All the members of the All India Central Excise Inspectors' Association, Rajkot Branch are requested to go through the draft transfer / placement / deputation policy proposed by the Chief Commissioner, Ahmedabad for Gr. 'B' Gazetted and Gr. 'B' Non-Gazetted officers of Customs and Central Excise in Gujarat State.
Members are also requested to offer their views / comments in this regard at the earliest as the meeting of the Office Bearers of the Association with the Hon'ble Chief Commissioner is scheduled to be held on 26.05.2011.
Wow. What a great policy to give equal opportunities in terms of exposure and postings wish we will get chance to work in all over Gujarat also.
ReplyDeleteViews/comments received via email from Shri Santosh Nair, Inspector :
ReplyDeleteThe sectorial policy consisting of Ahmedabad and Rajkot sector cannot be compared in the same context which is for Vadodara Sector & Surat Sector mainly due to the geographical topography involving Ahmedabad and Rajkot Sector which are vastly different from Vadodara Zone consisting of Vadodara, Surat and Daman. The development in terms of industries and infrastructure in Vadodara Zone is far more developed than the Rajkot Sector and the transport connectivity between two places in the Vadodara zone is far better compared to Rajkot sector.
The Rajkot sector consisting of Rajkot & Bhavnagar Commissionerates itself is vastly spread that it requires more than 12 hours to reach from one place to another place. i.e. for example an officer posted at a place like Porbandar/Veraval range will have to travel at least 12 hours to reach his Commissionerate (Bhavnagar). In such a scenario if an officer of Rajkot Commissionerate himself has to face severe difficulties on transfer to Bhavnagar Commissionerate, the position of the officers from Ahmedabad Sector being posted to Rajkot Sector and vice versa should be beyond imagination. Under such circumstances it would not be wise enough to make a policy which will not help the administration in any way but on the contrary will create undue hardships both to the administration and the staff as a whole.
If the main idea of the administration behind the policy is to disallow an officer to work at a place continuously then the administration should implement a proper rotation policy in Ahmedabad/Rajkot Sector and Customs as under :
1) an officer posted to a range for two years should not be posted in the same division for his next posting for a couple of years and after that he should be posted to HQ or Service Tax.
2) an officer posted to a station should not be allowed to work at the same station for more than two/three years and he should be transferred to nearby places within the Commissionerate.
3) an officer posted to Customs Zone from Rajkot/Bhavnagar Sector should be posted to Customs Jamnagar for a period of 04 years as per the prevailing policy and for another two years to Kandla.
4) an officer posted to Customs Zone from Ahmedabad Zone should be posted to Customs Commissionerate, Ahmedabad including for a period of 04 years and for another two years to Kandla.
5) an officer posted to Customs Zone from Vadodara Zone should be posted to Surat Customs for a period of 04 years and for another two years to SVP Airport instead of Kandla.
Looking at the administrative restrains, if at all the officers from Rajkot Commissionerate are transferred to Bhavnagar Commissionerate and vice versa, then they should not be posted for more than two years at Rajkot/Bhavnagar Commissionerate and should be brought back on completion of their tenure as per seniority.
Most of the senior officers who have put in about 10 years of service in the department have settled at a place and even if they are transferred out of the Sector it will be very difficult for them to shift their family mainly on educational grounds. Every one will try to commute weekly between their work place and where the family is staying. This itself will cause undue hardships both to the administration and the individuals as the officers cannot work peacefully or with same enthusiasm if they are away from their family.
The present draft policy devised to create an efficient delivery system and proper capacity building would ultimately lead to a chaos and unrest among the officers and they will not be able to deliver their best in the interest of the department.
Views / comments received from members of the Association :
ReplyDeleteIf you go through the forwarding letter of the policy, the beautiful words like EFFICIENT DELIVERY SYSTEM, PROPER CAPACITY BUILDING, SUFFICIENT EXPOSURE TI IFFUCERS, EQUAL OPPORTUNITES have been used to fasly justify the matter in a wrong way.
Therefore, we have to very very strongly oppose this new transfer policy to survive in the department and also to set an example so that in future also no officers dare to even think of such action.
The existing policies in each and every individual zone, sector and/or commissionerate are sufficient, enough and working smoothly both the way towards staff and administration since many years.
