ALL INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL EXCISE
GAZETTED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
President:
Address for communication:
Secretary General:
R. Chandramouli 240, Razapur,
Ghaziabad-201001 (U.P.)
Ravi Malik
Vice Presidents: P.
Parwani, L. L. Singhvi (Central); Anurag Chaudhary, Ravi Joshi (North); N.
Raman, G. Srinath (South); B. K. Sinha, Ashwini Majhi (East); Rajesh Chaher, J.
D. Patil (West) Joint
Secretaries: Anand Kishore, J. S. Aiyer (Central); R. K. Solanki, Ashish
Vajpeyi (North); M. Nagaraju, Ajithkumar P. C. (South); P. K. Sen, S.
Bhattachariya (East); Jasram Meena, M. K. Mishra (West) Office Secretary: C. S. Sharma
Treasurer: N. R. Manda Liaison Secretary: A. S. Kundu Coordinator on Telangana: P. Shravan Kumar
(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. 12/TARC/15
Dt. 04.02.15
To,
Dr Parthasarathi Shome,
Tax Administration Reforms Commission,
Pushp Vihar, Saket, New Delhi.
Sub: Submissions on
behalf of the Central Excise Superintendents.
Sir,
It is submitted with due regards that no employee can
give his/her hundred percent on being job-dissatisfied. It is further submitted
that the Superintendents and Inspectors of Central Excise have nothing to be
job-dissatisfied for the want of due pay packages and career prospects. It is
also very important to submit that the officials of revenue/tax departments are
very highly placed in the matters of pay packages and career prospects
throughout the world in comparison to others except our country. Our
Superintendents & Inspectors have not been placed even at par with their
counterparts. Kelkar Committee, Raja Chaliah
committee etc. on tax reforms also recommended to place the tax/revenue
officials at par with the best placed counterparts, if not better than them. No
need also to submit that the tax reforms can only be implemented, if these
officials are totally job-satisfied.
2. It is also worth to submit that nothing is mentioned
in the TARC report to improve the career prospects of the actual workforce for
indirect taxes (i.e., Inspectors & Superintendents of Central Excise).
These officers are retiring merely after one promotion on a PB2 post in the
service career of 35-40 years whereas their intra-organisational (Customs),
intra-departmental (CBDT) as well as inter-departmental (CSS,
CSSS, AFHQ, MEA, Railway Board, Rajya Sabha Secretariat etc. etc.) counterparts are easily attaining the PB4 levels after
getting 5/6 promotions despite of our officers being performed
absolutely hazardous & arduous duties during the course of the discharge of
executive as well as quasi-judicial functions taking every risk on life of self
& family on account of countering with the white collared criminals,
habitual revenue offenders & dreaded hardcore smugglers alongwith
tremendous administrative pressures. These Inspectors
& Superintendents of Central Excise are even forced to work under the
extreme juniors of Customs belonging to the same cadre in their own
organization despite of more than 70% Customs work being looked by Central
Excise personnel and the recent cadre restructuring is also going to make no change
in the scenario. The Central Excise Superintendents have also been placed under
lower pay scale than their well established analogous counterparts of DSP of
CBI, DCIO of IB, Chief Enforcement Officer in the Directorate of Enforcement
etc. by the govt. by granting higher pay scales and additional perks to the
later category without recommendations of pay Commission.
3. Despite of the total demoralization, Central Excise
Superintendents and Inspectors are earning the revenue for the govt. always
above the set targets in the form of Central Excise duty, Customs duty and
Service Tax. If these officials are granted due pay packages and career
prospects, no need to say that the govt. revenue would be increased multi-fold
on account of the feeling of job-satisfaction by these officers.
