IRS (Customs and Central Excise) Probationers meet President

By Vijay Kumar

152 Probationers of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) of the 2009 Batch called on the President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil at Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 25, 2011. Speaking to the Probationers, the President emphasised on the qualities of honesty and service to the nation, that they should possess.

She urged the officers to strive for providing an efficient and corruption free tax administration, which was the need of the hour. She also urged the probationers to be courteous to the taxpayers while at the same time being firm in dealing with the tax evaders. She said that through various reforms, both at the policy level as well as at the implementation level, an environment has to be created so that the taxpayers become compliant voluntarily. She emphasized the importance of Customs in protecting the economic frontiers of the country. She concluded with the hope that each of the probationers would emerge as an honest and efficient officer, which would be a matter of pride for the country, for his family and then for himself.

It is wonderful that the Board thought of taking the probationers to the President. It should be a proud moment for each of the probationers that he/she had been to the Rashtrapati Bhavan and met the First Citizen. His/her next visit should be to receive an award from the President.

The Probationers also had a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The FM exhorted the probationers to have right attitude towards their work, which is so vital to developmental works in the country.

He also mentioned Management Guru Peter Drucker's story about three "stonecutters who were asked what they were doing. The first replied, "I am making a living."The second kept on hammering while he said, "I am doing the best job of stonecutting in the entire country."The third one looked up with a visionary gleam in his eyes and said, "I am building a cathedral". The FM said that work was the same but attitude differed.

However, Drucker had a different theory. According to him, "The third man is, of course, the true manager. The first man knows what he wants to get out of the work and manages to do so. He is likely to give a "fair day's work for a fair day's pay". But he is not a manager and will never be one. It is the second man who is a problem. Workmanship is essential: in fact, an organization demoralizes if it does not demand of its members the highest workmanship they are capable of. But there is always a danger that the true workman, the true professional, will believe that he is accomplishing something when in effect he is just polishing stones or collecting footnotes. Workmanship must be encouraged in the business enterprise. But it must always be related to the needs of the whole."

Let us hope that these young IRS officers are not going to spend the rest of their lives polishing stones and believing that they are doing a great job!