Dear Comrades,                               Dated: 14^th Nov,2014.

          Many of our members are wondering as to why the promotion order of Chief Accounts Officer (CAO) is getting delayed so much. We fully share the anxiety. The fact remains that the concerned file has duly been processed for approval of the Competent Authority and we are also trying on our part in best possible manner.  Meanwhile, our Comrades of Bangalore have met Ms. Joy Kumari Chander, Hon'ble Member (P&V) today at Bangalore. Member (P&V) was very kind to give a patient hearing despite her busy schedule.  The issue of present promotion order and the next DPC for CAO for the years 2013-14 and 2014-15 have been represented today also.  I request our friends at various zones to see that all requisite information relating to updation of Seniority List of CAO, ACR/APAR etc. (whenever calls for) are sent at the earliest.

         Meanwhile, I have received many representations from some of the zones, urging for the Association to take up some issues with the Board for immediate redressal.  The issues basically centre around the problems, being experienced in various zones in the matter of promotion to various posts.  The hype created before CR seems to have not been fulfilled, resulting in accumulation of grievance among our members.

          The main problem area after implementation of Cadre Restructuring has been the preserved confusion on appropriateness of length of qualifying service for effecting the promotion to the post of Inspector against the additional strength.  We are trying to resolve the impasse that exists in some of the zones in an appropriate manner.

          Promotion to the grade of Tax Assistant (TA) has also been halted in many zones owing to notification of new Recruitment Rule dated 10.01.2014. The qualifying service has been lengthened and educational qualification has been raised. We had earlier taken up this issue and have been following it up. We will continue to do so with greater thrust.

        Also, it is informed that even the regular promotion Senior Tax Assistant (STA) is not implemented in some of the zones, citing the fact that STA and DOS (Deputy Office Superintendent) posts have been merged as Executive Assistant (EA). It has been clarified by the Board and DoP&T in the past that a post only to be considered to be created once the Recruitment Rule (RR) of such post is notified. Any RR does not become infractuous automatically only through an executive order.  It will continue to be effective till new Rule is notified in its place through laid-down process and after the approval of the Competent Authority.  Therefore, wherever such problem has cropped up, it is suggested that the zonal administration may be requested to take note of the above facts and appreciate that the Recruitment Rule (RR) of STA and DOS are still in vogue, till the RR of Executive Assistant (EA) is notified.

         

This Association is also alive to the need for some relaxation in Recruitment Rule of Inspector in terms of qualifying service and other conditions. There shall be considerable number of vacancies which will not be filled up for want of eligible officers in the feeder post.  In order to impress upon the Board, we need data on number of posts, lying vacant after first phase of DPC, post Cadre Restructuring.  I request to all the zonal leaders to mail me (Email Id : pramanik.ashim4@gmail.com) the following information of their zones at the earliest:-

1. Name of the zone : ........................................................

2.   Number of vacancies in Promotee Quota (PR Quota) of Inspector as on 31.07.2014 (pre-cadre restructuring) : ...................................................

3.  Number of additional posts sanctioned in the PR Quota through Cadre Restructuring as on 01.08.2014: ....................................................

4. Number of posts filled up after Cadre Restructuring (CR) against Point No.2: ................................................

5. Number of posts filled up after Cadre Restructuring (CR) against Point No.3: .................................................

6. Number of pre-cadre restructuring vacancies (Point No.2 - Point No.4): ..........................................................

7. Number of post-cadre restructuring vacancies (Point No.3 - Point No.5): ..........................................................

It will be highly appreciated if the above data is made available with this association, so that the issue of relaxation can be taken up with the Board in a much stronger manner.

The implementation of the judgement of Hon'ble CAT Chandigarh bench dated 17.03.2010 on promotion of officers beyond the age of 50 years to the post of Inspector, has not been uniformed all over the country.  We tried hard to get a clarification from the Board to pave the way for implementation in every zone.  The said clarification has been issued on 03 Nov, 2014 (to see the order click here) which will be of great relief to many of our members.

Thanking you,                       yours Comradely,

Sd/-

(Ashim Pramanick)

President

          

CR- JURISDICTION OF FIELD FORMATION NOTIFICATIONS ISSUED ON 16.09.2014

Jurisdictions defining the field formation offices notifications  has been issued by the CBEC on 16.09.2014 under Cadre Restructuring. This notifications will be effective from 15th October, 2014.  This notifications are given below:-

Cadre Restructuring Notifications

CADRE RESTRUCTURING

Dear Comrade,

                        By now, you have come to terms with the various aspects of the Cadre Restructuring plan and its probable impact both at the national level and zonal level.  Facts are out and we can sense the impact on our Cadre.  There has been no relief for the dwindling administrative wing.  No new posts with higher Grade Pay has been introduced, despite our relentless efforts over the years.  On the contrary, the supervisory posts of DOS has been clubbed with STA to form a new post called Executive Assistant (EA) with no change of Grade Pay.  We will continue to voice our descent and persist with our struggle in different fora to restore the lost gravity and hierarchical structure with commensurating pay.  Meanwhile we have submitted our Memorandum to the 7^th Central Pay Commission which you might have seen in our earlier message.  Board will continuously be perused in the future also.  Such persuasion will also be carried out in different judicial fora.

            Now the focus is obviously on the numbers those are created in different zones.  We know that the members are busy in working out Arithmetics and Statistical Probabilities, off course for the good reasons.  We all look for a better service career and brighter promotional opportunity.  Promotions to Inspector and other ministerial grades will start happening very shortly.  Board will fix a deadline and try to create a height about it to ensure smooth implementation of Cadre Restructuring plan.  Meanwhile a meeting has been conveyed on 27.08.2014 with all CCAs to discuss the promotions in Grpup-B and Group-C posts in the wake of Cadre Restructuring.  However, the crux lies with the fact that in most zones there are not sufficient eligible officers for promotions to Inspector.  At the same time Board is not willing to relax the recruitment Rule, at least in the first instance, as we have been told during our meeting with the Chairperson on 16.07.2014.  On the flip-side, the noise of amendment/framing of the Recruitment Rules of our ministerial grades and that of Inspector is also pretty much loud.  This process was initiated some time back.  We had met the B.K. Bansal Committee and tendered our submissions more than one time.  Our moot emphasis has been to retain the length of qualifying service of the existing employees even in the new Recruitment Rule by invoking the DoP&T’s guidelines.  This is expected to protect the existing employees from loosing their opportunities to get promotion in time, particularly in view of creation of new posts in the Cadre Restructuring.  Board’s response has not been fully clear to us except the fact that it was assured that all the posts will be filled up on the basis of existing Recruitment Rule wherever possible.  We need to work in this area relating to relaxation of Recruitment Rule and framing of new Recruitment Rule.

            I have no words, to convey solace to our senior members who are retiring without getting their due promotions to Chief Accounts Officer (CAO).  One would hardly believe the kind of efforts that we are putting into get the DPC done.  I am compelled to say that response from some of the zones in sending the requisite documents, have not been very encouraging despite several oral persuasions.  Presently the proposal for DPC for 2010-11, 2011-12 & 2012-13 is with UPSC and we are expecting some date of the DPC shortly.  We are also requesting the Board to initiate action for the next DPC (Click here to see the submission dated 18.08.2014).