As each and every indivudual zone, sector and/or commissionerate is having seperate, specific and picular trend of revenue, trade, commodities, evasions etc. etc. hence there cannot be and should not be any uniform and / or monotonus policy for entire state.
VIEWS / COMMENTS RECEIVED FROM ALL CUSTOMS OFFICERS OF RAJKOT COMMISSIONERATE DEPUTED AT SEZ CUSTOMS, MP&SEZ, MUNDRA :
ReplyDelete"AS PER OUR OPINION, THERE IS NO NEED TO CHANGE THE PRESENT TRANSFER POLICY, AS COMPARE TO NEW DRAFT POLICY. THE PRESENT POLICY IS BETTER AS FAR AS THE WELFARE OF THE OFFICERS' IS BEING TAKEN CARE AND ALSO GEOGRAPHICALLY DISTANCE IS WITHIN REACH OF OFFICERS. AS FAR AS THE EXPOSURE TO THE CUSTOMS WORK IS CONCERN, THE PRESENT POLICY OF DEPUTATION, THE SENIOR /
SELECTED OFFICER TO CUSTOM HOUSE KANDLA IS QUITE REASONABLE AS ALL THE OFFICERS OF GUJARAT CUSTOMS GET OPPORTUNITY TO WORK IN MAJOR CUSTOM HOUSE I.E. CUSTOM HOUSE KANDLA. THE OFFICERS GENERALLY SETTLES THEIR FAMILY AT ANY ONE PLACE OF HIS CHOICE AND PRESENT POLICY ENABLES HIM TO LOOK AFTER HIS FAMILY COMFORTABLY EVEN AFTER HIS TRANSFER TO DIFFERENT STATION AND OFFICER IS ABLE TO FULLY DEVOTE/CONCENTRATE HIS WORK WITHOUT ANY TENSION OF HIS FAMILY."
Views / comments received from members of the Association :
ReplyDeleteGreat work done by the C.C. Madam..!! It is once again proved that this nation is still run by the Bureaucrats and not by the people. Even Muhammad Tughlakh is dying once again with the shame in his grave by thinking that he was only a King and not the Bureaucrat. We must stop protocol and all types of those work and must do our legal duties only. It is very shameful on our side that we only concern about our personal benefits which should be stopped in the larger interest of the whole cadre.
Views / comments received from members of the Association :
ReplyDeleteLet us understand the term ‘Policy’ first. “A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol. Whereas a policy will contain the 'what' and the 'why', procedures or protocols contain the 'what', the 'how', the 'where', and the 'when'. Policies are generally adopted by the Board of an organization or senior governance body within an organization where as procedures or protocols would be developed and adopted by senior executive officers.
A Policy can be considered as a ‘Statement of Intent’ or a ‘Commitment’. For that reason at least, we can be held accountable for our "Policy"
The term may apply to government, private sector organizations and groups, and individuals. Presidential executive orders, corporate privacy policies, and parliamentary rules of order are all examples of policy. Policy differs from rules or law. While law can compel or prohibit behaviors (e.g. a law requiring the payment of taxes on income), policy merely guides actions toward those that are most likely to achieve a desired outcome.
Policy or policy study may also refer to the process of making important organizational decisions, including the identification of different alternatives such as programs or spending priorities, and choosing among them on the basis of the impact they will have. Policies can be understood as political, management, financial, and administrative mechanisms arranged to reach explicit goals.”
Now, in our case, there arise certain questions.
Is there any validity for Policy which is already framed? Even of you get recharge for Rs.10 for your mobile there is validity for a day or few days.
By sincere efforts of both the Group B Officers’ Associations, existing policy for Rajkot Sector was framed and accepted by the then Chief Commissioner, Ahmedabad just before 2 years. However, most of the members of Rajkot Sector were not able to get benefit of that policy and again new draft policy was put forth.
So, does any policy have only validity till the Chief Commissioner’s tenure who framed it? And as soon as the Chief Commissioner gets transferred, staff has to get ready for new policy.
Can't we ask the Hon'ble Chief Commissioner that what defects is there in existing policy and why all of sudden the need of new policy arise and that too when time for AGT is already overdue?
If at all needed, exercise for framing new transfer policy could be done by consulting officers and staff when last AGT-2010 got completed. What about the family and children’s education if any officer will be compelled to go far distant due to transfer from their present place of posting in the month of June itself?
