Customs and Central Excise – Headless Commissionerates – at crucial last quarter?
RECENTLY 17 Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise were promoted as Chief Commissioners – that means 17 important posts of Commissioners are lying vacant. Actually about 50 posts of commissioners are vacant, but these 17 who were recently promoted must have been holding very important Commissionerates being the senior most commissioners in the country. Already the indirect taxes revenue is showing a disturbing negative growth and the last three months of the fiscal are very important when the officers use all the tricks in the trade to get that extra rupee of revenue. If important Commissionerates are left headless in this crucial time, who will take care of the important task of Revenue collection? When these 17 officers were promoted, the Board should have affected a mini transfer of Commissioners also by an adjustment order, where some efficient commissioners working in unimportant Commissionerates could have been transferred to important Commissionerates.
But it seems the Board is waiting for the promotion of 24 Additional Commissioners who have cleared DPC for promotion. But that promotion is sure to get stuck in DOPT (this would be the second adhoc promotion for them – adhocism is the rule rather than exception) and then the mighty Revenue department and the Finance Ministry. It is understood that lobbying for posting has already started and there are officers who can rope in a couple of Cabinet ministers to help them get their choice posting. In this entire circus, it will be almost impossible to get the promotion and posting orders of the 24 Additional Commissioners for quite some time. In such a situation, it will be very difficult to fill the posts vacated by the promoted Commissioners. Board should perhaps consider filling these posts without waiting for the promotion of the Additional Commissioners.
There is another side to the coin. There is a general belief among the assessees and the staff that “that Commissionerate is the best which does not have a regular Commissioner”. It will be better, if the in-charge Commissioner is at least a thousand kms away with no proper flight facilities. Many remote area Commissionerates without regular commissioners are doing exceedingly well!