            Comrades, the work on hand is colossal but the work force is a depleted one.  Our good friend and very good servant to the organization Shri J. Sudharsan has been promoted to Inspector in the recent past.  He has been providing great service to the Association over the past few years which will no longer be available now.  This has already created a vacuum.  However, I have already advised him to carry on the work, pertaining to Supreme Court case on Seniority as no one else will be best-suited for the job at the moment.  Other zonal leaders are also expected to get elevation in the service, resulting further gap in the Association.  Thus the need of the hour is to revamp the Association.  I therefore, appeal to all the zonal leaders stationed in various parts of the country to come forward and join hands to work for the well being of the Cadre.  Further course of action on the organizational front will be conveyed in due course.

                                                                                                            

                                                                         Comradely Yours

  Sd/-

(Ashim Pramanick)

  President

CR - Message from Hon'ble Chairperson of CBEC

Chairperson's-note- dated 1st Aug, 2014 by AICESTMOA

BOARD HAS ISSUED CADRE RESTRUCTURING NOTIFICATION OF ALLOCATION OF FORMATIONS AND POSTS

Cadre Restructuring- CBEC by AICESTMOA

UPDATES FROM DELHI VISIT

Date:- 11.04.2011

Dear Comrades,

The President, the Organising Secretary and Assistant Secretary General had visited New Delhi recently to participate in the Departmental Anomaly Committee Meeting which was scheduled on 05.04.2011. The updates on various issues and the ones that were taken up, pertaining to the cadre, during the said visit are placed below for information:-

Departmental Anomaly Committee meeting :-

As stated in the notice for the meeting only the points that were not taken up for discussion in the last meeting were taken up. The point relating to grant of Grade Pay of Rs.2800/- to Tax Assistants came up for discussion. The recommendations of the 5th CPC and implementation of the same in Railways and Accounts Department were brought to the notice of the Committee. The leader of the Staff Side too supported our arguments. However, the response from the Chairman was not encouraging as the standard reply came again i.e., that this is not an anomaly as per the definition of “Anomaly”. However, it has been stated from the beginning that he would support the demands on the merits of each case and it should be taken up outside the purview of the committee. In this case, he stated that this is a anomaly of the 5th CPC and it cannot be considered now as it should have been resolved before the 6th CPC itself. He further stated that as the 6th CPC has recommended the appropriate replacement scales this would not constitute as an anomaly of 6th CPC.

Further, the issue regarding the Grade Pay of AO and DOS came up in connection with another point which was taken for discussion. The president had made a forceful submission on the matter and also provided copy of the orders wherein higher Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- had been granted to Administrative Officers in the Ministry of Telecom and National Library, Kolkatta. The Chairman came close to accepting the demand, however, he said we shall look into it while recording the findings on each point.

At the end of the meeting it was informed that another meeting will be convened to record the specific findings on each of the agenda points, as to whether it would constitute an anomaly or otherwise, depending on which the next course of action will be decided.

The Chairman had further stated that the Departmental council will be constituted and the meeting will be convened as early as possible, and also indicated that it could well be anytime within the next three months. As of now, this is an important development/outcome to have emerged from this meeting.

Cadre Restructuring:-

The representatives had a very lenghty and fruitful meeting with the Hon'ble Member (P&V), and discussed various demands of the Association which need to be included in the ongoing cadre restructuring exercise. She appreciated the issues that were raised, and stated that the file is still in the Department of Expenditure. She assured that in case, the file comes back with some queries and if there is a possibility where any of our demands can be included the same will be considered positively. A letter on this issue has also been submitted.

After the above meeting we had met the Hon'ble Chairman late in the evening (around 9.00 pm) on the 04th April,2011, despite his busy schedule, as he was preparing to leave for Belgium on Official trip the next day. He stated that many of our demands have already been included in the proposal,  and the other demands which were raised before him will also be taken care of, if there is an opportunity to do so.  On 6th April, we also met the ADG (HRM) on the matter in which all these points were discussed at length. On the issue of the hierarchical structure and higher Grade pay for AO/DOS, he said that the issue can be taken up only after the minutes of the Departmental Anomaly Committee meeting is received. On the matter regarding relaxation of the qualifying service, it was stated that the issue would be considered positively, as the restructuring itself is being carried out to remove stagnation and every effort would be made to bring parity amongst all zones. He further stated that on receiving the approval of the Cadre Review Proposal from the Government, a meeting of the Associations would be convened to discuss the allocation of the posts among zones, after consultation with the Board on the matter.

Promotions to the Grade of Chief Accounts Officer:-

The matter relating to CAO promotions were followed up. Though the file and relevant documents for holding DPC for promotion to the post of CAO were sent to UPSC, it is now learnt that the same is likely to be returned to the Board’s Office for want of further documents/records. In the meanwhile the Association has decided to take up the matter with the Board for granting Ad-hoc promotions. The Association also had raised the issue of non-circulation of the Seniority list for the grade of Administrative Officers and has requested to expedite the matter.

Grant of pay fixation benefits on promotion from erstwhile OS to AO:-

This issue has been pursued vigorously by the Association. However, it has not attained finality due to the attitude of the Department of Expenditure. The Ministry of Law had been expressing helplessness due to the reason that the matter has been remaining sub-judice in one form or another. As on date, the matter has again been referred to the Ministry of Law from where a positive outcome is expected this time.

Supreme Court matters:-

The status of the seniority case in the Supreme Court, in the appeal against the Madras High Court order, was pursued. It is hoped that the case could come up for hearing any time.

Other matters:-

The issue relating to grant of relaxation for promotion to the Grade of Inspector/STA was also pursued. The issue was also discussed with the Chairman and the Member (P&V), who have assured to take a positive decision in the matter.

The process of allocation of Tax Assistants (DR) is also underway. On receipt of willingness from all the candidates the allocation would be finalized. It is learnt that the process would be completed in another 2-3 months time.

The opening up of ICT for all, is again under the consideration of the Board. Representations received in this regard are being examined. It is hoped that some positive outcome will emerge soon.

-AICESTMOA

CADRE RESTRUCTURING IN CBEC

Pune, the 20th February, 2011

TIME FOR INTROSPECTION- FOR ALL CONCERNED -

DO WE DESERVE ANYTHING BETTER?

Dear Comrades,

While each and every member of the cadre is eagerly awaiting to know the outcome / status of the Cadre Restructuring Proposal, it is about time to take a look back at the sequence of events leading to date and the efforts / contributions put forth by the Association and its Members and the Department as a whole, in order to come to terms of the situation that we are forced to live with as on date. This post is just to put forth the bare /simple facts, so far as they have occurred, the evidence of which are available in the previous posts/ Messages of the Association.

