Action Taken Report of the Secy General presented before the AIEC at Mumbai on 10.12.2017
ACTION
TAKEN REPORT SUBMITTED BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL BEFORE THE AIEC OF THE AIACEGEO
AT MUMBAI ON 10.12.2017
Dear friends
and comrades,
I take this opportunity to welcome
you all for this meeting and I place on record my sincere thanks to Com.
Shishir Agnihotri and the Mumbai Unit for having made arrangements for this
meeting at a very short notice.
The meeting is being held at a
crucial hour due to organisational reasons, the effects of implementation of
GST in our department and on our cadre and the impending parting of ways with
the Customs. Before we delve into these
pithy subjects, I place before you, in brief (for almost all actions taken have
been reported in our blog or by mail/WhatsApp group messages from time to time)
so that our decisions on crucial issues could be taken in the right
perspective.
ORGANISATIONAL
FRONT:
We all know that the 12th
Convention of our Association was notified by the then President Com. R.
Chandramouli under a different situation.
The primary reason was that the outgoing Secretary General had refused
to vacate his office even after being promoted as Assistant Commissioner and
issued a notice for Convention on his own, without consultations with the
President and against the advice of the President.
The Convention also provided an
opportunity for us to strengthen the basics of our Organisation. Accordingly, the Convention amended the
provisions of the Constitution whereby voting rights were made as based on
‘paid up membership strength’, instead of ‘strength of the Commissionerates
represented’.
The Convention and the circumstances
that lead to it itself provided an impetus for numerous units to become active.
In many of the units where elections had not been held for long, elections had
to be notified and in many of these units the Office Bearers who had been
occupying the chairs simply because they had been elected once upon a time and
because they could go to the All India meetings and cast votes against the
number of Commissionerates their unit was representing, even without any
subscription collection in vogue, were displaced and new teams took over. The units in Central India like Nagpur
(Vidharba), Malwa (consisting of Indore and Ujjain), Jabalpur, Chhattishgarh (Raipur) and in Units like Kerala and
Daman and Surat, fresh elections brought forth new Office bearers. All of them have given their support to this
body. We welcome all those units and
salute the members of those units for having exhibited organisational spirit in
a democratic manner.
The units like Karnataka and Jaipur
which had attended the meeting convened at Gandhidham, with an intent to bring
about unity and stop an Assistant Commissioner leading the Superintendents
Cadre and for which reason fought an election, have also subsequently held
active and wide consultations with their members and after a thorough
discussion decided not to extend support to an Assistant Commissioner led
Superintendent Association and have joined us.
We welcome them with warm hearts.
The unit of Delhi consisting of 20
Commissionerates of Delhi and 8 Commissionerates of Panchkula which had not
seen an election for the past 7 years has also been compelled to initiate the
process of elections and the elections are to be held on 14.12.2017. We reserve our comments on how the elections
are being conducted, but at the same time appreciate that such a large unit has
also become alive to the reality.
Mumbai had also conducted their
elections before our Chennai Convention, after more than 5 years without
elections and a new energetic body has taken over. They are also with us and apart from actively
participating in the hosting of the COC meeting in September, are also hosting
this meeting at a very short notice.
Kolkata has been the special target
of the erstwhile forces, to pin down our activities. They created a division within the unit,
froze the bank account of the unit and wrote misleading and mischievous letters
to the local administration to undermine the legally elected
representatives. When the Executive
Committee of the unit decided to go in for elections ahead of schedule, to
avoid continued disruptions, the inimical forces tried to stall the election
process also and gave a call to the members of West Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman
and Nicobar Islands to boycott the elections.
The members supported the sitting team and returned them to office with
a stupendous 2/3rd participation and voting. In the convention that was subsequently held,
very rightly our former President Com. Chandramouli was the Chief Guest.
Chandigargh unit which had
maintained neutrality during the Convention had subsequently, after
consultation with their members, extended their support to this AIB by clearly
declaring that they do not want to align with non-Superintendents heading the
Superintendents Association.
As on date 22 Units representing
members of more than 125 Commissionerates with a sanctioned strength of more
than 9000 members are forming part of this Association.