4. Govt. has brought the measures to bring
parity, functional or non-functional, among common entry group ‘A’ officers but
no such measures are being taken for group ‘B’ officers. The IRS officers of
CBEC got the parity with their common entry counterparts of CBDT in the last
cadre restructuring and with other better placed group ‘A’ common entry
counterparts in the current cadre restructuring. Every effort is also being
made to promote group ‘A’ officers of CBEC within the qualifying service but no
such effort has ever been made to promote the Central Excise group ‘B’
executive officers (Superintendents and Inspectors)
in consonance of the residency periods prescribed by the DOPT.
5.
On account of no efforts being made to bring group ‘B’ common entry
counterparts at par, there is huge discriminatory disparities between Central
Excise group ‘B’ executive officers and other counterparts. As a result, the
counterparts of CBDT, CSS, CSSS, AFHQ, MEA, Railway Board, Rajya Sabha
Secretariat etc. etc. are easily attaining the PB4 level of Joint Secretary
& Commissioner while Central Excise group ‘B’ executive officers are forced
to retire as Superintendent (PB2) after single promotion barring 1%. This has
made a huge discriminatory difference between their salaries, pension and other
pre/post-retirement benefits. Even the pension of their counterparts of CBDT,
CSS, CSSS, AFHQ, MEA, Railway Board, Rajya Sabha Secretariat etc. etc. is more
than their salary.
6. It is very necessary
in the interest of the govt. revenue to take concrete steps to bring Central
Excise group ‘B’ executive officers at least at par with their best placed
common entry counterparts of CSS etc. on the lines of group ‘A’. Otherwise the
Central Excise executive officers shall keep working under their juniors even
of Customs recruited in the same cadre of Inspector in the same organisation of
Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC). The Inspector cadre has been
trifurcated by the CBEC into three categories without any justification, i.e.,
Inspector of Central Excise, Preventive Officer of Customs and Examiner of
Customs (all analogous posts) recruited through the same competitive
examination under same eligibility conditions in the same organization of CBEC of the same Department of Revenue in the same Ministry of Finance
having same administrative hierarchy and performing same nature of job of tax
collection but with huge discriminatory difference in promotional avenues
(admitted by CBEC). All of these are mentioned as “Inspector only” in the recruitment rules and other relevant
documents getting next promotion as Superintendent of Central Excise,
Superintendent of Customs and Appraiser of Customs (again all analogous posts)
respectively at group ‘B’ gazetted level performing again same nature of job.
The single cadre trifurcated at the level of Inspector is re-merged at the level of Asstt. Commissioner (JTS group ‘A’ entry
level) placing Central Excise Inspectors 2 decades behind the Examiners of
Customs. The Central Excise stream officers work in all of the three streams of
the CBEC, i.e., Central Excise, Service Tax and Customs. On the other hand, the
Customs stream officers work only in the Customs but they are posted to Central
Excise and Service Tax after entry into group ‘A’. Thus, it is even more
surprising that a junior officer having worked only in the Customs and having
no knowledge of Central Excise or Service Tax heads his seniors of Central
Excise and Service Tax. Such a horrible situation of humiliation and
discrimination to work under an extreme junior happens only in the organization
of CBEC which is neither justifiable by any rule of law nor any principle of
natural justice. No DOPT rule allows any junior to head his/her senior.
7. The primary problem of particularly
indirect taxation is the poor administration and job-dissatisfaction of the
employees. The efficiency objectives of the tax structure are not appreciated
and both the horizontal & vertical equity intents of the nominal tax
structure are compromised due to dissatisfied workforce and poor tax
administration. The identified areas in r/o the poor tax administration are as
under:
a)
The procedures used are antiquated and staff is poorly placed in r/o career
prospects as well as pay matters.
b)
Unavailability of the required resources and infrastructure to tax officials
particularly at the level of Superintendents and
Inspectors.
The
ultimate aim of the tax administration entrusted with the responsibility of
administering the tax is, therefore, to ensure highest compliance of the tax
laws which is not possible without the fully job-satisfied tax officials
particularly at middle level.
8.