For all practical purposes, the current cadre restructuring exercise began with the meeting held by the ADG, HRD with the recognized cadre Associations during the month of April, 2010. Neither the basis nor the roadmap of the proposed restructuring was put forth before the Associations and we were simply asked to put forth our legitimate aspirations. Though views/opinions/suggestions were called for from the Members and all the regional units of the Association, there were not many responses that came forward. Therefore, the leaders who met at Delhi for this purpose proposed, debated, deliberated and finalized a proposal addressing the majority of the issues affecting the cadre and submitted the same in person to the ADG, HRD, with a specific demand that the further consultations be held with the association before finalization of the proposals. Though all the leaders including the President had approved the said initial submissions, the President in his own wisdom took the extra-ordinary step of submitting another letter, in continuation to the original submissions made collectively. Unfortunately, this led the ADG, HRD to ignore the original proposals and confine the legitimate aspirations submitted by our President to be the actual submissions of the entire cadre. Be that as it may. Even after a lapse of six months nothing was made known to the Association, nor was there any meeting convened, due to which a couple of letters were submitted seeking appointments from the Chairman and the Member (P&V), to convey our grievances. Since these requests did not yield the desired results, it was felt that a Joint Forum with like minded Associations on Board would be able to bring the pressure on the Ministry/Board to give an audience to us. Thus a Joint Action Committee was formed, which you all are well aware of by now.

Soon after receipt of the first communication from the platform of Joint Action Committee, the Board became proactive and convened a meeting of all the Associations on the 10th of November, 2010. All the leaders requested to provide a copy of the proposal, in order to maintain transparency, which was not acceded initially. On putting across our grievances to the Hon’ble Revenue Secretary, he intervened and directed that a copy of the proposals be given to us and our concerns be addressed. Thereafter a copy of the Cadre Restructuring proposal was given to us with an understanding that the Associations are free to submit their grievances once again which will be examined and a considered decision would be taken after another round of consultation. Though all the leaders representing respective cadres were provided with the copy, it was not brought out in the open for obvious reasons. In order to make the members realize the magnitude of change that is likely to take place this Association had taken the lead to place the same in the public domain, with an aim to get as much response as one would expect. Unfortunately, this time too, no positive feedback/inputs were received from the Members/ Units especially from the affected cadres of Administrative Officers and the Deputy Office Superintendent.

Nevertheless, a revised proposal reiterating the original demands were submitted, which also included objections to those proposals that were against the long-term interest of the cadre. It was hoped that the Associations would be called for another round of discussion as was promised in the meeting held on 08.11.2010. After a disappointing wait it was decided that the JAC would submit another letter to the Board seeking an audience. In the meanwhile some of the leaders had met the Chairman on the 16th December, 2010, where again the proposals submitted were explained to him in detail. While doing so the learned comrades from Kolkatta Zone had submitted a separate proposal regarding the issues affecting their zone, which also included a proposal for formation of one more Commissionerate, in the present Cadre Review proposal. The Hon’ble Chairman agreed to look into all of them and assured the leaders that another meeting would be convened shortly.

Since nothing was heard again for a fortnight from the Board, the Joint Action Committee had sought an appointment with the Hon’ble Chairman based on which a meeting was again convened on the 18th January, 2011. When all the Leaders expected that a positive decision would emerge or at least some sort of ground work would have been made in the original draft proposal to accommodate the legitimate aspirations, it was an anti-climax to learn from the ADG, HRD’s presentation that nothing would change or can be changed except for a few cosmetic changes. However, it was by now clear that the demand for an additional commissionerate in Kolkatta zone was under consideration. Despite all this, the Association Leaders expressed their disappointment in the meeting with the Chairman, in reply to which another opportunity was provided for submitting a revised proposal till the 27th of Jan, 2011.

A revised proposal was submitted by the 27th of January, 2011, as directed by the Chairman which was to have been considered by the Board on the 3rd February, 2011. It was also decided by the Joint Action Committee on the 18th January, 2011 itself that if nothing positive emerges by the 3rd of February, 2011, a proposal charting out the agitation programme would be given to the Board so as to organize the first step of agitation on the 24th of February, 2011. Despite a clear agenda being set out and agreed upon, the leaders who were expected to take the lead have failed to take any initiative on this front, while everyone is awaiting with bated breath to know their fate. Eventually, the fate might have been already sealed by the Board, which may not be known to anyone, until it is approved by the Cabinet, or without a strong intervention or serious agitation. Let it be known to all concerned that any agitation will not succeed, unless it is wholehearted and has support from each and everyone of you. Also, the Cadre Restructuring proposal of CBDT has moved a long way and one of the prominent observation in the said proposal is that all the Staff Associations have endorsed their No Objection to the said proposal. In the previous Cadre Restructuring too, a “No Objection” was required to be obtained from the respective Staff Associations, which “NOC” was taken only on the 27th and 28th of January, 2002 i.e. much after the Cabinet nod on 16.07.2001.

Now, the question on everyone’s mind would be what next? This is not the time for me alone to decide as to what next? It is time for each and every one of you to ponder over as to what has been your contribution until now and suggest a way forward? The suggestion may even include allowing this stalemate to continue and wait to watch us being bulldozed by those who are having vested interests and who are not worried about the long term interests of the Ministerial Cadre. This is not meant to demean or bring down any individual or point fingers at some one, but this is one last attempt to awake those sleeping Tigers and Lions.

Finally, it is but obvious that incase the legitimate aspirations of the Ministerial Cadre is not given due cognizance in the forthcoming Cadre Restructuring, the day is not far when the officers in the Department would find themselves busy sorting out administrative problems put forth to them by the Ministerial officers who would be skeleton in size and more so with the knowledgeable officers waving goodbye to the Department owing to an insulting situation put forth in front of them, wherein junior officers would be drawing higher salary than the ones who have put in more than 30 years of service in the Department and awaiting recognition of their hard work and sincerity. Before concluding, I wish to mention the eye catching statement which surely would remain in the minds of the Departmental officers for years together.

“United we stand, Divided we fall. In such situations do not ignore Association’s call”.

However, the JAC which has been formed with the sole objective of taking care of the legitimate aspirations of the respective Cadres at the larger level has not been able to issue any call thereby meaning that the unity, even if prevailing, has no sense and would virtually lead to a conclusion that there would never ever be another Joint Action Committee in the Department as the same is being formed to suit the vested interest of some.

Yours sincerely,

Thomas Mony

Awaiting some anxious and heated responses, I remain,

UPDATE ON THE MEETING WITH THE CHAIRMAN

Pune, the 23.11.2010

Dear Members,

As stated in the Previous post, the detailed information emerging out of the Meeting with the Chairman on the 18th January, 2011, is placed below.

The Hon’ble Chairman, Central Board of Excise & Customs welcomed all the representatives of the officers and staff associations/federations who have been actively participating in the Cadre Restructuring process, especially the constituent Associations/ Federations of the Joint Action Committee.

