F. No. 137/68/2010-CX. 4 Dt. 20.05.10.
Their responsibilities have again been increased 10 times by enhancing the
adjudication limit to Rs. 10 lac vide circular No. 1049/37/2016-CX issued vide
F. No. 267/40/2016-CX.8 Dt. 29.09.16 of CBEC. They
have also been conferred with new higher technical/scientific responsibilities
of ACES since 2010. The claim of Superintendents becomes even stronger
on account of recording statements like a Magistrate under Section 14 of Central Excise
Act & Section 108 of Customs Act having validity even before the Hon’ble
Supreme Court. No such responsibilities
have been conferred upon any counterpart of them. They are also being
conferred with the new additional responsibilities every year in the Finance
Bill (Budget).
11.
Before the enactment of Indian Customs & Central Excise Service Group ‘A’
Rules, 1987, the group ‘B’ gazetted executive officers in CBEC were allowed
five increments in their group ‘A’ pay scale on promotion to group ‘A’ since
senior time scale was not available at that point of time. It is also worth to mention that their common
entry counterparts of CSS are not only being promoted directly to a STS post after
Section Officer (analogous to Superintendent) but also reaching the level of
Joint Secretary (GP-Rs. 10000/-, Level-14). The position in CPWD is even more
interesting where an officer with a grade pay of Rs. 4600/- (Level-7) is
directly being promoted to a post with a grade pay of Rs. 6600/- (STS, Level-11)
and further directly to a post with the grade pay of Rs. 8700/- (Level-13) from
a post with a grade pay of Rs. 6600/-. Thus, they don’t need to serve on a post
with a grade pay of Rs. 4800/- (Level-8), 5400/- in PB2 (Level-9), 5400/- in
PB3 (Level-10) and 7600/- (Level-12) for promotion to the post with a grade pay
of 8700/- after entry into a post with merely a grade pay of Rs. 4200/-.
12.
Further; the Central Excise Inspectors, Inspectors of NCB and Assistants of the
Central Secretariat Services (CSS) etc., being analogous posts, are recruited
through a common entrance examination conducted by the Staff Selection
Commission and in a common scale of pay. Once upon a time, the pay
scale of the Assistants was lower than
the pay scale of the Central Excise Inspectors but was upgraded at par later on.
Like it, the pay scale of the Section Officers was also lower than the pay
scale of the Central Excise Superintendents once upon a time but was upgraded
at par later on. Eventually, the Inspectors are promoted to the rank of
Superintendent whereas the Assistants are promoted as Section Officers. The
posts of Central Excise Superintendent and Section officer of CSS are
analogous, yet the similarity ends here.
Section Officers are promoted directly to the Senior Time Scale post
with a grade pay of Rs. 6600/- and reach upto the level of Joint Secretary in
the grade pay of Rs. 10000/- whereas the Central Excise Superintendents are
promoted (if at all), to the Junior Time Scale post merely with a grade pay of
Rs. 5400/-.
13.
IAS and IPS are the most elite services in the country and the group ‘B’
officers are provided weightage even on promotion to these services in lieu of
the service rendered in group ‘B’. But nothing such happens to the Central
Excise Superintendents at the time of entry (if any) to IRS, the same also
being one of the elite services of the Govt. of India.
14.
It is also worth to mention that the Superintendents are not only discharging
all functions relating to assessment, investigation & intelligence,
drafting & issuing of SCN and even adjudication but have also been
conferred with the judicial powers of recording statements of various persons
in terms of Section 14 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 or Section 108 of the
Customs Act, 1962. However, though the
Central Excise Superintendents are performing more responsible work functions
as compared to other group ‘B’ gazetted counterparts yet they are facing the
worst career prospects instead of being given better treatment. They are being
maltreated despite of being the ‘backbone of the government revenue’. In the
actual terms, though they are the ‘backbone of the government’ on account of
being responsible to earn the finance for the government, yet are being totally
ignored in every matter.
15.
In view of the above, it is requested that the Central Excise Superintendents
may also kindly be promoted directly to a STS post like many other group ‘B’
officers of the Govt. of India by giving due weightage of the service rendered
in group ‘B’.
Thanking
you,
Yours faithfully,
(RAVI MALIK),
Secretary
General.
Copy with the request for
necessary action to:
1) The Revenue Secretary,
North Block, New Delhi.
2) The DOPT Secretary, North
Block, New Delhi.
3) The Cabinet Secretary,
President House, New Delhi.
(RAVI MALIK)