In near future, Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be introduced by Govt. of
India. GST is a comprehensive tax levy on manufacture, sale and consumption of
goods & services at National level. Through a tax credit mechanism, this
tax is to be collected on value-added goods & services at each stage of
sale or purchase in the supply chain. No tax administration can play the role
of policeman for every potential tax payer due to limited resources &
infrastructure. No need to submit that the special treatment to the staffside in
r/o pay and perks, career prospects, working conditions etc. is required for an
effective tax administration. It is necessary for making an optimum use of the
available resources that all the nooks and corners of the law enforcing
agencies are provided with sufficient incentives by way of monetary emoluments,
rewards and elevation in the hierarchical status at regular intervals of
service span. The elevation in the hierarchical status at regular intervals of
service span will certainly make them job-satisfied. For creating an effective tax
administrative structure, it is essential to place the personnel in the
appropriate positions. Persons working in a tax organization not only be given
fair wages but also an opportunity to work at the levels that allow them to use
& explore their abilities to the optimum extent.
9.
The officers and staff working in the Revenue Department are required to
discharge their
duties and responsibilities in such a way that the tax is collected properly & effectively without
causing any harassment to the bonafide tax payers. The liberalized policy, being followed throughout the
world, has made it compulsory to our country also to make the provisions related to tax collection
drafted in easy language and understandable to all persons. The said liberalized policy has made the
work of the taxmen more sophisticated requiring technical precision. The worldwide increase of terrorism and insurgency coupled with narco-terrorism have made the job of anti-smuggling & anti-
evasion of revenue more risky and full of hazards. In this backdrop, the officers and staff working in
the Revenue Department are not only required to be acquainted with different statutes other than the
taxation statutes in one hand but also required to be dare devil to face any consequences arising out
of the situation for the said tax collection, anti-evasion of revenue and anti-smuggling activities on
the other hand.
duties and responsibilities in such a way that the tax is collected properly & effectively without
causing any harassment to the bonafide tax payers. The liberalized policy, being followed throughout the
world, has made it compulsory to our country also to make the provisions related to tax collection
drafted in easy language and understandable to all persons. The said liberalized policy has made the
work of the taxmen more sophisticated requiring technical precision. The worldwide increase of terrorism and insurgency coupled with narco-terrorism have made the job of anti-smuggling & anti-
evasion of revenue more risky and full of hazards. In this backdrop, the officers and staff working in
the Revenue Department are not only required to be acquainted with different statutes other than the
taxation statutes in one hand but also required to be dare devil to face any consequences arising out
of the situation for the said tax collection, anti-evasion of revenue and anti-smuggling activities on
the other hand.
10.
No need to submit that the officers of the Revenue Department play the crucial
role in
garnering the adequate resources for developmental purposes. The last decade saw a healthy and gradual
enlargement of tax base and upsurge in revenue collection. As a result, contribution of tax revenue as
a percentage of GDP, which was 9% a decade ago, has now gone upto 11% while the cost of tax collection is as low as Rs.0.68 for every Rs.100 (one of the lowest in the world). Greater reliance is now placed on
(a) moderation in tax rate (b) enlargement of tax net and (c) simplification of rules & procedures in
the changed scenario & objectives for the existence of an efficient tax administration to fulfil the
goals of economic policy as the need of the hour. But it is distressing to note that officers of the Revenue Department, particularly Inspectors & Superintendents of Central Excise constituting more than 50% of the total workforce of the CBEC and working in the field formations to implement the various policies of the Govt., have been discriminated in the matter of pay-scale and promotional opportunities against the similarly placed officers working in other departments.
garnering the adequate resources for developmental purposes. The last decade saw a healthy and gradual
enlargement of tax base and upsurge in revenue collection. As a result, contribution of tax revenue as
a percentage of GDP, which was 9% a decade ago, has now gone upto 11% while the cost of tax collection is as low as Rs.0.68 for every Rs.100 (one of the lowest in the world). Greater reliance is now placed on
(a) moderation in tax rate (b) enlargement of tax net and (c) simplification of rules & procedures in
the changed scenario & objectives for the existence of an efficient tax administration to fulfil the
goals of economic policy as the need of the hour. But it is distressing to note that officers of the Revenue Department, particularly Inspectors & Superintendents of Central Excise constituting more than 50% of the total workforce of the CBEC and working in the field formations to implement the various policies of the Govt., have been discriminated in the matter of pay-scale and promotional opportunities against the similarly placed officers working in other departments.