Thereafter, the Hon’ble Chairman directed the ADG, HRD to commence the proceedings of the meeting to which the ADG, HRD put forth a Power Point Presentation detailing the manner in which the Cadre Restructuring proposal has been prepared and how the aspirations of all cadres has been taken care of. It is noteworthy to mention that the ADG, HRD had made maximum utilization of the information inputs which is in the custody of HRD to present the case, at times by putting forth the reasoning for acceptance and/or non-consideration of submissions put forth by the respective Associations/ Federations.

Instead of briefing all our members with details, I attach herewith a Power Point presentation, which if gone through, even a lay man can understand that once again a Cadre Restructuring is being embarked upon, without taking into consideration the legitimate aspirations of the officers working in the Ministerial cadre. [Click the link provided below to download the file.]

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B_wcN1t0C9s3OTBiNDA5YzAtYzU0NC00ZTdhLTgyODktM2VhNTBkYjE3ZjU1&hl=en&authkey=CN7e0NUG

While the experience, expertise and the manner in which cosmetic changes/developments have been put forth by the ADG, HRD is worth appreciating, this Association is unhappy over the manner in which its submissions are being dealt with. On casting a second look, any person would be in a position to make out that the attempt of the HRD possibly was to cater to the requirements put forth by the Executive cadres, Stenographers & the IRS Association. By doing so it has been projected that some remedial action is being taken at the Board level to mitigate the problems being faced by the members of those Associations. To what extent actual relief would be extended is yet to be seen in this regard. A small table showing the relevant demands made by the Association and the decision of the Board on the same is placed below.

However, the manner in which the aspiration of officers in the Ministerial Cadre was handled is not worth mentioning. Re-iterating the earlier stand, it was put forth by way of a presentation stating that the posts in CAO/AO grades were being increased to a very great extent, thereby reducing the stagnation in the Ministerial Heirarchy, whereas on the other end it was stated that the quantum of Inspectors vacancies that would arise would be sufficient enough to ensure that maximum Ministerial Officers would get promoted to the Executive cadre. That being so, there was not the slightest of attempt on his part to embark upon a self-study, whereby the HRD which boasts about Long Term Human Resource Plan did not even prefer to create posts in the Grade Pay of 4600 and 4800 for those neglected officers in the Ministerial Cadre serving the Department in the Cadres of Administrative Officers and Deputy Office Superintendents, and especially in a situation when the HRD itself is fully aware of the factual position that the pay scale issue with regard to these two posts has been rejected by the Department of Expenditure, thrice, thus leaving little scope to benefit on this arena, leave aside the hope that the cadre has by following up the said issues through the Departmental Anomaly Committee.

By diverting the attention of this Association stating that pay matters does not have a scope in the Cadre Restructuring process, the HRD is trying to double cross the members of this Association. As can be seen from the Cadre Restructuring proposal, there are many new posts being proposed to be created, obviously with an enhanced pay related to the post, and in the background of such a situation, this Association is left with little confusion as to what stops the HRD from creating posts that would mitigate long pending grievances and make the proposal perfect from that angle. The HRD has vide its O.M. issued under F.NO.8/B/65/HRD(HRM)/201/3439 dated 05.10.2010 forwarded the decision of the Government on the matter relating to upgradation of pay scales of Administrative Officer/Deputy Office Superintendent etc., thus putting a seal of confirmation of having knowledge of the factual position.

Considering the above situation, the HRD ought to have proposed creation of an Administrative Officer Grade III/Examiner or similar post in the Grade Pay of Rs.4600/- in PB-2 for the DOS and thereafter proposing a placement of the Administrative Officer in the Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- in PB-2. Unfortunately, the HRD has lost sight of the very basic facts and has proceeded with a Cadre Restructuring Proposal which obviously is beneficial for some specific cadres only. The Association is afraid that owing to the overburdened workload on the Hon’ble Chairman, and considering the simplicity and innocence of the Hon’ble Member (P&V), it is felt that the HRD is deciding the modalities and intricacies of the issues involved in Cadre Restructuring with the least of supervision/monitoring over it by the higher authorities, as this wing of the Department does not even have the slightest idea about the Administrative problems being faced by the Board during the past 10 years ever since the previous Cadre Restructuring, nor is aware of the historical problems of this cadre.

The ADG, HRD had during the course of presentation stated that nearly 30-35 % of the posts in the Ministerial cadres of DOS/STA have been lying unfilled consistently for more than three years and as per Department of Expenditure’s instructions any post lying vacant for more than 1 year need to be treated as abolished. Accordingly, based on the working strength of the Ministerial Cadres, the HRD has proposed the present set up in the Cadre Restructuring Proposal without even giving a slightest thought about the fact that DPCs for the post of Chief Accounts Officer does not take place once in five years, the Cadre Controlling authorities do not hold timely DPCs as per the Model Calendar, the fluctuation in the vacancy position at the time of reporting and immediately thereof does not match and other extraneous circumstances whereby the study as well as the proposed strength of Ministerial Officers envisaged in the Cadre Restructuring proposal is unacceptable to this Association. It is also pertinent to mention here that the Senior Tax Assistants are drawing the Grade Pay of Rs.4200/- in PB-2 whereas the promotional post i.e. Deputy Office Superintendent is also placed in the same scale of Rs.4200/- in PB-2. Even a person without vision could analyze the motive behind the existing form of hierarchy proposed for the Ministerial Cadre. The HRD has nullified the justifications for having a Model Commissionerate a/w Ministerial Staffing sanctioned in the previous Cadre Restructuring and so also has given a total go-bye to the recommendations made by Study Group-II in this regard. Though it is time and again repeated that the CR proposal is finalized based on the reports/ recommendations of the three Study Groups and the High Power Committee, such recommendations do not find any place in the proposal and therefore it is certain that the DG, HRD is the Author and Editor of the entire cadre review proposal independent of these reports/recommendations.

Apart from these reasons, there are many Direct Recruit Officers who are not accepting their appointment orders in the cadres of Tax Assistant as well as Inspector for the sole reason that Inter-Commissionerate Transfers has been banned from 19.02.2004 for no rhyme or reason, thus leading to non-filling up of vacancies. The ADG, HRD has undertaken a detailed study on the eligibility status of Ministerial Officers, based upon which it has been mentioned that all eligible Ministerial Officers will get promoted to the higher grades in Executive as well as Ministerial streams and that promotion quota vacancies will still remain due to unavailability of eligible officers in the feeder grades. Undoubtedly, eligibility is a by-product of timely promotions, and if promotions are denied the question of eligibility would not arise in itself, thus making the statement made by ADG, HRD sound like the gospel truth.

The Association is in the process of finalizing a representation to be submitted to the Board before 27th January, 2011, as stated by the Chairman in the meeting. The Members may be well prepared to take upon the challenge before them and see to it that the aspirations of our cadre receives due attention. Towards this goal, all the Members should remain united and rise to the occasion as and when there is a necessity.

Comradely yours,

THOMAS MONY

Secretary General

MEETING WITH CHAIRMAN

Date:- 18.01.2011

Dear Members,

You are all aware that a meeting of all the associations had been convened by the Board under the chairmanship of the Honourable Chairman of CBEC, at 16.00 hrs on the 18th January, 2011 in order to discuss the demands of all the Associations on cadre restructuring.  The meeting took place as scheduled and our Association was represented by our President and the Secretary General, who are still at New Delhi.