Some other units have also expressed
their willingness to join us, but are engaged in consultations with their
members. We hope with a clear decision
in such units also, the division created by vested interests, in our
Association and cadre would be overcome and we will become stronger.
In the meanwhile, we are required to
prove our strength by producing the DDO certificates to the Board, which has
repeatedly asked for the same. The
erstwhile SG who continues to call himself the SG of this Association, has been
claiming before the Board that all DDO certificates produced in the name of
this Association belong to him. We have
already explained to the Board along with the letters of support from our units
that his plea cannot be allowed. We have also pointed out that he had not been
able to produce these certificates even when he was the SG and when he had been
required to do so for extension of the recognition. It has also been pointed
out that as per the Constitution of the Association he cannot continue as SG
after promotion to the grade of AC and the amendments to the Constitution got
passed in his meeting at Gandhidham, as having passed in the earlier Convention
at Daman were fabrications and had been opposed by almost all those who were
available in Dama, as contrary to facts.
However, we have once again been asked by the Board to produce the DDO
certificates and declarations from the members to resolve the
issue.
Some units are
yet to furnish the DDO certificates in proper form for submission to the Board. I leave the matter to the house for
further discussion and necessary action.
RELATIONSHIP
WITH OTHER SISTER ORGANISATIONS:
After taking over at the 12th
Convention at Chennai, one of the first things that required urgent attention
was having a proper brotherly relationship with other sister associations
within the CBEC, the Revenue and other CG employee organisations. Towards that we have undertaken efforts to
build up our relations with them.
Joint
Action Council of Inspector Based Associations:
We realised that the main problem
faced by our cadre was that of stagnation and that this was a common problem
for all the three Inspector Based Associations in the CBEC. Due to differences between these three
organisations, the focus would be lost on the vital issue where a person
getting recruited as Inspector retires only with one effective promotion and if
he is extremely lucky gets another functional promotion, presently tagged as
temporary. To fight this disgrace, we have
formed the JAC of Inspector Base Associations, along with the AICEIA and IRS
(IDT) Officers Association. We have made
joint representations on the plight of our cadres and have also been well
received by the authorities.
COC
of Associations in the CBEC:
On 18.8.17, we formed a
Co-ordination Committee of Associations in the CBIC. Almost all the Staff Associations in the CBIC
have joined the COC, with only the exception of Appraisers and Preventive
Officers Federations. The spontaneous
development which saw the formation of the COC was clearly indicative of the
displeasure of all these organisations over the hijacking of our organisations
by the previous Secretary General at the behest of the DR IRS Association. The Association representatives also have
been resentful about the domineering manners.
The COC at its meeting held at Mumbai on 16.09.2017 had decided to
observe ‘DEMANDS DAY’ with a common charter of demands, on 04.10.2017. However, since the date was falling
immediately after the Pooja celebrations, it was decided to be deferred. This
body may consider a feasible period which can be discussed with the other
constituents of the COC. But all
units are requested to have the COC forums at their regional levels so that the
programme of action becomes a success and shows the despondency of the cadres
to the concerned.
Engagement
with the CCGGOO:
The Co-ordination Committee of Gazetted
Government Officers’ Organisations has been conducting various programmes for
the benefit of the Gazetted Officers.
Our former President and Core Committee Member Com. R. Chandramouli has
been actively participating in their meetings and programmes all over
India. We have taken the support of
CCGGOO for our demands also, when it can be extended to other Gazetted
Officers. However, till date we have not
taken any clear cut decision at our All India level regarding actively engaging
with the said organisation. The main
participants in that organisation are from the Income Tax, CPWD, AG’s
Office. With a sizeable number of
Gazetted Officers in our department, associating with the said organisation is
likely to be mutually beneficial. I hope that we will be able to take some
concrete decision in the matter during this meeting.
