Indian Customs - GREEN
IN a first for any taxation department, the Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has given his green signal to an Environment Strategy for the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) that would change the way business is done by the Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax officials.
CBEC's Environment Strategy would include: -
++ Training of officers for monitoring international trade in environmentally sensitive goods.
++ Sensitizing officers of DRI, Customs (Preventive) etc. to enhanced detection of environmental violations.
++ Creating database and disseminating relevant environmental information.
++ Protecting frontline officers from hazardous substances by providing radiation detection kits etc.
++ Dematerializing documents and eliminating paper documentation.
++ Promoting web-based external and internal communication.
++ Developing and implementing green standards for infrastructure.
CBEC emphasizes that besides contributing to a cleaner environment, decisions such as reducing documentation would serve the objective of trade facilitation by reducing transaction costs.
Does this really require the FM's clearance and why can't similar strategy be tried in all Government Departments?