The Association is in receipt of calls from various quarters seeking an update on the meeting. Considering the requests, an initial update is being provided here. Detailed information will appear on the blog in due course.

UPDATE

The Chairman welcomed the leaders of all the Association and assured full co-operation in considering their demands. He then requested the ADG, HRD to make a power point presentation regarding the Cadre Review proposals and how the demands have been addressed. Accordingly a power point presentation was made by the ADG, HRD to the members present in the meeting.

The Chairman then asked the respective Associations to give their opinion/comments on the proposals. All the Associations had replied that major concerns have not been addressed as yet. Finally the Chairman asked the Associations to give detailed proposals with full justification by 27th of January, 2011 which will be considered before 3rd of February, 2011, and thereafter the  Cadre Review proposal will be finalised. The Association will do the needful in this regard.

Further developments on the matter will be intimated in due course.

AICESTMOA

CADRE RESTRUCTURING - UPDATE

Pune, 09.01.2011

Dear Members,

Greetings to you all once again on the occassion of the New Year! May this New Year bring with it many more good things and fulfill the wishes and all our goals during the Year.

This is to inform that the Constituent Associations of the Joint Action Committee had submitted a letter to the Chairman, CBEC, seeking an appointment with him to discuss the Cadre Restructuring Proposals. On consideration of the same, it has now been informed that a meeting has been convened by the Board with all the Service Associations to be chaired by the Hon'ble Chairman on the 18th of January, 2011. The Association is making necessary arrangements to participate in the meeting.

A legible (typed) copy of the said letter is available on the following link.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B_wcN1t0C9s3ODBhODNkNDctM2Q2NC00NTk0LWI0OGUtM2EwYzgxYWFmYTdh&hl=en&authkey=CPb9ts8D

Comradely Yours,
Thomas Mony,
Secretary General.

DEVELOPMENTS REGARDING CADRE RESTRUCTURING

ALL INDIA CENTRAL EXCISE & SERVICE TAX MINISTERIAL OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION

Pune, the 23rd December, 2010

Dear Comrades,

Recently, the undersigned as well as the President had visited New Delhi in connection with the progress relating to Cadre Restructuring as well as related issues. On the 15th of Dec’10 the President had visited HRD office to get a sense of the developments on the combined submission made through the Joint Action Committee. It is to inform that the Hon’ble Chairman, CBEC, New Delhi had taken stock of the issues on 15.12.10 itself from the HRD, details of which could not be ascertained.

2. However, because of the combined efforts put in by the Joint Action Committee, the Hon’ble Chairman had decided to have a joint meeting with All the Associations. Apart from the Joint Action Committee representatives other Associations were also present for the said meeting held in the afternoon of 16th December, 2010. The All India Ministerial Officers Association was represented by the undersigned alongwith the President, whereas some zonal members from the Ministerial Cadre also participated for the said meeting. The Hon’ble Chairman wanted to know the major issues involved and the ones of concern, specifically pertaining to each and every cadre. While the respective Associations put forth their grievances, our demands which have already been submitted to the Board were reiterated, details of which are attached hereunder.

3. During the course of discussion, the Hon’ble Chairman stated that one time relaxation for filling up of all vacancies by way of promotion in all grades would surely be extended in the ensuing Cadre Restructuring whereas on other related issues an assurance was given that a fresh round of meeting would surely follow, once a study is conducted by the HRD on the issues concerned.

4. The Hon’ble Chairman also agreed for issuance of minutes of the meeting which is expected shortly. On receipt of the same, the blog would be updated accordingly. In the meantime, the draft minutes of the meeting of the Associations with the Hon’ble Chairman, CBEC held in his Chamber on 16.12.2010, prepared by the Association is placed hereunder for information.

DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD WITH THE HONOURABLE CHAIRMAN CBEC ON 16.12.2010 AT THE NORTH BLOCK, NEW DELHI.

Subject: - Issues pertaining to Ministerial Cadre.

The following issues were taken up and brought to the notice of the Hon’ble Chairman.

a. The cadre restructuring proposal, framed by HRD, focused on the growth of the Executive wing of the Department vis-à-vis potential revenue profile. The need for strengthening of the Administrative wing to cater to the minimum Administrative requirements of the department had been totally overlooked. The 6th CPC has specifically highlighted this aspect and recommended that Ministerial Cadre in the CBEC and other Central Government subordinate offices, be brought on par with their counterparts in Central Secretariat Offices, being equi-placed in terms of importance and gravity of the functions, discharged by them vide Para 3.1.3, 3.1.4 & 3.1.14 of 6th CPC.

In this context, it was requested to consider and grant the hierarchical structure, as suggested by this Association vide Para 14 of the proposal submitted by it through the Joint Action Committee on 24.11.2010.

b. The Staffing Norms for allocation of Ministerial Strength is completely insulated from the ground necessity in the field formations. The Board has never suggested for such a reduction in real terms for the Ministerial Cadre. The following Statistics will justify the fact.

c. From the above it is evident that Ministerial strength is on the decline in real terms (as pointed out vide Para 3, 6,7 & 8) of Association’s proposal dated 24.11.10) compared to quantum Jump in other grades, thereby resulting in work getting hampered in the Administrative set-up in the various offices across the country. It was further proposed that the least expectation from the Board is to adopt the staffing norms suggested by the Study Group-2 as regards Ministerial Cadre is concerned.

d. The staffing norms of Customs Commissionerate as mooted by HRD, has not taken care of the need for Customs Preventive Commissionerates, which is much larger in terms of work load, geographical jurisdiction and span of functional areas. Full fledged Sanctioned Strength in Ministerial Grades is required, as pointed out in Point No. 12 of the Association’s Proposals, dated 24.11.2010

e. All the existing vacant posts and those arising out of cadre restructuring be filled up by promotion only, by relaxing the provisions of the relevant Recruitment Rules wherever necessary.

f. The Hon’ble Chairman took note of the above issues and assured to look into the matter and give a further audience before finalization of the Cadre Restructuring Proposal.

g. Finally, on behalf of Kolkatta Central Excise & Customs zone, a piece of information, compiled in a tabular form was handed over to the Hon’ble Chairman, CBEC, New Delhi with a request to ensure that no curtailment of posts takes place during the ensuing Cadre Restructuring and that the requirements of certain zones may vary as per geographical conditions and related parameters. This study of our Kolkatta counterparts would be helpful in arriving at the number of Commissionerates required, be that of Central Excise, Service Tax, Customs Preventive Commissionerate or an Audit Commissionerate. Learned counterparts from other Cadres serving in other zones/parts of the country are requested to study the intricacies involved, and accordingly come ahead with proposals in consonance with the one submitted, so as to facilitate the All India Association with substantial inputs to put forth the requirements of all regions in a very transparent and balanced manner.

h. Wishing all viewers and their families, compliments of the festive Season and hoping that the New Year 2011 brings in good health, happiness, success and prosperity to the members in the various Cadres i.e. Group ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ under Central Board of Excise and Customs.