MEETINGS
HELD WITH THE OFFICIALS OF THE BOARD AND ISSUES RAISED:
Immediately after the Convention, we
sought appointment with the Chairman and Member (Admn). We met them and raised the issues pertaining
to the cadre. Subsequently, we have met with the Member (Admn) on other issues
also. The main issues raised are as
follows:
Re-Organisation
of Customs:
We stated that, with the attempts of
the Board to ring fence Customs, to avoid the officials of SGST from staking
claim to Customs work on par with CGST Officials, we foresee a parting of ways
between the erstwhile Central Excise and Customs wings within the Board. We also expressed our view that due to the
Board losing its policy making powers in respect of GST, the Board would exist
only for Customs policy making and in respect of GST we would be a mere
department under the GST Council. It was therefore impressed upon the Board
that since the Officers of Central Excise have been performing Customs work
hitherto, they should be allowed to exercise a one-time option to get absorbed
in GST or in Customs as is required at the time of bifurcation of any
department. The Board has not
responded. However while the matter was
discussed with the ADG, DGHRM, it was stated that we could instead go in for a
merger of the feeder cadres but with a prospective date. We have stated to them that since the 1996
decision of the Board to integrate the feeder cadres of Inspectors of Central Excise,
Examiners of Customs and Preventive Officers has not been implemented,
prospectively doing it will not help the stagnating cadres in Central
Excise.
As things stand, the parting of ways
with Customs is scheduled to take place on 1.1.2018. By that time, it is possible that a cadre
review or re-structuring of Customs could be approved and until the posts are
filled up by promotion from the Customs side, the officers hitherto working
from the Central Excise side may be deployed in those formations on a loan
basis or temporary basis.
If the posts are to be filled up on
the basis of loan basis, it is clear that the promotion for those posts will
not be available for Central Excise. The
demand that the Customs should be maintained as an extension of Central
Excise/GST as it existed hitherto in order to enable the Officers of Central
Excise to operate them also is not going to be feasible in the given
circumstances. Further, such an
arrangement, other than gaining a negative image as if we are keen on manning
such posts, has only served to create a massive disparity in respect of
promotions between the Central Excise and Customs all along.
In this regard, we have had
consultations with Advocates and they had opined that we should approach the
judicial forums if the Board does not specify the staffing pattern in the new
dispensation and if the staffing pattern goes against our interests. Accordingly, considering the short time
available before the Courts could close for vacations, we have filed a petition
before the Hon’ble CAT, Chennai on the strength of an authorisation given by
the Coimbatore Unit, with a plea that since bifurcation of the Board as GST and
Customs appeared inevitable, one time options will have to be obtained from the
Officers in the Central Excise because Central Excise Officers have been
manning the Customs formations in a majority of areas in the country and they
will have to be granted interse seniority vis-a-vis their counterparts in
Customs and hence before re-organisation, the seniority of Central Excise and
Customs officers will have to be integrated as per the decision of the CBEC
taken on 16.1.1996.
Our Advocate has informed us that the
petition came up for hearing before the Hon’ble CAT, Chennai on 7.12.17 and it
has been admitted and disposed off with directions to the Government to hear
the plea of the petitioners and pass orders before going ahead with
re-organisation of Customs and until then to maintain statusquo. The order is awaited.
In
this regard I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to Com.
Chandramouli for having taken great pains to visit the Sr. Advocate on the
above matter for continuously one week at a stretch, supplying various papers
and preparing the draft of the petition. I also thank Com. Arun Zahariah and
Com. Pyne in refining the petition when the draft was circulated.
This
body is to deliberate on this issue and decide upon the further course of
action, before the judiciary as well as organisationally.
On
stagnation:
By way if memorandum under the
banner of JAC of Inspector Based Associations, as well as in response to the
recommendations of the Stagnation Committee recommendations, we have brought
out before the authorities, the painful stagnation in our cadre. The gist of the submissions is as below:
In
comparison with any other cadre of the CBEC or in CBDT, those recruited as
Inspectors in Central Excise are the most affected due to stagnation. They get only one promotion or utmost two, in
their entire service. On the other hand
all other cadres get promotions between 4 and 7 from recruitment to retirement.
|
Recruited as
|
Promoted up to
|
Number of promotions in the
career of around 35 years
|
|
|
|
|
Minimum
|
Maximum
|
|
Group-D officers
|
Superintendent
|
5
|
6
|
|
DEO
|
Superintendent/AC
|
4
|
5
|
|
LDC
|
Superintendent/CAO
|
5
|
6
|
|
UDC
|
Superintendent/AO
|
4
|
4
|
|
Inspector
of CEx
|
Superintendent/AC
|
1
|
2
|
|
DR IRS
|
Principal CC/Member/Chairman
|
7
|
9
|
There
is no major benefit by way of MACP to this cadre because, invariably even in
the promotion or MACP what is available is only an incremental benefit due to
the closeness of Pay scales or pay bands of the adjacent cadres, in the
hierarchy.
