Draft minutes of Lucknow AEC meeting

Dear friends,
namaste.
The draft minutes of the Lucknow AEC meeting are placed below. All delegates present in the meeting are requested to go through the same and point out, if any discrepancy is three. The discrepancy may kindly be communicated to ravimalik_sweet@yahoo.com within one week to finalise and confirm the minutes. If no discrepancy is received within week, the minutes may kindly be treated as final and confirmed.
Loving regards,
RAVI MALIK,
Secretary General,
AIACEGEO.

ALL INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL EXCISE GAZETTED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

Draft minutes of Associate Executive Committee Meeting held on 22^nd-23^rd September, 2018 at Lucknow

           On behalf of the Lucknow Unit, the host unit, Sh. Pankaj Srivastava welcomed all the delegates attending the meeting from all over India. He requested the Secretary General, Sh. Ravi Malik, to continue the proceedings as per the agenda. At the outset, the Secretary General, Sh. Ravi Malik, welcomed all the delegates and requested the President, Sh. A. Venkatesh, to preside the meeting. Sh. Venkatesh welcomed all delegates and asked to have smooth and positive deliberations on the agenda points. He declared the House open for the same.

           2. The under mentioned points were scheduled in the agenda-

           i) Career prospects including DPC and cadre restructuring.

ii) Pay matters including MACPS.

iii) Working conditions including infrastructure.

iv) Organisational matters including DDO certificates, dues & funds.

v) Confirmation/ratification of the minutes of the last Associate Executive Committee/Associate Committee meetings.

vi) Any other point/s with the permission of Chair.

            3. In the starting, the host unit welcomed all retired as well as in-service officers who devoted their valuable time for the Association. Bouquets were presented to S/Sh. Lalmani, Dushyant Kumar, Ramesh Babu, N. N. Lal and all other officers. Sh. Vikas Asthana, General Secretary of the host unit, welcomed all the guests and members in his speech.

4. He apprised and requested the Secretary General and President about the issues like pay matters, N. Subramanian case, Bharthan case, i.e., N. R. Parmar case and infrastructure in Ranges as well as in headquarters. He requested the Chair to give main concentration to these issues.

5. The Secretary General briefed all delegates about the various aspects including the career prospects, DPC for the post of Asstt. Commissioner for the transitional year 2018, i.e., from April to December 2018, extension of temporary posts of Asstt Commissioner and cadre restructuring, scheme to grant parity in promotions with other counterparts adopting the measures like time bound promotions/scales, notional promotions, upgradation (functional or non-functional), creation of supernumerary posts, direct promotion to higher post/s, upgradation of posts, in-situ promotion scheme, flexible complementary promotion scheme (FCS) as adopted in the Department of Science & Technology to remove the stagnation of the stagnated employees, dynamic assured career progression scheme (DACP) as in the Ministry of Health to remove the stagnation of their stagnated employees, creation of separate service, amendment of recruitment rules to give parity in promotions at par with the counterparts, to follow DOPT instructions regarding residency periods which stipulates the promotion of our Inspector grade officer (whether direct recruit or promotee) to the grade of Commissioner within 20 years, pay matters, infrastructure etc. He reiterated that our Inspector should get the grade of Commissioner at least on completion of 30 years (after completion of 1½ time of residency period as prescribed by DOPT) of service, if not on completion of 20 years. He also apprised the House that 1984 batch examiner has become Addl. Commissioner whereas the Inspectors of 1984 are yet to become Asstt. Commissioner. He also informed the House that the Cabinet had approved to bring a scheme to remove the stagnation of our officers independent of cadre restructuring in the year 2013 but nothing has been done till date by the CBEC. He briefed the House about the recent developments as well as current status of the various issues at Board/Ministry/concerned nodal department level. He added that the only remedy to our grievances is strong and all united agitational programme like mass resignation which perhaps will never be able to observe under the circumstances.

