Similar exercise in Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax
A similar exercise seems to be on in the CBEC. The CBEC has recently undertaken the task of Cadre Restructuring/Re-organization of the Field Formations and has constituted three Study Groups for that purpose. The composition of the Study Groups and the area of Study to be undertaken are as follows:
Study Group: I | i. Exclusive Central Excise Commissionerates ii. Exclusive Service Tax Commissionerates |
Study Group: II | i. Combined Central Excise & Service Tax Commissionerates ii. Large Taxpayers Unit |
Study Group: III | i. Custom Houses/Exclusive Customs ii. Commissionerates/Customs (P) Commissionerates. |
These Committees are headed by Chief Commissioners and have a large number of assorted officers as members. Already reports are being called for in five forms for various formations and tons of paper are being printed, wasted, posted ......
The promotion-starved field officers see this as another hope for promotion and we keep getting calls from aspirant officers as to when they are going to get promotions.
The report of each of these Committees will run into a hundred pages at least and you will have to appoint another Committee to read them.
Moral of the story is - if the Government or Bureaucracy is hell bent on not doing something but wants to be seen as serious in doing it,, then the best tool is to constitute a 'Committee'.