The
MACP Scheme ensured that what was reached in 24 years in the ACP could alone be
reached after 30 years also. This was a
unique situation for the cadre of Inspectors of Central Excise because, in no
other department, stagnation of this intensity exists at this level where the
scales are closely placed for the promotional posts and the promotional post
also had a twin scale, within.
The
following is the comparable position in respect of those officers who had been
recruited through a combined common SSC Exam:
|
Name of the
cadre
|
Present
position
|
|
Inspector of
Income Tax
|
Who joined
in 1989 have become Addl Commisioners
|
|
Examiners of
Customs
|
Who joined
in 1989 have become Jt Commissioners
|
|
Preventive
Officers
|
Who joined
in 1992 have become ACs
|
|
Inspectors
of Central Excise
|
Who joined
in 1985 are only Superintendents
|
In
2014, 2118 posts of ACs were created on a temporary basis to mitigate
stagnation. Those promoted to the
temporary posts would be absorbed against the permanent posts only based on the
vacancies arising in the permanent posts.
However, as on date more than 1300 posts of Assistant Commissioners are
lying vacant and many numbers of Superintendents are retiring with only one
promotion in their entire career of more than 35 years. Hence there is an urgent need to intervene in
the issue immediately. The immediate
problem faced in conducting DPCs has been stated as the litigation regarding
the implementation of the judgement of the Apex Court in the N.R.Parmar case.
The Madras High Court has also dismissed the review petition filed by the
Government on grounds of latches and delay. Hence there is no reason to delay
promotions to the vacancies in the Assistant Commissioner posts.
The Stagnation Committee has suggested extension of
tenure of the 2118 AC posts created temporarily. While the temporary posts were created to
mitigate Stagnation and since it is not on the regular strength, it should be
available only for stagnating categories. Furthermore, these 2118 posts are not
part of Group A RRs 2016 and hence the ratio need not be applied in respect of
these Group-A posts.
It
is apparent that the Committee constituted to study stagnation in the Group B
cadres has realized that the issue is very real and will not disappear in an
instant. It is seen that they have
recommended the grant of NFU for Inspectors and Superintendents for delay in
promotion to be computed in relation to the comparable services in Central
Secretariat Services. An extension of the CSS method was considered neither ideal
nor an adequate solution for the years of stagnation that the Officers who
joined as Inspectors in Central Excise have faced. Hence, it was proposed that
instead of adopting the recommendation of the Committee for grant of NFU
computed in relation to comparable services in the Central Secretariat, it was
proposed that the yardstick to be used should be the comparable grades to which
Inspectors of Income Tax recruited in the same year have progressed on account
of the scientific manner in which cadre restructuring was carried out in that
Department. Adoption of such a standard would ensure that the Inspectors of
Central Excise recruited through a common exam along with their counterparts in
Income Tax, which is within the same Ministry of the Union Government, are
adequately compensated for the years of stagnation that they have suffered and
which has been compounded by the ignominy of working under Officers many years
junior within the same CBEC, who have been promoted to Group A posts on account
of the skewered ratio followed.
With this prospect in mind, we have requested to seek a onetime
relaxation from the DOPT for grant of commensurate pay scales to Officers
completing service as below:
|
On
completion of
|
NFU to Pay
Scale of
|
|
25 years from entry as Inspector
|
Assistant Commissioner
|
|
30 years from entry as Inspector
|
Deputy Commissioner
|
|
35 years from entry as Inspector
|
Joint Commissioner
|
In conclusion,
the following demands were raised:
1)
Implementation of the proposal for One
Time Relaxation discussed above.
2)
Immediate casting of All India
Seniority List for Inspectors from the date of introduction of All India merit
list in the cadre in terms of Supreme Court order in RadheShyam case.
