Shri Jayanta Mishra has stated that -------
A meeting was held on 30.01.2015 at Civic Centre, New Delhi to deliberate upon the TARC reports. The Hon'ble Dr. Parthasarathi Shome, Chairman, TARC addressed the gathering comprising of officers from Income Tax, Customs & Excise and Representatives of the various Associations. Various features of the TARC Reports were opposed by me as the General Secretary, IRS Association (All India Body) and various issues were raised by the IRS (Customs & Central Excise) Association and the ITGOA also.
The main points which could be raised by me within the short time available were as under :
1. We do not approve the merger of the two Boards i.e. CBDT and CBEC and rather the respective Chairmen of the two Boards should be Chairman cum ex-officio Secretary, Direct Taxes and Chairman cum ex-officio Secretary Indirect Taxes.
2. There should be no intermediary between the IRS officers represented by the Chairman and the Board and the Political bosses and the Chairman should directly interact with the FM.
3. The creation of the institution of the Governing Council will relegate the CBDT and CBEC to a subsidiary position, which would be worse than the present situation.
4. The constitution of the Governing Council where the there would be 3 Members from CBDT side, 3 Members from CBEC side and 5 other Members was inequitable. The CBDT side has more number of officers and contributes far greater revenue and has 26 officers in the Apex Scale in the field formations as against only 14 officers in the Apex Scale in the field formations of CBEC. If both CBDT and CBEC are treated as equal, giving each posts of 3 members in the Governing Council, then that will be injustice to the officers working under the CBDT who deserve a bigger share of any merged Board or entity. The promotional opportunities for the 26 Apex Scale officers under CBDT would be stifled as these officers will be completing for 3 posts of Members in the Governing Council which was the same as that for the 14 Apex Scale officers under CBEC. It would be an injustice to the officers under CBDT if the ratio of posts of Members in the Governing Council did not reflect the ratio of 26 : 14, implying thereby that there should be almost double the number of Members from CBDT side as compared to CBEC side if there was any merged entity to emerge.
5. If the necessary infrastructure and manpower was provided to the IRS officers, they could contribute much more incremental revenue which would be several times the incremental revenue envisaged by the TARC on the basis of the merger of the two Boards.
6. The major basis cited by the TARC for the incremental revenue on the merger of the two Boards was better exchange of information between the field formations working under the two Boards. Such exchange of information could be ensured under the present separate Boards also, which could be facilitated by designing of a common Return to be filed by the Assessees for all taxes and then each Department could work upon the information in that common Return, and also by a mechanism of better exchange of information between the field formations. The merger of the Boards was not necessary for better exchange of information.
7. It was also pointed out by me that there are several outstanding disputes and litigation both on the CBDT side and CBEC side. The dispute between direct recruits and the promotee officers was under litigation before the Hon'ble Supreme Court and also the Principal Bench of CAT. The situation on the CBEC side was much worse with disputes between various Sections of officers such as those coming from Customs Appraiser, Superintendent, Preventive Officer etc. If the Boards were merged then there will be further complications, friction and disputes due to all these pending disputes and litigation.
8. The present situation where both the CBDT and CBEC were in a state of massive flux, where restructuring of both the Boards has been directed recently but was mired in various complexities, particularly on the CBDT side, was not conducive for merger of the Boards. On the Income Tax side, we have not been able to get even the new Recruitment Rules passed, which are being tossed back and forth on frivolous grounds and most of the new posts at Apex level and also other levels are vacant and being delayed without any fault of the officers concerned. In such a situation, merger of the two Boards will lead to further delays and complications.
9. Hon'ble Dr. Parthasarathi Shome stated that the TARC wanted a 10 years old map and merger of the two Boards could be 10 year hence. It was pointed out me that the situation as envisaged for even the next 10 years would not be conducive for merger of the two Boards and rather these two Boards should be strengthened by making them into independent Departments and giving the IRS officers proper infrastructure and manpower support which would yield much better results and revenue and the issue of merger of the two Boards can reconsidered after the next 10 years.
10. It was pointed out that Customs & Central Excise was a Department moving towards its sunset and that the CBDT from being poor cousins of the CBEC (contributing only 20% of the Central Government Revenues compared to 80% by the CBEC, in 1989) have moved to being the elder brother in 2007, when the collections by CBDT surpassed those by the CBEC and have continued to grow. The IRS was the rising service, which was the situation globally also, and in a future day the merger of the IRS (C&E) into the IRS could be thought of, but not in the present day.
11. It was pointed out that today was the first day when the All India Body of the IRS Association was asked for feedback by the TARC and I requested Hon'ble Dr. Shome for an opportunity to the IRSA (All India Body) to present its views before the TARC, in a direct interaction with the Members of the TARC. It was stated by Hon'ble Dr. Shome that the Associations were given the opportunity all over the Country. It was reiterated by me that some local IRS Units may have given some inputs, but this was the first time that the All India Body of the IRSA was given an opportunity. Sh. M. R. Rao, the spokesperson for IRS (Customs & Excise) also stated that it was the first time that they had been given an opportunity to interact with the TARC.