Comradely Yours,

Sd/-

Thomas Mony

Secretary General

09881139080

Copy of proposals submitted by Kolkatta zone

 

 

 
 

CADRE RESTRUCTURING- AN UPDATE

Date:- 09.12.2010

Dear Members,

This is to inform that no information is forthcoming from the Board regarding the promise of convening a meeting with the recognised Associations to discuss and finalise the Cadre restructuring proposals. In this background it was felt that some action should be initiated so that our voice is heard in the Ministry. Therefore the Joint Action Committee has sought an appointment with the Secretary (Revenue), in order to apprise him of the concerns of the constituent Associations and the Members in general on the cadre restructuring process. A copy of the letter submitted is placed below for information of the Members. Any development in this regard will be made known as and when it takes place.

 Comradely yours,

THOMAS MONY

Secretary General.

MINUTES OF ASSOCIATION MEETING AT DELHI ON 22.11.2010

Pune, the 29th November, 2010.

Dear Members,

The All India Central Excise and Service Tax Ministerial Officers' Association alongwith other constituents of the Joint Action Committee has submitted its proposal and view points to the various authorities under CBEC who were responsible in formulating the draft proposal of Cadre restructuring in CBEC. Copy of the proposals are already available on the Blog for ready reference.  It is genuinely expected that the Board will invite all respective associations and the constituents of the JAC for discussion/ consultation, while examining the submitted proposals and arrive at a mutually agreed upon solution. In case, the proposals submitted by the JAC is not considered/ accepted by the Board, the JAC may meet and take stock of the situation and would also decide the future course of action to be adopted to ensure that the legitimate demands of respective Associations are met with.

That being the situation, it is sincerely hoped that all the members of this Association from the rank of Lower Division Clerk, Tax Assistant, Senior Tax Assistant and more particularly the Officers in the rank of DOS and AO remain united during this hour of need, and support the Association wholeheartedly, which is crucial and would determine the future of career advancement of the entire cadre. It is expected that the constituents of the Joint Action Committee too would adopt a similar approach and keep the spirit of the members going, to achieve all our goals.

Regular updates would be made available as and when factual information is available to the Association.

Yours sincerely,

THOMAS MONY

* * * * *

 

 

MINUTES OF MEETING HELD AT NEW DELHI ON THE EVE OF MEETING OF DEPARTMENTAL ANOMALY COMMITTEE

(MINISTRY OF FINANCE ON 23.11.2010) AND

SUBMISSION OF THE PROPOSALS ON CADRE RESTRUCTURING.

The Executive committee meeting of the All India Central Excise and Service Tax Ministerial Officers’ Association was held on 22.11.2010, at New Delhi to discuss the strategy to be adopted in the Departmental Anomaly Committee and also to finalise the proposals of the our cadre regarding the Cadre restructuring in CBEC. The meeting was presided over by the President Com. Ashim Pramanick, and the following Office bearers /representatives were in attendance:-

1. Com. Thomas Mony – Secretary General

2. Com. J. Sudarshan – Organising Secretary

3. Com. Shivkumar – Asst. Secretary General

4. Com. M. Chokkalingam – Asst. Secretary General

5. Com. Sujit Kumar Mohit – Zonal Secretary

6. Com. Tarun singh – Vice President, CEMOA, Kolkatta

7. Com. Somnath Biswas – CEMOA, Kolkatta

Prior to the meeting all these members had attended the meeting convened by the Leader of the Staff Side for the Departmental Anomaly Committee (Ministry of Finance) Com. Shri. K.K.N. Kutty at Rajouri Garden, New Delhi. He explained the procedure to be followed and how each of the agenda points can be taken up one by one or by clubbing common issues involved therein. It was also stated that the Association representatives will be given first chance to argue/put forth their contentions in support of the agenda points pertaining to them/raised by them. If there be any need then the Leader of the staff side could intervene. In view of the above, in the Executive Committee Meeting, it was decided that Shri. Ashim Pramanick, President and Shri.M.Chokkalingam, Asst. Secretary General, would represent the Association and take up the points on behalf of the cadre.

Then the discussion moved towards the proposals to be submitted for the Cadre Restructuring in CBEC, for which the last date stipulated was 26.11.2010. The concern of all the members, were towards the drastic reduction in the staff strength, particularly more about the reduction at the level of DOS & STA put together. Then the issue of the unresolved pending assurances given by the Board of the last cadre restructuring came up for discussion. It was felt that these issues are very important and crucial in light of the pending litigations and it should be demanded that these be fulfilled before the present cadre review is finalized which can bring to an end the injustice caused to the cadre during the last cadre restructuring.

It was unanimously agreed that the proposal in its current form could no way be agreed to by our Association and it should be opposed at all costs alongwith the other Associations who are part of the Joint Action Committee.

Thereafter a question arose as to whether we should retain the three tier hierarchical structure which exists as on today or should we seek a change on the basis of the CBDT’s proposal to address the issue of Pay parity and also retain the cadre of DOS without getting abolished. It was felt that it would be prudent to seek a four tier structure and seek a post in the level of Principal AO above the level of CAO and also seek doubling the number of CAOs on the ground that they be given Administrative related work with the post being otherwise called as Sr.AO. Similarly the present post of AO could be called as Administrative Officer Gr. II and the DOS can be renamed as AO Gr. III, which would resolve both the issues i.e., the Grade Pay and the stagnation as well. Accordingly it was decided to have a four tier structure as discussed above as it was justifiable on the ground that the CBDT has a similar structure.

Then on the issue of the Model staffing pattern for the commissionerates, the Chief Commissioner’s Office and Cadre Control Commissionerates, it was felt that the proposed strength is too low and we should seek more number of posts for the same. Accordingly it was decided all the Members could finalise the draft and submitted together with the Associations in the Joint Action Committee. The meeting concluded with the hope that these concerns will be addressed by the Board which need to be followed up. In case these demands are met and if there be any necessity to review the situation, another meeting will need to be convened which could be at a very short notice. This Association expects that all the Members will stand united and extend their unflinching support in order to achieve the goals that it has set for itself on behalf of the entire Ministerial community.

THOMAS MONY

SECRETARY GENERAL

REVISED SUBMISSIONS ON CADRE RESTRUCTURING PROPOSAL

New Delhi, the 26th November, 2010

Dear Comrades,

A copy of the revised proposals submitted to the Board on Cadre Restructuring in CBEC is placed hereunder for information.

The All India Association had sought for suggestions from its members working in the cadres of Administrative Officers, Deputy Office Superintendent, Senior Tax Assistant, Tax Assistant and Lower Division Clerks spread across the length and breadth of the country with regard to the pay anamolies in the Ministerial grades as well as the ongoing Cadre Restructuring proposal which was mooted discreetly, for reasons best known.