3)
Recast seniority lists of all DR
cadres (viz. UDCs/ EAs and Inspectors)on the lines of N.R. Parmar judgement
with a uniform date of implementation.
4)
Consequentially, recast and issue an
updated All India Seniority of Inspectors and Superintendents.
5)
Conducting DPC for the posts of
Assistant Commissioners within 2 months by which time the Cadre Controlling
Authorities are required to revise the Seniority Lists of Inspectors and
Superintendents as per the above said instructions.
6)
In the event of delay in finalising
revision of Seniority lists by the Cadre Controlling Authorities, conduct DPCs
as suggested by the Eranakulam CAT in para 20 of its order in O.A No.
180/403/2015 dated 15.12.2015.
7)
The ad hoc promotions to JTS
(Assistant Commissioner) be reviewed and regularised from 01/01/1997 in the
letter and spirit of the Supreme Court Order dated 03/8/2011.
8)
A time frame may be fixed for getting
the ACs promoted under Temporary slots to Organised cadre in symmetric
alignment with regularisation of ad hoc promotions from 01/01/1997.
9)
Extension may be sought for the 2118
posts of ACs for another 5 years from the date of actual promotion and fill
them up only from the stagnating cadres.
N.R.Paramar
issue:
We have repeatedly taken up before
the Member (Admn), the requirement to implement the N.R.Paramar judgment as
done in the CBDT and conduct DPC for the post of ACs quickly. Information is that more than 1300 posts of
ACs are lying vacant as on date.
However, though the Member assured each time that they were going to
issue instructions on the lines of CBDT or even better than that, it is yet to
be issued. The CBEC went to Madras High
Court on a review. The same was also
turned down by the Hon’ble High Court.
Still the Board has failed to give any clear cut instructions to the
Zonal Cadre Control authorities on the issue.
The interpretation for such a serious matter given differently in
different zones and seniority fixed by different yardsticks creates unrest in
the minds of the cadre and increases zonal/intra-departmental disparities.
Notional
fixation of pay for Inspectors and Superintendents from 1.1.96.
It
has been pointed out to the Board that the revision of scales of Inspectors of
Central Excise, Income Tax, etc, was done on the basis of the findings of the 5th
CPC as mandated by the Hon’ble CAT, Jabalpur in its order dated 24.2.1995. The 5th CPC had placed the
Inspectors of Central Excise, Income Tax etc on par with the Inspectors of CBI
and IB, though all the above category of Officers were held not to be
comparable with the Inspectors of Police in Delhi, etc.
Though
the 5th CPC took effect on 1.1.1996, the above revision of scales on
the basis of the 5th CPC recommendations were granted only with a
prospective effect from 21.04.2004.
As a result, the seniors in the
cadre of Inspectors and presently Superintendents who had joined before 2004
did not get the actual benefit of this pay revision.
In the case of similar revision of
pay scales on the basis of 5th Pay Commission recommendation itself,
12 category of Officers in other departments had been granted notional fixation
of pay from 1.1.1996.
During
the proceedings before the CAT, Jabalpur in the above said case, the CBEC had
stated in writing that the duties and responsibilities of the Inspectors of
Central Excise were more arduous and hazardous than the duties and
responsibilities of the Inspectors of CBI, etc.
Further, there was no change in the duties and responsibilities of the
Inspectors and Superintendents of Central Excise and equivalent cadres, on
21.04.2004, requiring a revision of pay scale only from that date.
Hence
it has been demanded that in the interest of the officers of this department,
in whose favour findings had been given by the 5th CPC, at least
notional fixation of the revised pay from 1.1.1996, should be sought, with
arrears at least from 21.04.2004.
Nature
of duties and responsibilities in GST regime:
We have demanded of the Board to
issue clear instructions on the duties and responsibilities in the GST era at
least. Such specification along with the
percentage verification will be required to safeguard our members in the field
work.
Further, we met with the MOS Shri.
Pon Radhakrishnan and submitted a memorandum that it would serve the interests
of the Country and the Union Government if Audit and Anti-evasion of all GST
assesses are to be kept with the present CBIC under the supervision and control
of the GST Council so that any clash of interests due to concurrent
jurisdiction for these activities could be avoided and the trade also will not
be put to undue pressures and verifications from multiple agencies for the same
tax.