           6. He said that that every effort is being made to get the DPC done for the transition year 2018. He added that the extension of the temporary posts of Asstt. Commissioner is already under process and is expected to come soon. The efforts are also being made to get Non Functional Financial Upgradation (NFU) at par with the best counterparts of CSS etc. on the lines of Group ‘A’ already getting NFU to get compensated for the lack of functional promotions at par with the counterparts of IAS. This scheme was got recommended by the Association from CBEC to the DOPT initially but DOPT returned it saying that it is applicable for Group ‘A’ only. Then it was got recommended to the 7^th CPC but the pay commission kept mum on this issue whereas they said specific ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on other issues.  This matter was also got recommended to the Revenue Headquarters for the consideration by the Empowered Committee of Secretaries formed after the issuance of the pay commission report but nothing happened. It was again got recommended by the stagnation committee headed by Sh. Balesh Kumar but yet to be implemented. Now, the legal remedy seems the only way for this issue and many other issues as we are lacking strong agitational programme with mass participation.

           7. As far as the cadre restructuring is concerned, the process has already started on the initiation of the Association. The relevant submissions have already been made to the concerned authorities regarding the cadre restructuring and further suggestions from the members/units are most welcomed. He apprised the House that the points like Flexible Complementary/Dynamic Assured Career Progression Scheme, Merger of Level-9 and 10, Merger of group ‘B’ Executive non-gazetted as well as gazetted categories, Seniority benefit on promotion to group ‘A’ in lieu of the service rendered in group ‘B’, Promoting all Superintendents completing 1.5 times of qualifying service on the lines of CSS, Conversion of temporary posts of Asstt. Commissioner to regular/permanent keeping the same intact for promotee officers forever and deletion of the clause in cadre restructuring notification that the officers promoted against these posts would not be entitled for further promotion, Creation of reserve pool posts, Time scale after every 7 years to the officers after joining the job as Inspector, Non-Functional Financial Upgradation, Counting of service rendered against the temporary posts of Asstt. Commissioner for further promotions, Enhancement of promotion quota for entry into Group ‘A’, Earmarking of share of promotee officers upto the level of Commissioner, Merger of the sanctioned strength of the Assistant Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, Filling-up of all posts of Asstt. Commissioner first by Central Excise Superintendents till they are placed at par with the Customs, Removal of regional disparities in promotions, Bringing a scheme independent of cadre restructuring to remove the stagnation of our officers as approved by the Cabinet, Immediate implementation of in-situ promotion scheme as approved in Board meeting of 18.02.11, Immediate implementation of the verdict given by the Principal Bench of the Hon’ble CAT in OA No. 2323/2012 to grant parity in promotions at par with the counterparts, The promotion of the Central Excise/CGST Superintendent to a STS post, Upgradation of posts under GST like State Governments, enhancement of pay scales and providing of due infrastructure, Conferring of the responsibilities to different levels in the administrative hierarchy in proportion of the rank, Time scale in PB3 after four years of service to our Superintendents with retrospective effect (i.e., w.e.f. the date of giving this benefit to the Section Officers of CSS) without offsetting with the MACP upgradation, Creation of separate service, Stoppage of direct recruitment in IRS at least for 10 years, All posts to be created in cadre restructuring at Group ‘A’ entry level to be filled by promotions only, Assured Progression Scheme for our officers, Manpower and infra-structure requirement under GST etc. have been submitted for cadre restructuring. The points like the enhancement of promotion quota, Merger of the cadre at Group ‘B’ executive level, Upgradation/redesignation under GST like State Governments, Immediate implementation of in-situ promotion scheme as approved in Board meeting of 18.02.11, Promotion of Superintendent to Senior Time Scale (L-11) instead of Junior Time Scale (L-10) post, Manpower and infra-structure requirement under GST etc. were principally agreed during the meeting itself held with the Association on cadre restructuring. The Association was also offered the Re-designation of the Superintendent under time scale of Level-9 with four years of service as Senior Superintendent which was not agreed by the Association. Instead they were asked to place the Superintendent under the initial pay scale of Level-10 and promote further to STS post. In this regard w.r.t. the promotion of Superintendent to Senior Time Scale post, they agreed that it was also recommended by the Balesh Kumar Committee.

