TIOL-DDT 574 · the untouched capture
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<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#663399" size="3">TIOL-DDT
574</font><br>
16.03.2007<br>
Friday</b></font></p>
<p align=center><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">Skoch
award today for CBEC’s ICES</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><img src="http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/image/stories/award_1.jpg" width="114" height="87" border="1" align="left"></b>‘Skoch’
is an organisation that promotes inclusive development, improved government
and delivery systems through process changes, capacity building and use of Technology.
The Skoch Challenger Awards were instituted in the year 2003 in recognition
of best practices.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The
ICES application developed and managed by the Directorate General of Systems
and Data Management ,CBEC in association with NIC has been selected for honour
at the Skoch Challenger Award which will be presented on 16th March, 1600 hrs
at the 5th Annual Skoch Summit at Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Indian
Customs EDI System (ICES) initiated a new era in the country. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>An
era of </b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">++
Paperless Trade.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">++
Trade facilitation rather then control. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">An
era in which Indian trading community can exchange documents electronically
with Customs and other Government Agencies.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This
had been made possible by the joint design, developmentand implementation
of ICES by the officers of <a
href="http://www.cbec.gov.in/" target="_blank">Central Board of Excise and Customs</a>
and <a href="http://www.nic.in/" target="_blank">National Informatics Centre.</a></span></font></p>
<p align=center><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">Make
Chairman of CBEC equal to Cabinet Secretary – IRS Association. </font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The
IRS Association wants the CBEC Chairman to be on the same scale as the Cabinet
Secretary and the Members of the Board to be of the rank of Secretaries to the
Government. In a memorandum to the Pay Commission, the Association has suggested:-</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">1.
Full functional and financial autonomy to be given to the Central Board of Excise
and Customs.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">2.
The Central Board of Central Excise and Customs should be upgraded to a department,
with the Chairman and Members of the Board being given the status of Principal
Secretary (with the pay of Cabinet Secretary) and Secretary to the Government
of India respectively. The Chairman should report to the Finance Minister.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">3.
The posts of Joint Secretary (Administration), Director (Admn) and Under Secretaries
(Admn) in the CBEC should be encadred for the IRS(C&CE) and manned by the
officers from the IRS.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">4.
The post of the sixth Member of CBEC be restored immediately.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">5.
Four Regional Members of the CBEC be approved for the North, East, South and
West Zones with pay and service conditions on par with that of Secretary to
Government of India.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">6.
Posts including those of the Additional Secretary, Joint Secretary, Director,
Deputy Secretary, etc. in the headquarters administration in the Department
of Revenue of Government of India beencadred within the IRS.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">7.
Additional units be set up in the Department of Indirect Tax for framing of
policies pertaining to SEZs etc. and Service Tax.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">8.
The officers need to be exposed to indirect tax practices abroad and trained
in the best international practices to enhance and aid skill development.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">9.
Corrective measure to check the exodus of officers and to create working conditions
and emoluments that are comparable to those offered by the private sector.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">10.
Service conditions need to be harmonized between the All India Services and
Central Services, and there should be one set of service rules or rules set
on common yardstick and criteria.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">11.
Posts of Director General/Additional Director General of Anti Dumping and in
the Directorate General of Foreign Trade in the Ministry of Commerce and posts
subordinate to that, posts of the Development Commissioners in SEZs/EEPZs etc.,
posts of Directors/Special Directors/Additional Directors in the Enforcement
Directorate, Economic Intelligence Bureau and Financial Intelligence Units in
the Ministry of Finance, Directors/Special Directors in the National Wildlife
Crime Control Bureau in the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Director General/Directors
in Narcotics Control Bureau in the Ministry of Home Affairs, etc. be reserved
as ex-cadre posts for all IRS.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">12.
The same batch across all services should be considered simultaneously, especially
for posts of Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary/Secretary in Ministries/Departments
of Government of India.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">13.
A Deputation Reserve of at least 20% for IRS(C&CE) of the Cadre strength
be earmarked.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">14.
The officers of IRS(C&CE) on CSS deputation be permitted to avail the facility
of Tenure Pool accommodation at par with AIS officers and under the existing
TPAIS.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">15.