Upgradation
of staff in CGST on par with their counterparts in SGST:
It was pointed out to the CBEC that
in very many states, the Officers of the state Governments who were in the
Commercial Tax departments of the respective State Governments have been
upgraded to the next higher grade in the hierarchy at the time of roll out of
GST. This has created inequality between
the Officers of the State and Centre who are both implementing the same
GST. Hence, it has been demanded that
all Officers and staff of CGST have to be upgraded to the highest positions as
that of their comparable counterparts in the SGST.
In this regard the issue of
disparity between our cadres vis-a-vis that of the State GST was highlighted by
the incident at Kerala where one of our members gave a written letter to his
Chief Commissioner stating that he did not want to participate in a high
profile function jointly organised by the State and Centre, with the State
Finance Minister as the Chief Guest, on grounds that he did not want to stand
down the discrimination and the ignominy due to acute stagnation imposed on our
cadres due to negligence of the authorities.
We brought this incident to the notice of the Board and Ministry. We are to proud to have that daring
individual Officer, Com. Antonio Nettikadan who was later elected as the
President of the Kerala Unit, amidst us.
Instructions
on Uniform for officers of CGST:
It has been pointed out that at present,
Officers of Central Excise have been wearing uniform up to the level of
Assistant Commissioners akin to that of a Police man though no instructions on
the prescribed pattern or rules for wearing the same are in vogue.
Further, since the nature of duties
undertaken on the Central Excise or CGST side have no requirement of Uniform
and SGST Officers also do not don any
uniforms the Board has been called upon to formally abolish Uniform in CGST
areas so that department does not continue to get blamed for running an
‘Inspector Raj’, even in the GST era, with its officers donning a Police Man
like attire.
It
has been emphasised that if still it was decided to have Uniform for the
officers in CGST, with due justifications for the expenditure to be met, the
pattern should be prescribed clearly with the following points kept in mind:
(i)
The Officers prescribed with Uniform
are permitted to travel for Official work in Departmental or department hired
vehicles, on par with their counter parts in other Uniformed services
(ii)
Separate changing rooms are made
available for Males and Females in all floors of all the offices and
Regulation
of postings to Directorates, Audit Commissionerate etc-
There have been complaints from
various quarters that postings to the Directorates and Audit, post GST has gone
haywire. Hence it has been brought to
the attention of the Board that it had been the consistent practice in the CBEC
that for Audit and Directorates, hands with experience and willingness were
selected. This ensured the quality of
Audit as well as efficiency in respect of anti-evasion activities due to senior
hands with vast experience being engaged for the said activities. If it was not
followed, the efficiency and efficacy of these organisations could suffer. Hence, Board has been requested to issue instructions
to follow the criterion of seniority-cum-willingness for the postings to
Directorates and Audit Commissionerates.
Infrastructure:
Though the Board has been issuing
repeated instructions to the field formations regarding the necessity to
improve the infrastructure position of the offices in the formations, in
practice, the Officers of the field formations appear to be satisfied if their
rooms with necessary facilities, personal staff and vehicles are
available. The following points were
brought to the notice of the Board vide our points for the meeting with the
Member (Admn) on 18.8.17:
Ø The
minimum required office space is not available for the staff and officers.
Ø Most
of the Gazetted Officers on the Executive side do not have separate cabins,
though it is an entitlement and requirement for the execution of the duties and
responsibilities. When compared to their
counterparts in other Central Government departments and even the SGST
Officials, these officers are placed in pathetic condition. The situation has worsened since 2002.
Ø The
field level Executive Officers do not have any facilities under the 1%
incentive, even though they are required to make expenses for making phone
calls, internet connections, etc for office requirement.
It
was suggested that the following measures could be ordered to be undertaken to
improve the situation:
1)
Commissioners may be given a time
frame to submit proposals for acquiring new buildings for purchase or on hire
as per the space required as per austerity standards, for the sanctioned
strength of each formation.
2)
Until such time, all Officers should
be encouraged to occupy only such space as is entitled to them on a pro-rata
basis out of the actually available space for all staff members.