8. As far as the pay matters are concerned, the pay scale for our Superintendent at par with the DSP of CBI since 1986, arrears of pay since 1996 in the case of Superintendent at par with the Superintendent of NCB, arrears of pay since 1986 in the case of Inspector, time scale in PB3, time scale after 4 years of getting the pay scale of Superintendent etc. are being pursued administratively as well as legally. Two writs have been filed in the High Court of Cuttack, one regarding the pay scale for Superintendent at par with the DSP of CBI w.e.f. 01.01.86 and another for the arrears since 01.01.86 for our Inspectors at par with the Inspector of CBI. No need to say that all Inspectors of that time have already become Superintendents and Asstt. Commissioners.  A case filed by Sh. K. P. Rai and the then Inspectors Association in the Jabalpur High Court for the payment of the arrears to our Inspectors since 1986 at par with the CBI Inspectors is also being pursued. The matter of the implementation of the Subramanium case in rem was also filed in Delhi CAT and is on final hearing. In the case of the arrears of pay since 1996 to our Superintendent at par with the Superintendent of NCB, the govt. is unable to file its reply till date in Delhi CAT.

9. The MACP matters are also being pursued administratively as well as legally. Main issues pertaining to the MACPS are offsetting of time scale with the MACP upgradation and the bifurcation of single Grade Pay of Rs. 5400/- in PB2 and PB3 without the difference of even a single rupee. The case filed on this issue in Delhi CAT seeking a Grade Pay of Rs. 7600/- after completion of 30 years of service is also on final hearing. The case of the general implementation of the Chandrasekaran verdict is also on final hearing in Delhi CAT. All relevant matters are also being placed through CPGRAM.

10. The issue of the working conditions including infrastructure was also raised in the cadre restructuring meeting and was principally agreed by the administration. The units were also requested by the Secretary General to take up the issues relating to this point with the local administration. He added that the Association had got the due letter written to the field formations by the Board on the issue of infrastructure even before the approval of the last cadre restructuring. The administration has also promised to provide the sufficient funds for the purpose as and when required.  

11. On organisational matters including DDO certificates, dues & funds, the Secretary General requested all units to provide the due DDO certificates, clear the pending dues and provide maximum funds to the Association being regularly required in the organisational works and legal matters.

12. Sh. Ravi Malik also intended not to fight further election for the post of the Secretary General of the Association specifying, however, that the Constitution of the AIACEGEO bars no promotee Group ‘A’ executive officer including promotee Asstt. Commissioner to fight the election for any post in the Association, whether All India Body or local Unit, including Secretary General and President. He reiterated that all promotee Group ‘A’ executive officers including promotee Asstt. Commissioners from Central Excise stream are full-fledged member of the Association as per the Constitution and there is no bar for them to fight election for any post in the Association. He, however, suggested and supported the view of Delhi Unit that there may be some internal arrangement that at least one major post (President or Secretary General) should be given to the Superintendent, however there is no bar for the promotee Group ‘A’ executive officers or Superintendents to contest for both posts. He mentioned that in the last election also one post was with the promotee Group ‘A’ officer and other was with the Superintendent.   

13. The President asked for confirmation/ratification of the minutes of the last Associate Executive Committee/Associate Committee meetings from the House as already being confirmed by emails. The House unanimously passed, confirmed and ratified all the minutes of last Associate Executive Committee and Associate Committee meetings.

14. After it, the President sought the detailed suggestion from the House.

15. Sh. Sanjay Srivastava from Lucknow, Joint Secretary of North Zone, said that the whole cadre is responsible for the stagnation as well as the pity position of the cadre. He requested all to come forward and do the work as per rule. He also requested to minimise the litigations like Bharthan case, pay matters and promotions at unit levels.

16. Sh. Srimali from Ahmadabad suggested that the promotee Asstt. Commissioners should be posted either in their zone or nearby like 2014 promotion orders. He also informed that some reserved posts of Asstt. Commissioner had been kept on hold by the Board against which promotions should be given.

17. Daman, Vapi and Surat delegates suggested that the promotee Asstt. Commissioners posted in other zones should be returned back to their parent zone. They also suggested that the powers of the CGST and SGST officers should be compared and equalised.

18. Sh. Rezi Matthew, General Secretary of Vadodra Unit, suggested that the assessment should be post based like Superintendent, Asstt. Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Joint Commissioner and Addl. Commissioner on Income Tax pattern.

19. Sh. Prabhakar Sharma, General Secretary of Agra Unit, suggested that service rendered as Inspector and Superintendent should combinedly be counted for the next promotion (i.e., Asstt. Commissioner). He also suggested that all promotee group ‘A’ officers should be posted in all streams, i.e., CGST, Customs and Directorates.