12. On my specific request, Hon'ble Dr. Shome has very kindly allowed a time of one hour to the IRS Association to present its views before the TARC on 04.02.2015 (Wednesday) at TARC office from 9.30 AM to 10.30 AM. On the further request of Sh. Rao from IRS (Customs & Excise), they have also been allowed to participate. Though this will cut down on our time, but we can use the synergy, as the IRS (Customs & Excise) are also opposed to the merger of the two Boards and the creation of the Governing Council.
In view of the above, all IRS officers are requested to :
A. Please peruse all the 3 Reports of the TARC (and not just the Executive Summary) very carefully, and give your comments / suggestions / data etc. in favour of the above issues (raised by me in the meeting with TARC today).
B. Please highlight other important issues which need to be raised by the IRSA which could not be included in the above points. (Alongwith reasoning / justification and data / material etc. if any for raising such issues). I myself realize that there are several other issues which require to be raised by IRSA but could not be raised today due to paucity of time.
C. IRS officers are also requested to specify as to which are the local units which interacted with TARC and gave inputs, if any, to the TARC. Copies of such inputs may kindly be emailed to the undersigned at the ID : jayantmisraindia@gmail.com . We need to highlight that no effective inputs have been taken from the IRSA by the TARC. The Chairman / Secretaries of the local units may please inform whether they were called for any interaction with the TARC, and when, with the specific dates, and whether they gave any inputs. It appears that the TARC having submitted its Reports, particularly the First Report (which was the most important), way back in May 2014, is taking ex post facto inputs from the stakeholders i.e. the various Associations. It is requested that information about meetings with TARC and inputs given to them by local units of the IRSA, may kindly be given even if no such opportunity to the local units of IRSA was given by the TARC.
D. A Memorandum has to be given to the TARC by the IRSA , which should include all comments / objections / suggestions on the 3 Reports of the TARC , alongwith supporting material / data for the issues raised by us. Such Memorandum will have to be given on 04.02.15 and hence has to be completely ready by 03.02.15. It is requested that you may kindly contribute to such Memorandum. You may write on all or any of the issues which you feel should be covered in the IRSA Memorandum to the TARC. Please send your suggestions / inputs / material to jayantmisraindia@gmail.com .
Please treat the matter as MOST URGENT, as the TARC has given us very little time. No doubt, the recommendations of TARC are only suggestive, and the political executive has to take the final decision, but let us try to get something good from the TARC, and if not, at least put our concerns on record.
With warm regards,
Jayant Misra, IRS
General Secretary,
IRS Association (All India Body)
A meeting was held on 30.01.2015 at Civic Centre, New Delhi to deliberate upon the TARC reports. The Hon'ble Dr. Parthasarathi Shome, Chairman, TARC addressed the gathering comprising of officers from Income Tax, Customs & Excise and Representatives of the various Associations. Various features of the TARC Reports were opposed by me as the General Secretary, IRS Association (All India Body) and various issues were raised by the IRS (Customs & Central Excise) Association and the ITGOA also.
The main points which could be raised by me within the short time available were as under :
1. We do not approve the merger of the two Boards i.e. CBDT and CBEC and rather the respective Chairmen of the two Boards should be Chairman cum ex-officio Secretary, Direct Taxes and Chairman cum ex-officio Secretary Indirect Taxes.
2. There should be no intermediary between the IRS officers represented by the Chairman and the Board and the Political bosses and the Chairman should directly interact with the FM.
3. The creation of the institution of the Governing Council will relegate the CBDT and CBEC to a subsidiary position, which would be worse than the present situation.
4. The constitution of the Governing Council where the there would be 3 Members from CBDT side, 3 Members from CBEC side and 5 other Members was inequitable. The CBDT side has more number of officers and contributes far greater revenue and has 26 officers in the Apex Scale in the field formations as against only 14 officers in the Apex Scale in the field formations of CBEC. If both CBDT and CBEC are treated as equal, giving each posts of 3 members in the Governing Council, then that will be injustice to the officers working under the CBDT who deserve a bigger share of any merged Board or entity. The promotional opportunities for the 26 Apex Scale officers under CBDT would be stifled as these officers will be completing for 3 posts of Members in the Governing Council which was the same as that for the 14 Apex Scale officers under CBEC. It would be an injustice to the officers under CBDT if the ratio of posts of Members in the Governing Council did not reflect the ratio of 26 : 14, implying thereby that there should be almost double the number of Members from CBDT side as compared to CBEC side if there was any merged entity to emerge.
5. If the necessary infrastructure and manpower was provided to the IRS officers, they could contribute much more incremental revenue which would be several times the incremental revenue envisaged by the TARC on the basis of the merger of the two Boards.
6. The major basis cited by the TARC for the incremental revenue on the merger of the two Boards was better exchange of information between the field formations working under the two Boards. Such exchange of information could be ensured under the present separate Boards also, which could be facilitated by designing of a common Return to be filed by the Assessees for all taxes and then each Department could work upon the information in that common Return, and also by a mechanism of better exchange of information between the field formations. The merger of the Boards was not necessary for better exchange of information.