3)
The Executive Officers in the field
may be made entitled for the 1% incentive scheme. One cell phone each with a
SIM card, monthly reimbursement for call charges and internet charges may be
made available for them also. Lap tops may also be provided for all Officers
involved in field work like Audit and Anti-evasion.
Issue
of Phones to officers in the field:
It was
brought to the notice of the Board that in certain Zones, SIM cards were being
bought and supplied to the field officers for GST work, but since the Officers
had not been supplied with any handsets to operate such SIM cards the entire
exercise would be futile. Hence it was
requested that handsets also are supplied or the officers be permitted to
purchase them against specific amount allotted for the said purpose.
Bio
metric attendance:
We took up in
the agenda points for the meeting dated 18.8.17 with the Member (Admn), the
futility and counter productivity of the Bio Metric Attendance System for an
investigating agency like ours. However,
we did not find much enthusiasm on the part of the Board to take up the
issue. Hence we addressed a letter to
the MOS (PMO) since DOPT is coming under his charge to review the Aadhar based
Bio Metric Attendance System on grounds that the issue of Aadhar is linked with
right to privacy, the Aadhar having been linked to our bank accounts becomes a
vital document which has to be protected and in investigation agencies like
ours, it will also endanger the officers investigating high profile assesses,
that there is no proper infrastructure enabling proper use of biometric system
and hence requested:
(i)
to review AEBAS and replace it with a
separate attendance system (preferably using the departmental systems like
‘icegate’ and ‘aces’)
(ii)
to attend the infrastructural issues
(provision of proper and clean lavatories, strengthening departmental Canteen
facilities etc), and until such time,
(iii)
to continue with the attendance system
as adhered to prior to introduction of AEBAS.
Regular
JCM Regional Council Meetings:
Though instructions have been issued
by the Chairman, CBIC to the Zonal Officers to hold meetings with the
Associations, they have not been conducted in many zones and Commissionerates. As a result, many local issues could not be
sorted out through discussions. This
also gives rise to the number of memorandums/representations/letters addressed
by the local Association Office Bearers to the Board. The details of the zones/Commissionerates
where JCMs have been revived may be given so that these details could be sent
to the Board.
Celebration
of GST day:
It
was brought to the notice of the Board that 1st July was to be celebrated as
GST day and in the instructions it had been stated that the trade and industry
have to be involved in the said celebrations.
It was emphasised to the CBEC that the demand for celebrating Excise Day
had been acceded in the Departmental Council of Revenue, in 1994, only as per a
specific demand from the staff side, to celebrate the achievements of the staff
in the department. Hence CBEC was urged
to issue instructions to identify achievements by the staff and give them
proper recognition in the GST day celebrations and to issue guidelines to
identify such achievements, in all fields of activities in the department, to
boost the sagging morale of the cadres.
5400
case:
The Subranmaniam case which was
fought by the individual officer initially was later supported by the
AICEIA. However, by the time the issue
reached the Apex Court by way of SLP filed by the department, almost all the
Office Bearers of the AICEIA who had been active in pursuing the case like
Coms. Koushik Roy, Arun Zahariah and Ajit Kumar K.G had got promoted to the
grade of Superintendents and left AICEIA. When a demand came up before this
Association in the Koklatta EC meeting that we should take up the
responsibility of pursuing the case, the then SG was not interested. Therefore the Superintendents who were likely
to be beneficiaries in the case and units of the AIACEGEO started contributing
to the account of the AICEIA and some of us, through the AICEIA, pursued the
case. Early hearing petition and impleading petition was filed on behalf of the
AICEIA. When the matter was posted for
hearing on 10.10.2017, we engaged a Senior Counsel, for which AICEIA promptly
within a notice of only one day, made payment.
After hearing both sides, the Hon’ble Supreme Court dismissed the SLP,
which had been converted into a Civil Appeal by then.
We have apprised the Board of the
developments and the special interest our cadre has got in the issue. We have also pursued the matter with the
Expenditure department. The Secretary
General of CCGGOO and the Secretary General of ITGOA have also approached the
Expenditure to pursue this issue on our behalf as well as on behalf of the
officers of IT and Postal Departments.