20. Sh. Pranave Shekhar, General Secretary of Delhi Unit, suggested that a proper ratio of Inspector and Superintendent should be maintained. Infrastructure issues like office space should be given as per norms fixed by the DOPT/HRD guidelines. Deputation from Customs formations to Delhi Customs should be avoided as it has spoiled the working atmosphere. He also said that 1% incentive amount should be used in proper manner for the welfare of all cadres without any mercy of the HOD. He also requested that the residential flats should be constructed for all cadres like Type – II, III, IV, IV special etc. in Delhi Dwarka residential project instead of type IV special and above meant only for Group ‘A’ officers.

21. Sh. T. Dass, President of Hyderabad Unit, said that, the Superintendents being equal to CTO posted in the states GST, should be designated as Assistant commissioner like CTOs have been designated in the states. Thus, our officers should be compared and placed at par with the State officers under GST. He also suggested that all three Group ‘B’ executive cadres should be merged in CBIC. He also suggested that reservation should be given in promotions and uniform should be continued. He added that the reservation issue is already being taken by the SC/ST officers association with the administration. He also said that Senior Superintendent post is not acceptable in the ensuing cadre restructuring as proposed by HRD and promotion to the post of Asstt. Commissioner should be affected as per the seniority of the Superintendents. He also suggested that agitational programme is required to achieve our demands. He requested that the name of the association should be changed to CGST instead of Central Excise.

22. Sh. Ashutosh Nivasarkar from Indore, Joint Secretary of Central Zone, said that unity among us is must and requested for the removal of regional disparities in the promotions. He added that the work of Administrative Officer should not be allotted to the Superintendent and a letter should be sent to the Chairman in this regard.

23. Sh. Harpal Singh, Joint Secretary of North Zone and President of Meerut Unit, said that the unity is required in the interest of the cadre and the persons like Mr. Manimohan should understand it. He added that it is the time to reorganise the assesses. It should be mandatory to verify the refund by the proper officer otherwise our officers will face the problems later on. Uniform should not be withdrawn and the responsibility of assessment should be given to all officers like Superintendent, Asstt. Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Joint Commissioner and Addl. Commissioner.

24. Sh. Asoke Gain, General Secretary of Kolkata Unit, suggested that association recognition matter should be pursued and pay scale of Level-11 should be given to our Superintendents on promotion instead of Level-10.

25. Sh. Vikas Asthana, General Secretary of Lucknow Unit, suggested that length of service including Inspector and Superintendent should be counted for promotion against the post of Asstt. Commissioner. He also apprised that the govt. has given powers for assessment in states at each level like CTO, Asstt. Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Joint Commissioner and Addl. Commissioner except Commissioner.  Same pattern should be followed in our department under GST era. Uniform should also be mandated for all cadres upto the level of Commissioner instead of selected cadres.

26. Sh. N. N. Lal from Lucknow said that all promotee Asstt. Commissioners, who have completed four years of service, should be promoted as Deputy Commissioner.

27. Sh. Sanjeev Sahai from Mumbai, Joint Secretary of West Zone, said that 29 officers from Mumbai have taken VRS due to not expecting promotion.

28. Sh. Sanjay Mishra, General Secretary of Patna-Ranchi-Jamshedpur, informed that the jurisdiction of Patna CGST is very vast and the Ranges are very far away from the Headquarters. 35 vacancies of Superintendent are lying vacant and office work is being hampered as eligible candidates are not available for the want of qualifying service for the promotion. The qualifying service should be reduced and sensitive/non-sensitive classification should be dismantled due to non-interaction between trade and officers under GST. He thanked the All India Body to get the issue of the suspension of Sh. Kundu of Surat to get resolved. He suggested that a committee should be formed for unification of cadre to merge Manimohan group in AIACEGEO.

29. Sh. Anand Kishore, Joint Secretary of Central Zone, suggested that our officers should get parity in promotion with other counterparts. This will also remove the regional disparities.

