What happened to Inspections in CBEC?
TAX Consultant Radha Arun recently posted a message in our Message Board, "Inspections seem to be dying out as a management tool in the department. This is the reason for blatant flouting of instructions at the field level."
Central Excise is perhaps the only department in the country where offices are not regularly inspected. This is also a blatant flouting of instructions. All the officers from Chief Commissioner to Assistant Commissioner are expected to inspect their subordinate offices at least once in a year. Inspection proformae and records are prescribed. Over the years, all the officers have individually and severally ensured that Inspection as a tool is destroyed. Now, nobody knows what is happening in his subordinate office. The officers are all busy with no time for silly tools like inspections. They have converted it into such a farce that inspected officers write the inspection reports and the inspecting officers simply sign them. Some of the inspection reports will reveal that some records dispensed with 35 years ago are still shown as maintained. It is a miracle that a hierarchical system can run without supervision and periodical inspection. Now the only concern is reports and more reports. An inspection is mutually beneficial to the senior officer as well as his subordinate. When was the last time that a Board Member or a Chief Commissioner visited a Range Office or a Divisional Office? Inspection by a senior officer will at least ensure that the office is kept reasonably clean!