11.
The importance of an efficient workforce for tax administration is well
recognized by the different tax reform committees including the committee
headed by Dr. Raja Chaliah. The said committee in para 10.2 observed that the
Government should recognize the paramount importance of Revenue Department and
should spare no efforts in improving their conditions of service, technical
skill and work environment. Further in para 10.3, the committee observing and
taking into account the vital role of the Revenue Department played in
garnering adequate resources for ensuring the security of the Country as well
as substantial economic growth with social justice recommended that the salary
scales and promotional prospect of the officers & staff in the Revenue
Department should at least be comparable with the best that Government offers
to its employees. It is worth to submit that the Revenue Officers are treated differently
in the matter of pay & other benefits in many developed countries.
12.
A major concern of the indirect tax department lies in developing and utilising
the available human resources. Unfortunately, the efforts of the CBEC lag far
behind in this regard. It has no long term planning on personnel management.
The causation of frustration, dissatisfaction & demoralisation of any workforce
in any organization is the stagnation. The extraordinarily acute stagnation for
Central Excise Superintendents & Inspectors exists due to the following reasons-
i.
The cadre review exercise not being conducted at prescribed intervals in CBEC.
ii.
Framing of faulty Recruitment Rules by CBEC.
iii.
Absence of in-situ promotions scheme/time bound promotions scheme/flexible
complementary
promotions scheme/dynamic promotions scheme/fast track promotions scheme etc. for the Central Excise Superintendents & Inspectors.
promotions scheme/dynamic promotions scheme/fast track promotions scheme etc. for the Central Excise Superintendents & Inspectors.
iv.
Intra organisational, intra departmental and inter departmental disparities in
promotions.
13.
No tax administration reform is possible without reforms in the prevailing
conditions of the taxmen. It is worth to mention that the prospects of taxmen
in terms of their pay & promotions act as motivation and, therefore, have a
direct bearing on tax collection. The plight & predicament of taxmen in
CBEC, particularly at the grass root level of Inspectors/Superintendent, is so
precarious that a talk on tax reforms becomes meaningless unless it is
addressed.
14.
The Hon’ble Commission has referred to several countries and organizations in
its report. But it has hardly noticed any country/organization, where officers
retire with single promotion in their entire service career except our Central
Excise Superintendents & Inspectors. It causes natural heartburning &
de-motivation. Another deep de-motivating factor is the pay anomaly. Central
Excise Inspectors recruited with Grade Pay of Rs. 4600/- are promoted to the
post of Superintendent merely with Rs. 200 enhancement in the Grade Pay Rs.
4800/- whereas the inspectors of CBI & IB etc. are promoted to a post with
the grade pay of Rs. 5400/- in PB3. Despite of the best schemes of Non
Functional Grade (NFG) and Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) available
to them, they get ultimate Grade Pay of Rs. 5400/- only in the entire service with
the increase of Rs. 800/- merely.
15.
One may argue that 7th Central Pay Commission has already been
constituted to address the pay anomaly. But CPC may be facing limitation like
the question of ‘horizontal parity’. It is also relevant to submit that the
govt. disturbed the horizontal parity between the analogous counterparts of CBI
as well as IB and Central Excise Superintendents w.e.f. 01.01.86 by granting
the higher pay scale equivalent to the grade pay of Rs. 5400/- in PB3 to the
former category without the recommendations of the CPC despite of the fact that
the ‘investigation and intelligence’ is the integral part of the duties and
responsibilities being performed by the later category. But Hon’ble TARC may
kindly like to appreciate this concern. With special reference to tax reforms,
Commission may like to recommend ‘distinguishing’ revenue officers from other
class of Central Government officers in r/o pay matters & career prospects.