30. Sh. Dilip Pandya, General Secretary of Rajkot Unit, said that the allocation of the units should be even for all Ranges. No additional charge should be given to Range Officers. Non Sensitive and sensitive words must be withdrawn. Officers posted outside the jurisdiction should be called back to their original places. He informed that some staff had been posted to Union Territory for 1 year under GST but yet to be called back even after completion of their tenure. The matter should be taken with administration by the All India Body. He also told that Inspector (Central Excise) have been recruited as per the Central Excise Rules. They should not be posted in states. He also suggested that uniform should be continued as it is very much required in Land Customs. He was asked to send a note on the issue of calling back the officers from the Union Territory to be taken up with the administration.

31. On this issue, Sh. Apurba Roy, Vice President of East Zone, informed that the first order which was issued by the UT Secretary have been converted to “on deputation” in Andaman & Nicobar UT.

32. Daman-Vapi delegates informed that the Commissioner of UT had posted our officers on one higher rank/post in Port Blair. The said order was issued for time bound posting for one year without any willingness of the officers. They requested the Chair that the same as mentioned by Sh. Apurba should be followed in their zone for Dieu postings.

33. Sh. Nagaraju, Joint Secretary of South Zone and General Secretary of Guntur Unit, said that the SEZ postings are not being done in a proper manner. He was requested to send a note on the said matter.

34. Sh. A. K. Meena, Vice President of West Zone, said that there are a lot of vacancies existing in SEZ of Gujarat and Rajasthan but the concerned authority has not forwarded applications of our officers to SEZ. He requested the Chair to take up the matter with the administration. He was requested to send a not on this issue.

35. Sh. Prabhakar Sharma, General Secretary of Agra Unit, said that water is not being supplied in Agra Commissionerate. Additional Charge has been given to the officers which is very painful. If the work is not completed in time due to workload on account of additional charge, the action should not be taken against any officer due to this additional charge. The matter should be taken up with the administration by the All India Body for it. Legacy Commissionerate has not been created which is urgently required. He suggested that All India Body should demand schemes like voluntary tax payment by trade. All India Body should create an RTI Cell and sensitive/non-sensitive names of the charge should be deleted.

36. Sh. M. Jegannathan, Secretary General of SC/ST officers association, suggested that the departmental guest houses should be given to all officers instead of any preferential treatment for Group ‘A’ officers without any discrimination. MACP cases must be filed (if needed) by the individuals in person instead of hiring the advocate. It will give correct impression to the judiciary for giving better verdict and also flood the Board to reply these cases filed in the various courts. Good and very good bench mark should be counted one and same. He also mentioned that 1000 posts of Asstt. Commissioner have been shown vacant on the DGHRD site under disposition list for July, 2018. Subsequently, 100+ posts have also fallen vacant till date. All of these posts should be filled up immediately. Posting at Airport and Directorates should be made on seniority cum fitness basis. Reservation policy is not being followed as per the rules. 13:1:2 post based rosters should be maintained to fill up the vacancies at Group ‘A’ entry level.

37. Sh. Somuan Bhattacharya, Organising Secretary of All India body and President of Kolkata Unit, requested that all India seniority list beyond 2006 should be published and 2118 temporary Asstt. Commissioner posts be extended. He informed that about 55 officers (promotee Asstt. Commissioners) have been returned to their parent zone due to the efforts made by the All India Body in Kolkata Zone. He thanked the All India Body on behalf of all of them.

38. Sh. Pranave Shekhar, General Secretary of Delhi Unit, requested All India Body that vigilance cases should be centralised and NOC from vigilance angle should be given in time bound manner so that the officers are not suffered. He also requested that time barred cases should not be opened and charge sheet should not be given, if case has become time barred. ODI list should be published in time so that no injustice is made to any officer in the matter of transfer and posting. He said that the promotion to the post of Asstt. Commissioner can be affected only on the basis of the length of service as Superintendent. He also suggested that CPC should be transferred to Range Office from Hqrs. APAR cases should be taken care by the Administration for timely reporting and reviewing of the APAR. The responsibility should be fixed, if there is any lapse on the part of reporting or reviewing officer. Separate protocol cell should not be created anywhere as proposed by the Delhi Customs Commissioner. 

