TIOL-DDT 592 · the untouched capture
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<p align="justify"><b><font color="#663399" size="3" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">TIOL-DDT 592</font></b><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><br>
13.04.2007<br>
Friday</b></font></p>
<p align=center><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">Madam, when are you menstruating
next? Government wants to know.</font></b></font></p>
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
</font>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This is an extract from Form IV of <b>The All India Services (Performance Appraisal Report) Rules, 2007 </b>notified
by the government on 14<sup>th</sup> March and it applies to all female officers
in the IAS, IPS and
IFS(forest) and is soon likely to be extended to the other Central services. </font></p>
<table width="100%" border="1" align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td><p align=center><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Form IV</font></p>
<p align=center><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">[See rule 3]</font></p>
<p align=center><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>The All <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> Services (Performance Appraisal Report) Rules, 2007</b></font></p>
<p align=center><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">PROFORMA FOR HEALTH CHECK UP</font></p>
<p align=right><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Date:</b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Name Age Sex: M/F</b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Brief clinical history, if any:</b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Female Officers <font color="#663399"> <b>Detailed menstrual history & History of LMP </b></font><b> <font color="#663399"> including date of last confinement</font></b></font></p></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The government wants to know the
detailed menstrual history and other intimate details about its top lady officers like when was the last menstruation and when
was your last pregnancy? And women officers are up in arms against such
intrusion into highly private matters. The Personnel ministry has washed its
hands off stating that these questions were included at the behest of the
Health Ministry. It seems the matter is before the Prime Minister and most
probably the controversial questions will be deleted from the form. </font></p>
<div><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">But it has created quite a controversy.
Every news agency in the world worth its salt is carrying the story today. From
BBC to ABC, from <st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City> to <st1:City w:st="on">Dubai</st1:City>,
from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region> to <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region>, it's news that <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>
is asking such gender specific questions to its bureaucrats. The world press is
aghast that such a thing can happen in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">INDIA</st1:place></st1:country-region>. And some of the bureaucrats
have spoken out. </font></div>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The BBC reported that <st1:place
w:st="on">Maharashtra</st1:place>'s joint secretary for general administration,
Seema Vyas told them,</font></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font color="#663399" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">"Menstrual cycles
are a natural phenomenon, they are not an aberration. One does not object to
questions related to fitness levels - they are important as they can affect
work. "But there is no need for these details as this does not have any
bearing on our work," </font><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> </font></p>
</blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And SharwariGokhale, environment secretary in <st1:place w:st="on">Maharashtra</st1:place>
said,</font></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font color="#663399" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I am completely shocked!." I have
absolutely no words to describe how I feel and I have no intention of telling
them anything about my personal life." </font></p>
</blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">A Health Ministry official where
this menstrual cycle originated, told us,</font></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font color="#663399" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The response of
officers against the questionnaire is a reflection of the level of maturity.
The Officers need to appreciate the fact that the questions relating to LMP, menstrual problems are health issues. Perhaps as a
society we are still not very comfortable with our sexuality. I think the civil
services will take a very long time to become gender neutral!!!</font></p>
</blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#663399"> Why does the Government need
the information?</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Now what is the government going
to do with this information? Are they going to help the women officers in their
PMT - Post (pre) Menstrual Trauma? Will it help if a boss knows that at a particular
time his lady subordinate is having her periods. Will
he draft her for duties based on her menstrual cycle? Some extremely orthodox
men would not like to meet a woman during her periods. Will such a boss keep
track of the menstrual history of his lady employees
and avoid meeting them during the curse? Will it amount to sexual harassment at
the work place if a boss tells his lady subordinate
that he knows she is menstruating and so needs a special consideration? </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And why should a woman officer
maintain a track record of her menstruation history? What if she has irregular
periods and don't maintain a record of it? Will she be punished under the Conduct
Rules? And what do you do if a lady officer does not
want to reveal her pregnancy? Is it mandatory that she should inform the
government if she wants to go for an abortion? </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Obviously the Health Ministry is
not a peeping tom. They must have suggested this information for purely health
reasons. And for doctors these are casual regular data but this data can be
embarrassing or useful information with people outside the Health fraternity. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The other day a senior Revenue
officer told me the difference between data and information.
362436 is data but 36-24-36 is information.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>DDT</b> spoke
to a few lady officers and they were all aghast that
such information is being asked for. "Even my husband or Mother in law does not
know this information about me", said a rather upset lady
officer. "Next they will ask me how often I press my breasts to
be sure I have no breast cancer", she fumed. "That",
I said is the "<b>The mammaries
of the welfare state (Unknown Binding)" </b>And this is a novel written by an IAS officer, UpamanyuChatterjee. Remember his August,
an IAS officer - overeducated, bored, plagued with
doubts, and incapable of action. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#663399">You look beautiful in this sari - Sexual harassment? </font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sometime
back a lady Additional Commissioner in the Central Excise department sought
my opinion on a touchy issue. A lady clerk complained to her about
sexual harassment by her Superintendent. The Superintendent had told the girl, "you
look beautiful in this sari". The Additional
Commissioner asked me whether it amounted to sexual harassment
and I told her indeed it did. The Additional Commissioner asked me, "was it not
an innocent casual remark?", I said, "No, now he would say the girl looks beautiful
in that sari and if she keeps quite, later he would say she looks much better
without that sari. And if she accepted the compliment about the sari, she can't
complain bout the lack of it!" </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And now the government wants to
know officially when the lady had her last periods!</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/pdfdocs/aisacrform.pdf" target="_blank">See the <u>Rules</u> in our What's New Section.</a></font></p>
<p align=center><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">Retrospective
legislation - deemed/doomed</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">A
classic illustration is the case of Attorney General v. Pougett
(Price at p. 392). By a Customs Act of 1873 (53 Geo. 3, c. 33) a duty was
imposed upon hides of 9s 4d, but the Act omitted to state that it was to be 9s
4d per cwt., and to remedy this omission another Customs Act (53 Geo. 3, c.
105) was passed later in the same year. Between the passing of these two Acts
some hides were exported, and it was contended that they were not liable to pay
the duty of 9s 4d per cwt., but Thomson, C.B., in
giving judgment for the Attorney General, said:</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">"The
duty in this instance was, in fact, imposed by the first Act; but the gross
mistake of the omission of the weight, for which the sum expressed was to have
been payable occasioned the amendment made by the subsequent Act: but that had
reference to the former statute as soon as it passed, and they must be taken
together as if they were one and the same Act:"</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">More than a century later, the doubt still lingers - does an
amendment to an Act have retrospective effect? </font></p>
<p align=center><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">The North East Rebate - the last word ?</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The last couple of days had seen
heated discussions on the subject. My friend
Raghavendra Rao, an illustrious writer in our columns, usually has the last word
whenever we argue on tricky technical topics. He raises a question.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#663399">Let us talk some
basics. I am a manufacturer in north east clearing in DTA and exporting on payment of duty. At the end of the
month I pay total duty liability by 5th of next month
and paid some amount in PLA after exhausting cenvat.
How do I know whether the exports suffered duty from Cenvat or PLA ?</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font color="#FF6666" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On
that note</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"><u1:p></u1:p>Mail
your comments to</font> <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a
href="mailto:vijaywrite@taxindiaonline.com">vijaywrite@taxindiaonline.com</a></font></p>
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