While suggestions and opinions are being sought for, what is received in return are only sentiments and emotions except in few cases where the realistic picture is highlighted and suggestions given. The All India Office bearers too are required to work on certain data/facts/figures etc., which is supposed to be supplied by the responsible members, both at the local level and national level.

The present proposal submitted by the All India Association has to be necessarily read with the earlier proposal and the same has been framed on the basis of inputs received till the date of finalization of proposal, during which time the responsible All India leaders were present to discuss and debate on the various pros and cons involved. Also it is for every member to note that this is an abstract proposal submitted, without elaborating on any specific topic, as the same was already done previously.

Members need to be responsible enough in suggesting issues to the All India Association and it is urged that emotions and sentiments be kept at bay and a reasoned study be conducted on the various requirements the Ministerial Cadre requires, in the post Cadre Restructuring 2001 scenario, by taking into consideration the various developments in work profile vis-a-vis the workload being thrusted upon the Ministerial officers.

The All India Association of Central Excise and Service Tax Ministerial Officers Association alongwith its the other constituents of Joint Action Committee (National level) looks forward for an early meeting with the Board officials in order to ascertain the likely stand to be adopted by the Board, during which period the intricacies of issues would be gone into and discussed in detail.

Need there be a feeling of passing on important information of any nature, which would be helpful to the Office Bearers of All India Association, please do not hesitate to submit the same in time. Non-receipt of inputs would surely mean a go-ahead to the All India leaders with regard to the proposals submitted in the subject matter of Cadre Restructuring.

Hoping to receive valuable inputs, I remain,

Yours faithfully,

Thomas Mony

Secretary General

09881139080

REVISED/ADDITIONAL SUBMISSIONS ON CADRE RESTRUCTURING IN CBEC

Kind reference is invited to the Office Memorandum issued vide F.No.8/B/12/HRD (HRM)/2010 (Association) dated 11.11.2010, therein providing copy of the proposal for Re-organisation of the Field Formations/Cadre Restructuring, with a request to offer views of this Association, in respect of the recommendations contained therein related to the respective cadre/grade, which it represents.

2. In this regard, it is relevant to refer this Association’s submissions dated 09.04.2010 on the Cadre Restructuring proposal in CBEC, vide which among other things the following legitimate aspirations and genuine demands were put forth for consideration;

a. To fulfill/ implement the promises/assurances made by the Board during the last cadre restructuring (2001), which include,

 Upgradation of special pay UDCs with retrospective effect

 Enhancement of Quota for Ministerial officers to 66.66% for promotion to the grade of Inspector

 Placing UDCs en-block above the Data Entry Operator Grade –A while merging the cadres

 Giving weightage to the LDCs who have put long years of service in the matter of promotion to the grade of STA

 Creation of Senior Administrative Officer post for Chief Commissioner’s office

b. To set up a committee to study the workload relating to the Administrative functions which pertain to the Ministerial Cadre, and identify the requirements apart from recommending allocation/ deployment in various sections of the field formations in consultation with the All India Associations.

c. To bring to an end all pending litigations relating to framing of Recruitment Rules and other issues which arose consequent upon implementation of last cadre restructuring.

d. Creation of a Joint Commissioner post with dedicated and exclusive Administrative functions to be filled up by promotion from CAO.

e. Increase in the post of Chief Accounts Officer and re-defining their functions to utilize their services for Administrative work other than only Accounts work presently being allotted to them

f. Increase the number of posts of Administrative Officer and also post them to technical sections like Audit, Refund and Statistics etc.,

g. Upgradation of the grade of DOS as Examiner and deploying them for Revenue related work in Audit teams etc., and Deployment of STA in field Offices

h. Increase in quota for promotion to the grade of Inspector and Tax Assistants

i. One time relaxation for filling up of all vacancies consequent upon cadre restructuring by promotion with relaxations wherever necessary

j. No abolition of posts in the Ministerial cadre, under any circumstances

3. Apart from the above demands, this association had requested that further consultations be held before finalization of the cadre restructuring proposal, which has been ignored. Now that the proposal of the cadre restructuring had been provided the association had an occasion to go through the proposal, and surprisingly, it is seen that, none of the above legitimate demands have been considered positively. Instead the cadre review proposal has proposed a negative growth in the grade of DOS/STA, and has surrendered 750 posts in the same grade, while increasing the number of posts and hierarchy levels among all other cadres. The proposal submitted by the DG, HRD and finalized by the Board, as regards the Ministerial cadre is as under:-

Analysis and adverse impact of the proposal:-

4. The entire Ministerial cadre stands demoralized by this proposal, which has caused a lot of anguish, and feeling a sense of betrayal. The morale of the entire Ministerial cadre is at its lowest ever, as the entire proposal is completely Revenue oriented in favour of the executive Officers and no thought whatsoever has been given to look into the increase in the workload of the Administrative and non-technical sections, which is purely manned by the Ministerial Officers. The proposal has overlooked the requirements and necessity to strengthen the functioning of an efficient and responsive administration, the backbone of which has always been the Ministerial cadre, and which would continue to remain so in the future as well. This proposal attempts to almost wipe out the entire cadre of DOS, by abolishing the posts under the garb of showing it in combination with the post of STA which has a same Grade Pay.

5. Also during the Cadre Review 2001, though promotional posts were created in the grade of Programmer (20) and Assistant Programmer (60), the Recruitment Rules are yet to be framed and notified, owing to which the sanctioned posts have remained vacant for the past ten Years.

6. From the table placed above, it may also be seen that there is a net increase of only 1720 posts for the entire Ministerial cadre out of which the majority of posts comprise of LDC (1009 posts) and TA (1000 posts), while there is a staggering growth of the other cadres leading to creation of 28360 new posts (after the proposed surrender of 6906 posts). The total strength in CBEC as on date is 66808 posts comprising of all cadres, out of which the total number of Ministerial Officers stands at 12676, while the remaining 54132 constitute all other cadres. After the proposed cadre restructuring the total number of posts would rise to 95168 out of which Ministerial cadre would be 14396 and the remaining 80772 form the other cadres.

7. Due to such an uneven increase the ratio of Ministerial cadre vis-à-vis the rest would change from the existing 1: 4 to 1: 6. This reduction in the Ministerial cadre has taken place against the backdrop of a huge demand for increase in the Ministerial staff strength to cater to the ever increasing workload, post cadre restructuring of 2001 and the request for removal of the stagnation/degradation in the grade of DOS and AO, which have been dealt a severe blow by the Pay Commission and further worsened by the Department of Expenditure which implemented the recommendations by adopting selective discrimination.

8. Further there appears to be no rationale for creating such a huge number of posts at the lower end i.e., in the grade of LDC and TA, when the Department seeks to move towards a more compact and Officer oriented cadre. The ratio of promotion of various grades has not been taken into account in the restructuring process owing to which the posts in the level of DOS/STA are being curtailed. As per the current proposal the ratio of promotion from AO to CAO would be 1564 : 221 which is 7:1, whereas the ideal ratio of promotion is always 2:1 or at least 3:1 in the senior level of analogous cadres.

