CBEC's Draft Guidelines for Transfer of Superintendents and Inspectors - Sensitive Posts defined
CBEC has issued transfer guidelines for Superintendent and Inspector posts in the Central Excise and Service Tax formations. The introduction loftily states;
Group ‘B' Executive Gazetted and non-Gazetted (i.e. Superintendent and Inspector ranking officers) constitute 48% of the total sanctioned work of the department. Further, they are the cutting edge level officers and often are the first to interact with Assesses/Clients of the department.
The transfer and placement of these officers in a fair and transparent manner is very important step to ensure efficiency, recognition of merit and honesty. Further, by rotating these officers to various charges, department builds supervisory capacities at the level of Group ‘B' Gazetted.
Rotation between Sensitive and Non-sensitive postings: The guidelines prescribe:
++ There should be strict rotation and adherence to tenure of postings in case of all the posts – sensitive as well as non-sensitive- to ensure all round exposure and efficiency. However, in case where sufficient number of officers are not available due to administrative / vigilance reasons for posting to sensitive charges, officers can be rotated from one sensitive charge to another sensitive charge.
++ As far as possible, an officer in the subsequent cycle of postings should not be posted in the same sensitive charge.
++ Normally, there should be a gap of minimum two year between one sensitive posting to another.
++ On reversion from a sensitive Directorate, as far as possible, officers would be posted to a non-sensitive charge for a minimum period of two years.
++ Posting to a sensitive charge should normally not exceed two years for each posting.
++ First posting on appointment / promotions / reversion from Customs Commissionerate of the officers in the grade of Inspector /Superintendent in a Central Excise / Service Tax Commissionerate, should be, as far as administratively possible, to a non-sensitive charge.
What is a sensitive posting?
A sensitive position is any post whose occupant could cause adverse effect to the integrity and functioning of the institution by virtue of the nature of his/her responsibility.
A post can be characterised as being sensitive:
a) by the nature of the activity itself. This could be the case for all activities where a high degree of personal judgement is involved when taking decisions, e.g. experts taking decisions in the area of procurement or contracts, with regard to policy-making and negotiation or in areas where there is a relatively high degree of freedom to act and/or where supervision levels might be low; or sometimes the private assumptions on the personal capacity of the experts in the system.
b) by the context in which the activity is carried out. This could apply to functions dealing with policy-making where officials might be subject to pressure to disclose sensitive information and where disclosure might harm the interests of the institution.
But now in Indian Government, plainly speaking, a sensitive post means one in which you can make money. This fact is openly and officially acknowledged and transfers are accordingly made or transacted. Transfers are an annual commercial activity in the Revenue Department. At the higher level, even this job is sensitive.
According to the CBEC, the following are the sensitive posts:
++ Anti Evasion / Preventive Wing
++ Refund / Rebate Cell
++ Vigilance Section
++ Current Audit (what is this ?)
++ All Ranges / Forward Sectors
Postings in Chief Commissioner's office and office of Commissioner (Appeals) are to be treated as non-sensitive.