In the meanwhile, to be on the safe
side, to avoid members from taking different stands on the issue, we have
circulated a draft letter (through our blog) to be submitted by each of the
officers who would be beneficiaries in the issue.
LOCAL
ISSUES:
Issues taken up as received from the
local units are as below. For better understanding
of the issues and appreciation by the house, the representatives of respective
units may explain the present position of the issues and any further action to
be taken in that regard.
Memorandum
on re-organisation of Commissionerates for GST:
The
inequalities in respect of posts allocated to Pune, Nagpur, Kolkatta and
Chennai and the abolition of Commissionerate in Tirunelveli were taken up with
the Board and DGHRM. Some changes were
made in respect of Nagpur. But issues in
respect of other Zones are still pending.
VADODARA:
It was
brought to our notice that certain allegations had arisen regarding the orders
(25/2017 and 44/2017) issued by the Chief Commissioner, Vadodara, posting
Superintendents to sensitive formations like SEZ. In this regard the Surat Unit submitted a
letter to the Chairman and that the Chief Commissioner of Vadodara Zone issued
postings to Officers within the Commissionerates itself, without stopping at
allotting them to the Commissionerates, without norms. The matter was agitated before the
Board.
CHANDIGARH:
(i)
Uri
It
was reported by our Chandigarh Unit that at the Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC)
Salamabad, Uri , J&K, on 21.07.2017 the State Police who had been called in
to give protection to our officers, during a
seizure of Heroin smuggled into India from Pakistan in a truck with Pakisthan
Registration Number, had instead of assisting our Officers taken away the truck
and claimed that they had booked the case based on their own intelligence. The truck was reported to have been cleared
by the State Police earlier and the drugs had been detected only by our
officers. It was also reported that the
quantity of the drugs seized was declared only by Police and our officers were
not allowed even to verify the veracity of the same. We sought the immediate
intervention of theBoard and had a separate meeting with the Member(Admn) on
this issue. He assured to intervene immediately.
(ii)
Ludhiana
transfers:
Chandigarh Unit pointed out certain
anomalies in transfers pertaining to GST Commissionerate Ludhiana as well as
certain postings to Customs areas. They highlighted the plight of Officers who
had been posted out of station/city on completion of a lesser tenure while
those with longer duration of tenure had been retained. Though consequent upon the Office Bearers of
Chandigarh Unit taking up the matter with the Chief Commissioner of the Zone,
instructions had been issued by the Chief Commissioner to the Commissioner of
Ludhiana to set right the issues, it had not been done. This issue was also discussed with the Member
(Admn) who assured to intervene.
KERALA:
In
respect of Kerala, a change in jurisdiction/demarcation in the Customs
formations was notified vide Notification No. 82/2017 Customs (NT) dated
24.08.2017. Though the formations of Customs (Preventive) had been retained in
all other parts of India, in Kerala alone the said formation was sought to be
abolished and the entire State to be brought under the control of Customs
Commissionerates alone. Accordingly Kerala
Unit had sought a revision of the Notification to restore/protect the interests
of the cadres in the state. The urgent
intervention of the Board was sought in this regard. Though the notification implementation was
postponed, it is now slated to be implemented w.e.f 1.1.18.
TAMIL NADU:
The
Coimbatore Zone with Commissionerates in Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, Trichy and
Tirunelveli was to be would up by 30.06.2017 and made part of the Chennai
Zone. The Chief Commissioner of
Coimbatore Zone had issued transfer orders wherein around 30% of the
Superintendents of the entire Zone were disturbed. Further, the Tirunelveli Commissionerate itself
having a vast jurisdiction and several stations within which the officers were
being regularly transferred within the Commissionerate also was slated to be
abolished and made a Sub-Commissionerate under Madurai. Hence, when the officers in Tirunelveli did
not require to be shifted out of the Commissionerates, or at best could be
posted to Madurai, they were posted to far off places like Salem and against
those places officers from far off Commissionerates like Salem and Coimbatore
had been posted to Tirunelveli. The Board was requested to intervene and reduce
the transfer liability by restricting the transfers to the contiguous
Commissionerates, wherever absolutely necessary.
R.
Manimohan
Secretary
General
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