9. As on date, 78 posts out of the existing 155 posts of CAO are lying vacant and therefore there has not been any upward movement in the AO cadre during the last 5 years, due to which many Officers have already retired without getting their due promotion. It is in this background that more number of posts in the CAO grade was sought. However, no justification is available and forthcoming in the proposal for not considering this legitimate demand, while it contains various other proposals for creating new posts like Principal Chief Commissioner, Commissioner Grade –I, Sr.PS Grade –I & II etc., in the Group ‘A’ level. It is ironical to mention that even a Senior PS grade Officer is considered eligible to draw a Grade pay of Rs.6600 whereas the CAO/AO who are serving the department in the Administrative wing are not considered worthy for such a dispensation. Further it is to mention that the Special Pay UDCs who were granted a prospective pay upgradation to the level of STA in the cadre restructuring of 2001 has been unilaterally snatched away by the Board under the wrong application of principles enunciated in a judicial verdict.

10. The entry to the Ministerial cadre is Tax Assistants and in order to achieve the minimum of 4 promotions, enough opportunities have not been provided and posts not made available. The first promotional avenue for a TA is STA, who will then go on to become AO through a farcical promotion to DOS (which has to be ignored in view of the fact that there is no financial benefit) and finally CAO. Therefore, it is suggested to modify the hierarchy of the Ministerial posts in such a way that the promotional aspirations of the Ministerial cadre can be met with.

Submissions:-

11. The proposed staffing norms are arbitrary in the sense that the reduction of staff strength has been proposed over and above the strength suggested by the Study Groups. It is pertinent to note that the Board in its own wisdom appointed three Study Groups to study the workload and suggest the model staffing pattern for the current restructuring process. While doing so, at least two study groups (i.e., Study Group –II and Study Group –I) has agreed on the model staffing strength on the Integrated commissionerates, Exclusive Central Excise Commissionerates, Chief Commissioner’s Office, Commissioner (Appeals) etc.,. The Study Group –II had also suggested a model staffing pattern for the LTU set up, which has not been projected in the present proposal, while sanction of additional posts at the level of Chief Commissioner and Commissioner alone have been made. It is submitted that there is no reason for the Board to overlook the suggestions of the Study Group and to ignore their recommendations, which had actually undertaken the field study and recommended a common staffing pattern after taking into account various parameters. Though this Association had sought to increase the strength of the Ministerial cadre and other cadres over and above the suggestions made by the Study Group –II, it is requested that the strength proposed therein should not be reduced further. Since there is a proposal for further reduction in the overall strength of the cadres after arriving at the combined requirement of all the cadres, to meet the commitment of abolition of 6906 posts, this Association sees no reason to agree to the proposal of further reduction of staff strength suggested by the Study Group –II and I. Therefore, this Association wishes to retain the norms suggested by Study Group –II after allowing minor Adjustments for creation of a separate Audit Commissionerate. The Study Group –II had proposed a total of 12 Superintendents and 20 Inspectors for the Audit Section for each Commissionerate which can be discounted and the remaining staffing pattern should be retained as such for the executive commissionerates of Central Excise and Service Tax.

12. Further the staffing pattern of Customs Commissionerate is drastically reduced without taking into account the requirements of the preventive commissionerates which have separate and more number of field formations compared to a Customs House or an Airport. Therefore, the staff pattern suggested for manning a Divisional office should be added to the number of field formations under each preventive commissionerate apart from the standard pattern of allotment for Hqrs.offices as well. For example as on date each Customs Commissionerate were sanctioned 6 to 8 posts in the grade of AO which has now been brought down to 2 without accounting the requirement of field formations. The proposal may suitably be modified to address these areas of importance and concern.

13. Apart from the above, the model staffing pattern suggested by the Study Group –II for an LTU may be provided for each of the existing LTUs and the ones proposed to be formed at any later stage.

14. In the Cadre restructuring proposal the Board has proposed to seek parity of the Group ‘A’ Cadre (IC&CES) on par with the IRS (IT) and justified the same in consonance with the recommendations of the 6th CPC. However no such effort has been made to provide parity to the Ministerial cadre to address the concerns of promotional avenues. It is learnt that in order to address the disparities in the promotional avenues and the imbalances caused consequent upon implementation of the recommendations of 6th CPC, the cadre restructuring proposal of CBDT has sought to address the issue by creating the posts like Principal Administrative Officer, Sr. Administrative Officer, A.O. Gr.II and A.O Gr.III. The pay Commission has recommended that the hierarchical structure of the Ministerial cadre be suitably amended/ modified so as to meet the promotional aspirations and address the request for upgradation of pay on similarly placed category of posts. Therefore it is submitted that an appropriate hierarchical structure may kindly be adopted in CBEC as well. Accordingly, it is requested that the following structure may be adopted alongwith the respective staffing strength.

15. It is proposed that the present cadre restructuring may consider the long pending demand of this Association to grant 66.66% quota for promotion and 33.33% quota for Direct Recruitment in the grade of Inspector, thus maintaining parity with the Central Board of Direct Taxes. The High Power Committee constituted to look into the proposal for creation of an Indirect Taxation Service had stated that the problem of stagnation in the grade of Superintendents and Inspectors is on account of a huge inflow of Inspectors by Direct Recruitment. Therefore it had recommended that the percentage of Direct Recruitment be brought down from the existing 66.66% to 50%, which is in conformity with our earlier demand. Similarly it is proposed that the promotee quota for the grade of Tax Assistant may be increased from the existing 10% to a minimum of 25%.

16. The mode of recruitment to the grade of Inspectors as well as Tax Assistant is mainly by Direct Recruitment and a minimal percentage by promotion. As on date many posts in the grade of Inspectors are lying unfilled, even when eligible candidates are languishing in the feeder cadres. Contrary to the above the DG, HRD in its proposal at Chapter 16 has stated that “it is pertinent to mention that as on 01.01.2010 there were 4756 vacancies in the grade of inspectors and 33.33% of this vacancies have to be necessarily filled up by promotions”. In this regard it is stated that these vacancies are backlog vacancies pertaining to the DR quota in various zones, which has been overlooked in the proposal and these vacancies are available for promotion.

17. Further, a Direct Recruitment process takes nearly two years for filling up of DR vacancies and considering the huge number of posts likely to be created due to Cadre Restructuring, it is requested that a one-time relaxation may kindly be granted for filling up of all vacancies by way of promotion in the cadre of Inspector and Tax Assistant. This would help the Department augment the manpower requirements in a short span and plug revenue leakage/pilferage. Further, a relaxation in the qualifying service of the feeder cadres of other ministerial grades may also be incorporated in the Cadre Restructuring proposal, thereby facilitating the Board in timely filling up of vacancies.

18. Hoping that the above proposal which is being submitted taking into account the growing demand for manpower in the Department and considering the legitimate aspirations of all the members of the Ministerial Cadre, would be given due consideration and consultations held with this Association before finalisation, I remain.

Yours faithfully,

Sd/-

(THOMAS MONY)

SECRETARY GENERAL