What about the officers who have built their house at or nearby to their place of posting by taking HBA or Bank loan? Should they bear double establishments?
AND MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION. Can government afford/waste huge amount of Transfer TA due to an idea which comes into mind of a Bureaucrat at last moment for new transfer policy? Does government / department have sufficient grant for Transfer TA ? If so, why the officers who were transferred in last AGT have not received Transfer TA till date?
Are we serving Government of India or are we slave of few Bureaucrats??
Views / comments received from members of the Association :
ReplyDeleteGENERAL :
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It seems that it has almost become a ritual that the management during the period between April-June every year floats fancy ideas in form of transfer policy and enjoy the Inspectors and Superintendents struggle with views and means to counter and come out of the avoidable tangle.
It is no secret that Inspectors and Superintendents are the backbone of the Department. Under the circumstance, it is difficult to fathom how our learned and knowledgeable superiors fail to understand this basic truth. And despite of this fact very much in existence, though the same may not be covertly or overtly accepted, why are our superiors ranged with the obsession to prick the psychosis of Superintendent/Inspector.
COMMENTS:
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-> The management may kindly explain the efficient delivery system and proper capacity building prompting the change in present transfer and posting policy and the eventual frame work to be carried out in designing the new TP.
-> The management is grudging that the present system has given rise to extremely localized factors causing administrative inconvenience and unbalanced distribution of human resources. Unfortunately the decision making machinery flows from top to bottom and bulk of the work is managed by the middle level/lower level officers. And the decision making effort leaves much to be desired rendering the workforce blunt and largely confuse. One need not be a scholar to realise the cause of so called administrative inconvenience and unbalance distribution of human resources. And unless, there is rational and pragmatic shift in the paradigm of thought process, the change in transfer policy is only going to further aggravate the situation from bad to worse. And I am afraid, management is not going to loose any thing as they are not concerned but the Inspectors/Superintendents would definitely stand to loose a big chuck of their life. The management’s lack of empathy is glaringly reflected in the present state of affairs. Predictably, acting as if the rot has its roots planted firm at the bottom and is sustained by the present TP, the management is trying to shift the blame on the employees of the lesser god trying for the corrective measures in form of new TP. When the ailment is wrongly diagnosed, how can be the proposed remedy be effective in curing the illness?
The conspicuous inconformity in the proposed policy is as under:
1) First of all, can an officer holding additional charge competent to moot and change Policy level decisions?
2) It is suggested to do away with Sectors within Zones, though in the proposal the Sectors remains. Given the ever expanding Department, the need of the hour is decentralization of administrative set-up and not otherwise.
3) The counting of station seniority is pretty amateurish and practically unviable.
4) The criteria and seniority for postings on deputation basis is not appropriately addressed, not to speak about the posting at Kandla and A’bad Airport which appears to be heavily loaded towards a particular segment.
5) Sourcing of Staff for Customs given at Sr. 8 is laughable to say the least. TP cannot be framed based on such arithmetic calculations as the scenario tends to change every year.
6) The conditions laid down at para 7 in identifying station seniority are drastically vague and baseless. Implementation of the same at a larger scale (among all the Commissionerates) will itself call for another radical policy overhauling.
7) What would be the status of this proposed TP after restructuring and implementation of GST?
8) Lastly, the inexplicable burden on the exchequer in form of Tranfer TA and other allowances to all the officers who are transferred.
Views / comments received from members of the Association :
ReplyDeleteHello everyone,
I hope that you have received the proposed draft transfer/placement/deputation policy and also have gone through it.
I will definitely want to share my personal opinion with all my colleagues. I personally feel that all these things are the mentality of the British rulers only. As we all know that the entire system of Bureaucracy and Civil Service is the gift and brain child of British Raj only to rule and to control over others.
Most of the Gr. A officers don't consider their subordinate staff even as human being. They still treat us like a animal slave only and this is the most appropriate example of it. They are running our department as not a government department but as if it is a private proprietary firm by the way of dictatorship.
In argument they tell that when they move to all over the India why we can't move to all over the Gujarat or any other state. But at the same time they forget that no one has compelled them to come to IRS, IPS or IAS what so ever. It was their personal choice only and at the time of selection they very well know that they are liable to transfer and serve to any where India without any exeption.
