Finance Minister wants IRS officers’ rising aspirations to be met; wants CBDT and CBEC to be model employers

INDIAN Revenue Service officers have a reason to cheer about. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has asked Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to aim at becoming model employers and improve the human resource management to meet the rising expectations of the officers and the staff. FM was speaking at a review meeting with the chief commissioners and commissioners of income tax, customs and central excise in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The government has begun to look into the concerns of the IRS officers after annual tax collections have increased manifold during the last six years, and the fiscal discipline of the government is increasingly depending on the taxmen’s ability to meet over-ambitious target of tax collections. The UPA government’s rising expenditure on social sector activities is largely to be funded by increased tax collections.

Mukherjee said that all annual general transfers should be carried out by the second week of April. “I have noticed that transfer orders of the officers are issued in mid of the year, which affects not only the officer, but also the department. The officer has to shift his family and children in the mid of the academic session, which causes avoidable mental stress. Similarly, by shifting of the officers in the mid of the year from one charge to the other charge, the continuity and time available is reduced considerably. This adversely affects achieving the targeted revenue,” Mukherjee said.

(In Picture: FM addressing the press after meeting with Custom, Excise and Income Tax officers, in Mumbai on September 01, 2010)

Action and Appointments

a) Sutanu Behuria, a 1976 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IAS, currently working as special secretary in the department of commerce has been appointed as secretary, in the department of fertilizers.

b) The ACC has approved the inter-cadre deputation of M Senthil Kumar, a 1999 batch Nagaland cadre IFS from Nagaland to Tamil Nadu cadre for a period of five years.

c) Mukul Joshi, a 1975 batch Punjab cadre IAS, presently secretary, Inter State Council Secretariat has been appointed as secretary in the department of pharmaceuticals.

d) M Raman, a 1976 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS, has been appointed as secretary, department of chemicals and petrochemicals.