39. Sh. Pavan K. Reddy, Vice President of South Zone, said that HRD has no vision to improve our career prospects. We need more posts at group ‘A’ entry level. Subramanian case should be implemented. All India Body is requested to take up it on priority basis. In Hyderabad, the administration is basing ‘very good’ bench mark for MACP upgradation since 2016 whereas it was recommended by the VIIth pay commission in 2018. All India Body is requested to take up the matter. The Central Excise officers should be placed at par with the state GST officers in the pay and designation adopting the way of upgradation. He informed that the States have changed the nomenclature of their officers by one rank higher and the same should be done in CGST.

40. Secretary General and President decided after due consultation to form a committee to chalk out a programme how to unify the cadre due to disassociating and dividing activities of Sh. Manimohan and associates. A proposal is to be prepared by the committee to proceed on the matter of the unification of the cadre. The members of the Unification Committee will be S/Sh. Sanjay Mishra, Pranave Shekhar, Dilip Pandya, Ashutosh Nivsarkar, Apurba Roy, Vikas Asthana, T. Dass, Thandi Lal Meena and V. Jegannathan. The committee will submit its report to the Secretary General and President for further action.  

41. Secretary General and President also decided to form a Cadre Restructuring Committee consisting S/Sh. Rezy Matthew, Pavan Reddy, Vikas Asthana, Dilip Pandya, Sanjay Srivastava, Somuan Bhattacharya, L. N. Singhvi, Sanjeev Sahai, G. Srikant, M. Jegannathan and Sadanand as member. All were requested to submit the report of the committee to the Secretary General and President within one month and latest by 31^st October, 2018 suggesting the measures how to improve career prospects of our officers to reach them Level-14 and above like other counterparts with full justification in regard of career prospects and functional justification during the ensuing cadre restructuring.

42. Secretary General and President also requested all units to conduct elections as per Constitution of the Association, wherever due. The delegates were asked whether elections were due for any of the units. It was found that the elections have already been conducted wherever were due. It was also found that such units were associated with Sh. Manimohan & group where elections were not conducted and are pending for very long.

43. At the end of the deliberations, the President thanked the delegates for running the House in democratic and amicable manner and also for giving constructive and valuable inputs for unity, solidarity and strengthening of the Association in larger interest of the cadre.

44. The Secretary General also thanked all the delegates to attend the meeting and be interactive on the various issues. He also appreciated and thanked the Lucknow Unit for making the excellent arrangement for the meeting.

            45. Sh. Dinesh Sharma, the Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, was the Chief Guest of the meeting. He attended the closing ceremony of the meeting as Chief Guest. He was kind enough to ask the Association to send a few issues relating to our officers to enable him to recommend the same to the concerned authority for due redressal.

            46. The following delegates attended the meeting-

S/SHRI

1. RAVI MALIK                                        

2. A VENKATESH                                    

3. RAVI JOSHI                                 

4. C S SHARMA                                         

5. N R MANDA

6. HARPAL SINGH

7. M NAGARAJU

8. DASS THAUANAM

9. G TILAK

10 SADANAND HADAGALI

11 B P K READY

12 ANAND KISHORE

13 SHAILENDRA KUMAR

14 AJAY KUMAR

15 P C JHA

16 SANJAY KUMAR MISHRA

17 STAYANARAYAN

18 RAJESHWAR RAO

19 DILIP J PANDYA

20 N S MAHESHWARI

21 P P MITTAL

22 K P RAI

23 M JEGANNATHAN

24 REZY MATTHEW

25 S K SHRIMALI

26 G M BHUNBHAN

27 VIKAS ASTHANA

28 SANJAY SRIVASTAVA

29 SOMUAN BHATTACHARYA

30 APURBA ROY

31 ASHISH VAJPAYI

32 LAXMI LAL SINGHVI

33 ASHUTOSH NIVARSARKAR

34 SANJEEV SAHAI

35 G SRIKANT

36 SADANAND

37 THANDI LAL MEENA

38 PRANAVE SHEKHAR

39 SATENDRA PANWAR

40 PRABHAKAR SHARMA

41 A P SINGH

42 MUKUL BAJPEYI

43 A K MEENA

44 N N LAL

45 ASOKE GAIN

46 LALMANI

47 DUSHYANT KUMAR

48 RAMESH BABU

49 P SRAVAN KUMAR

50 PANKAJ SRIVASTAVA

Minutes prepared by-

Sh. C. S. Sharma, Office Secretary.