We shall be highly obliged and CBEC would be hugely benefited, if the Hon’ble
Commission is pleased to recommend for the better pay, perks and promotions for
the Superintendents of Central Excise for the purpose of instilling motivation
in an utterly demoralized category of govt. employees and, thereby, giving a
fillip to the tax collection. It is generally apprehended that if genuine
problems of Superintendents of Central Excise relating to pay & promotions
are not addressed, CBEC would keep facing a challenge of large scale desertion
by these officers.
16. As far as the importance of the
responsibilities is concerned, Superintendents are discharging all functions
relating to assessment, investigation & intelligence, issuance of Show
Cause Notices with the powers of adjudication. They have not only been
conferred with the judicial powers of adjudication but also conferred with
judicial powers of recording statements in terms of Section 14 of the Central
Excise Act and Section 108 of the Customs Act. The statements tendered before
the Central Excise Superintendent have a legal binding and are treated as a
valid piece of evidence by various courts including the Hon’ble Supreme Court
just like the statements tendered before a Magistrate. No such powers have been
conferred to the CSS officers or any other counterparts of Central Excise
Superintendents. Not only it, the Adjudication Orders are also being prepared
by them for the Commissioner level officers. It is also important to mention
that the judicial officers are not only already being highly paid with extra
perks but also treated in a far better way in the matter of career prospects
than other categories of employees but no such treatment is being given to our
Superintendents. Though the Central Excise Superintendents are performing more
responsible work functions as compared to other counterparts, yet they are
facing the worst career prospects instead of being given better treatment. This
injustice is being faced by them despite of being the ‘backbone of the
government revenue’ on account of being the major revenue collectors in the
form of Central Excise duty, Customs duty & Service Tax and also GST in the
forthcoming times. In actual terms, they are the ‘backbone of the government’
being responsible to earn finance for the government. This all makes their
claim even stronger for better treatment. But very unfortunately, they are
being totally ignored in every matter.
17.
In view of the above, it is requested to take the following
measures to improve the career prospects and pay packages of the Central Excise
Superintendents in the interest of the govt. revenue-
i)
To grant the pay scale & perks at least equivalent to the DSP of CBI in the
grade pay of Rs. 5400/- in PB3 w.e.f. the date of the grant of the same to the DSP
of CBI.
ii)
To grant parity in promotions (even non-functional)
at least with the best placed group B counterparts to enter them into PB4
levels by taking following means-
(a) Time bound
promotions/scales: No posts will require
to be created for the grant of time scale after every 5 years to them after
entry into Inspector grade.
(b) Notional promotions granting batch to
batch parity with the best placed counterparts like CSS etc. There already
exist so many legal verdicts in the favour of various employees of many other
organizations on notional promotions.
(c) Creation of supernumerary posts which
will be personal to the officer at each level of the promotion and will be
abolished with the retirement of the officer. There already exist so many legal
verdicts in the favour of various employees of many other organizations on
supernumerary posts.
(d) Creation of separate service: The draft
RRs for separate service have already been submitted to the CBEC by the
Association (enclosed herewith also). The separate service for group ‘B’
officers has also been recommended on various occasions by the CBEC and also by
the IRS Officers Association. This may be created by taking all of the vacant
posts at group ‘A’ level+half of STS posts+half of JTS regular posts by
upgrading these to STS with the provision to promote Superintendents directly
to this grade like many other group B gazetted officers of Central as well as
State governments+all of temporary JTS posts (instead of abolishing after 5
years) by upgrading these to STS +additional posts at each level in proportion
to CSS strength.