A re- location allowance at 25% of the gross annual pay of the officer be granted
if the transfer is done to a place less than 750 kms from the current place
of posting, and 40% of the gross pay if the transfer is beyond 750 kms.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">16.
<b>The retirement age should be raised to 62 years.</b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">17.
An officer at the entry level is to be provided with a dedicated vehicle and
such a vehicle be hired if required.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">18.
1 Orderly may be sanctioned for the IRS(C&CE) at entry level.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">•
They have suggested the following pay scales:</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Junior
Management Grade Rs. 24,000 - 1,250 - 30,250 - 1,500- 40,750 </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Middle
Management Grade Rs. 36,000 - 2,000 - 46,000- 2,500 - 66,000 </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Senior
Management Grade Rs. 60,000 - 3,000 - 77,000 - 4,000 - 105,0005000 - 120,000
</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font color="#663399" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Some
Bloomers in the memorandum.</b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The
IRS officers profoundly remark about Kaultilya, </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>This well known treatise by Kautilya (advisor of the Mauryan Empire) on state
crafts, written sometime in 300 BC, when the Great Mauryan Empire of <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>
was on its glorious upwards move</i> …</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font color="#663399" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Was
Kautilya advisor to the Mauryan empire? The Mauryan Empire lasted for nearly
250 years from 326 to 184 B.C. Was Kautilya the advisor for all the 250 years,
while he was around only during the period 350-283 BC? IRS officers are not
expected to know history, but should they not know about the laws they administer?
The memo says,</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>The
officers administer three major statutes i.e. Customs Act, Central Excise Act
and <b><u>Finance Act 1995 for Service Tax</u></b>.</i></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font color="#663399" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Isn’t
it horrible that they do not know that Service Tax is under the Finance Act
1994 and not 1995? If they are not able to cite the correct law before the Pay
Commission, why should the Commission consider their plea for a better pay packet?
Doesn’t it show that it is after all a careless and casual service? Doesn’t
it show that reading the draft twice is not a trait of the service?</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The
memo further states, </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">About
1-2% of the total strength of IRS(C&CE) officers are resigning from government
service every year to join the non-governmental sector. These officers are invariably
better placed in terms of monetary benefits and service conditions, thus exemplifying
the fact <b>that after years of service with the Government, they are still
being considered as an excellent resource.</b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font color="#663399" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Do
they mean that Government Service should invariably result in incompetence?
And is a 1-2% exit such a dangerous trend?</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And
here is the biggest joke. The memo says,</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In
the short span of little more than a decade since Service tax was introduced,
<b>the facility of filing service tax returns has already been introduced,</b>
and now the process of expanding the services covered within the ambit of service
tax is on the anvil. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Do
they mean there was no facility of filing returns all these days? And since
when is <b>filing</b> returns a facility? </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font color="#663399" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>And
why is the IRS Association’s memorandum to the Pay Commission carried in the
official web site of the CBEC? There are more than thirty associations of various
cadres of employees under the CBEC. Will all the representations of all these
associations be carried by the official web site of CBEC? Is it legally and
morally correct for an official web site to carry the memorandum of an association?
</b></font></p>
<p align=center><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">6%
DA to Central Government employees to cost the nation Rs. 3900 Crores</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Central
Government employees are to get an additional DA of 6%. This is going to cost
the Government Rs. 3900 Crores in the Financial Year. This is an indication
of what the employees can expect from the Pay Commission. The pay bill of the
government is about 66000 Crores and if this is increased by say 20%,, it will
go up to nearly 80,000 Crores. Can the government really afford such a huge
salary bill? An Inspector in Central Excise told <b>DDT</b> that if his salary
is not increased to at least Rs. 40,000/- by the pay commission, he would quit.
DDT advised him to quit immediately as there was not even a remote chance of
his salary going up nearly three times. But he was hopeful. He said that the
director of an IIM is a member of the Pay Commission and he would understand
that if you pay pea nuts, you get monkeys! But who knows, may be the government
is happy with monkeys! And for pea nuts!</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font color="#FF6666" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Until
Monday with more DDT </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font color="#FF6666" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Have
a nice Weekend. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font color="#FF6666" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Mail
your comments to</font> <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a
href="mailto:vijaywrite@taxindiaonline.com">vijaywrite@taxindiaonline.com</a></span></font></p>
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