7. It was also pointed out by me that there are several outstanding disputes and litigation both on the CBDT side and CBEC side. The dispute between direct recruits and the promotee officers was under litigation before the Hon'ble Supreme Court and also the Principal Bench of CAT. The situation on the CBEC side was much worse with disputes between various Sections of officers such as those coming from Customs Appraiser, Superintendent, Preventive Officer etc. If the Boards were merged then there will be further complications, friction and disputes due to all these pending disputes and litigation.
8. The present situation where both the CBDT and CBEC were in a state of massive flux, where restructuring of both the Boards has been directed recently but was mired in various complexities, particularly on the CBDT side, was not conducive for merger of the Boards. On the Income Tax side, we have not been able to get even the new Recruitment Rules passed, which are being tossed back and forth on frivolous grounds and most of the new posts at Apex level and also other levels are vacant and being delayed without any fault of the officers concerned. In such a situation, merger of the two Boards will lead to further delays and complications.
9. Hon'ble Dr. Parthasarathi Shome stated that the TARC wanted a 10 years old map and merger of the two Boards could be 10 year hence. It was pointed out me that the situation as envisaged for even the next 10 years would not be conducive for merger of the two Boards and rather these two Boards should be strengthened by making them into independent Departments and giving the IRS officers proper infrastructure and manpower support which would yield much better results and revenue and the issue of merger of the two Boards can reconsidered after the next 10 years.
10. It was pointed out that Customs & Central Excise was a Department moving towards its sunset and that the CBDT from being poor cousins of the CBEC (contributing only 20% of the Central Government Revenues compared to 80% by the CBEC, in 1989) have moved to being the elder brother in 2007, when the collections by CBDT surpassed those by the CBEC and have continued to grow. The IRS was the rising service, which was the situation globally also, and in a future day the merger of the IRS (C&E) into the IRS could be thought of, but not in the present day.
11. It was pointed out that today was the first day when the All India Body of the IRS Association was asked for feedback by the TARC and I requested Hon'ble Dr. Shome for an opportunity to the IRSA (All India Body) to present its views before the TARC, in a direct interaction with the Members of the TARC. It was stated by Hon'ble Dr. Shome that the Associations were given the opportunity all over the Country. It was reiterated by me that some local IRS Units may have given some inputs, but this was the first time that the All India Body of the IRSA was given an opportunity. Sh. M. R. Rao, the spokesperson for IRS (Customs & Excise) also stated that it was the first time that they had been given an opportunity to interact with the TARC.
12. On my specific request, Hon'ble Dr. Shome has very kindly allowed a time of one hour to the IRS Association to present its views before the TARC on 04.02.2015 (Wednesday) at TARC office from 9.30 AM to 10.30 AM. On the further request of Sh. Rao from IRS (Customs & Excise), they have also been allowed to participate. Though this will cut down on our time, but we can use the synergy, as the IRS (Customs & Excise) are also opposed to the merger of the two Boards and the creation of the Governing Council.
In view of the above, all IRS officers are requested to :
A. Please peruse all the 3 Reports of the TARC (and not just the Executive Summary) very carefully, and give your comments / suggestions / data etc. in favour of the above issues (raised by me in the meeting with TARC today).
B. Please highlight other important issues which need to be raised by the IRSA which could not be included in the above points. (Alongwith reasoning / justification and data / material etc. if any for raising such issues). I myself realize that there are several other issues which require to be raised by IRSA but could not be raised today due to paucity of time.
C. IRS officers are also requested to specify as to which are the local units which interacted with TARC and gave inputs, if any, to the TARC. Copies of such inputs may kindly be emailed to the undersigned at the ID : jayantmisraindia@gmail.com . We need to highlight that no effective inputs have been taken from the IRSA by the TARC. The Chairman / Secretaries of the local units may please inform whether they were called for any interaction with the TARC, and when, with the specific dates, and whether they gave any inputs. It appears that the TARC having submitted its Reports, particularly the First Report (which was the most important), way back in May 2014, is taking ex post facto inputs from the stakeholders i.e. the various Associations. It is requested that information about meetings with TARC and inputs given to them by local units of the IRSA, may kindly be given even if no such opportunity to the local units of IRSA was given by the TARC.
D. A Memorandum has to be given to the TARC by the IRSA , which should include all comments / objections / suggestions on the 3 Reports of the TARC , alongwith supporting material / data for the issues raised by us. Such Memorandum will have to be given on 04.02.15 and hence has to be completely ready by 03.02.15. It is requested that you may kindly contribute to such Memorandum. You may write on all or any of the issues which you feel should be covered in the IRSA Memorandum to the TARC. Please send your suggestions / inputs / material to jayantmisraindia@gmail.com .
Please treat the matter as MOST URGENT, as the TARC has given us very little time. No doubt, the recommendations of TARC are only suggestive, and the political executive has to take the final decision, but let us try to get something good from the TARC, and if not, at least put our concerns on record.
With warm regards,
Jayant Misra, IRS
General Secretary,
IRS Association (All India Body)
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