(e) Direct promotion to higher post/s: Customs Ministerial officers are being promoted as Appraiser without working even
for a single day on feeder post of Examiner in CBEC. Likewise, our officers may
also kindly be promoted directly to the higher posts at par with the best
placed counterparts.
(f) In-situ promotions (requiring no
creation of posts) after completion of residency periods as prescribed by
the DOPT and explained under the forthcoming sub para (i).
(g) Batch to batch functional upgradation
at par with the best placed counterparts.
(h) Batch to batch non-functional upgradation at par with the best placed counterparts like
CSS etc. (also requiring
no creation of posts) based on the precedent of DOPT OM No.
AB.14017/64/2008-Estt.(RR) dt. 24.04.09 granting NFU to other group ‘A’
officers at par with IAS but with 2 years difference. This 2 years difference
is not warranted in our case.
(i) Re-framing the recruitment rules
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 made 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 qualifying service/residency periods prescribed vide the above OM of
DOPT. No need to submit that the residency periods have been prescribed by the
DOPT with the due diligence and application of mind without any intention of fulfilling
mere decorative purpose. A little deviation from the prescribed residency
periods 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 years (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 on in-situ basis
after completion of 1½ times of qualifying service in 1999 to remove their
stagnation). It is also worth to submit that the CSS officers are also being
promoted to the post of Joint Secretary on in-situ basis. Thus,
the residency periods may be prescribed in the RRs as follows-
(I) 3 years for promotion to a post
with a grade pay of Rs. 54,00/- in PB3 after joining as Inspector. The officer
should be granted the said grade on in-situ basis or NFU after completion of 4½
years of service, even if the required number of vacancies don’t exist for
functional promotion.
(II) 7 years for promotion to a
post with a grade pay of Rs. 6,600/- after joining as Inspector. The
officer should be granted the said grade on in-situ basis or NFU after
completion of 10½ years of service, even if the required number of vacancies
don’t exist for functional promotion.
(III) 12 years for promotion to a
post with a grade pay of Rs. 7,600/- after joining as Inspector. The officer
should be granted the said grade on in-situ basis or NFU after completion of 18
years of service, even if the required number of vacancies don’t exist for
functional promotion.
(IV) 17 years for promotion to a
post with a grade pay of Rs. 8,700/- after joining as Inspector. The officer
should be granted the said grade on in-situ basis or NFU after completion of
25½ years of service, even if the required number of vacancies don’t exist for
functional promotion.
(V) 20 years for promotion to a
post with a grade pay of Rs. 10,000/- after joining as Inspector. The officer
should be granted the said grade on in-situ basis or NFU after completion of 30
years of service, even if the required number of vacancies don’t exist for
functional promotion.
(VI) And so on. (It is worth to submit
that the officers are already being promoted from a post with the grade pay of
Rs. 4600/- to a post with the grade pay of Rs. 6600/- and further to a post
with the grade pay of Rs. 8700/- from a post with the grade pay of Rs. 6600/-
in CPWD. There is no post with a grade pay of Rs. 4800/- or Rs. 5400/- in
between the posts with a grade pay of Rs. 4600/- and Rs. 6600/-. Further, there
is no post with a grade pay of Rs. 7600/- in between the posts with a grade pay
of Rs. 6600/- and Rs. 8700/-.)
iii) To provide due
infrastructure and prescribed office space & facilities alongwith due
amenities,
iv) To bring in-situ promotions scheme,
time bound promotions scheme, flexible complementary
promotions scheme, dynamic promotions scheme, fast track promotions scheme etc. to0 grant at least five functional promotions after entry into Inspector grade.
promotions scheme, dynamic promotions scheme, fast track promotions scheme etc. to0 grant at least five functional promotions after entry into Inspector grade.
v) To conduct timely cadre
reviews and compensate for undone cadre reviews.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Encl:
As above (draft RRs).
(RAVI MALIK),
Secretary General.
