Transfers in CBEC – CAG finds fault with
The CAG in his Report No. 13/2007 to Parliament was not exactly happy with the way transfer policy was implemented in the CBEC.
The CAG observed,
A significant contributor to the effectiveness of the administrative machinery is a human resource development policy that offers opportunities for excellence and career advancement through a proper placement strategy.
In order to increase transparency and to provide better opportunities to officers and a more planned approach to cadre planning, a transfer/placement policy of Group ‘A’ officers was formulated as a part of reforms in tax administration which came into effect from the 1st April 2005.
A test check of the disposition list as on May 2006 of officers of Indian Revenue Services (Customs and Central Excise) revealed that:-
a) Paragraph 5.3 of the policy stipulates that the continuous stay of a Group ‘A’ officer should not exceed 6 years in a class ‘A’ station and four years in a class ‘B’ station. It was, however, noticed that 75 officers were yet to move out from a class ‘A’ station after 7 to 15 years and 4 officers remained in class ‘B’ station for 8 to 10 years.
b) Paragraph 6.1 and 6.2 of the policy classify all posts in the CBEC as sensitive and non-sensitive posts and the tenure of an officer in a sensitive post is ordinarily restricted to 2 to 3 years. Test check, however, revealed that 7 officers were holding sensitive posts for 7 to 9 years.
c) Paragraph 7.2 restricts the tenure of officers in the Directorates of Revenue Intelligence, Central Excise Intelligence and Vigilance for 3 years along with the condition that no officer shall spend more than 6 years in these Directorates during their entire service career. 5 officers of the CBEC were posted in these Directorates for 7 to 10 years.
There is more to transfers than mere policies.
The CAG has recommended that CBEC needs to implement the laid down policy regarding transfer of its officers.