On other was we were not interested and/or capable and/or willing to the same and therefore join the department in clerical cadre or as Inspector. Thus, there is no point of comparison of salary, status, powers or any other things between Gr. A and B officer at all.
They take three to four times salary, facility, other allowances and benefits in comparison of Inspector, Superintendents or other staff.
If you go through the forwarding letter of the policy, the beautiful words like EFFICIENT DELIVERY SYSTEM, PROPER CAPACITY BUILDING, SUFFICIENT EXPOSURE TO OFFICERS, EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES have been used to falsely justify the matter in a wrong way.
Therefore, we have to very very strongly oppose this new transfer policy to survive in the department and also to set an example so that in future also no officers dare to even think of such action.
The existing policies in each and every individual zone, sector and/or commissionerate are sufficient, enough and working smoothly both the way towards staff and administration since many years.
As each and every individual zone, sector and/or commissionerate is having separate, specific and peculiar trend of revenue, trade, commodities, evasions etc. etc. hence there cannot be and should not be any uniform and / or monotonous policy for entire state.
I hope and expect from you that this should be spread to the all our colleagues as many as possible and as early as possible.
Views / comments received from members of the Association :
ReplyDeleteLittle suggestion for Posting/Deputation to SVP International Airport, Ahmedabad:
75% of the posts is to be filled from the officers working in CCO, Ahmedabad and 25% by recommendation of other CC and from CBEC or any other officer not below the rank if Chief Commissioner..!!
Views / comments received from members of the both the Associations :
ReplyDeleteVikas Mehta,
Superintendent
23/5/2011
To,
The Secretary,
Group ‘B’ Gazetted Officer’s Association,
Rajkot.
Dear Colleague,
Apropos draft Policy circulated by CCO, Ahmedabad, my views are as follows:
1. Words ‘efficient delivery system’ and ‘proper capacity building’ appearing in preamble are too subjective and does not provide any illustration or any insight into the ‘foregone’ conclusion about failure of present system being cited for taking pains to draft a new policy. Thus, except for attractive vocabulary largely engaged by management gurus, no specific data is available for any one working at grassroot level to assess the merits of assumption that the present system is ‘inefficient’ and ‘improper’ and too, so incorrigible and beyond any scope of redemption that the only cure lies in some new policy. It appears that ‘why?’ is not answered to the hilt in the preamble and therefore, no question arises for deliberating upon ‘How’ the stated objectives of new policy can be achieved.
2. Central Excise Commissionerate, Rajkot is a vast Commissionerate in terms of geography and arguably larger than any other Commissionerate in the state. Even in its present shape, it serves all three streams, i. e. Central Excise, Service tax and Customs and it would be an insult to the diversity of this Commissionerate to ask the officers serving here to go to some other Commissionerate in the name of exposure to these streams of work. If the draft is to be believed, even if there is a vacancy in service tax, one must go to some other Commissionerate to take exposure of service tax!
3. Vast geography of Rajkot Commissionerate is sufficient to eliminate any apprehension regarding localized factor. Moreover, without citing a single instance & unwillingness to share the analysis based on which term ‘localized factor’ is evolved as well as details of its adverse effects, if any, to the system as gauged by authorities concerned, it is a plain insult to the professionalism of cadre as a whole by assuming that everyone working under the present transfer policy is a threat of some kind or the other kind to the interest of Department.
4. A little analysis of the events involving charges of corruption and mal-practices detected more easily and frequently by external agencies would reveal that local factor is of little or no consequence and much more soul searching is required rather than physical grinding and stirring of officers who form the back bone of the present set up.
5. Bias against Rajkot is evident in the draft. At Sl. No. (2) of the proposed policy for Vadodara Zone, normal tenure of a station is fixed at 8 years. In contrast, at Sl. No. (4) of proposed policy for Rajkot Sector, normal tenure of posting in a Sector (not station) is fixed at 8 years. Knowing fully well that Rajkot sector comprising of Rajkot and Bhavnagar Commissionerates, the policy goes on to propose 4-year tenure in a Commissionerate. The net result is assured 8 year stay at a station for an officer serving in Vadodara Zone and only 4 year stay at a station for an officer serving in Rajkot Sector.
6. Hardly can anyone recount when the present policy governing transfer & rotations for Rajkot Commissionerate was implemented in a timely and transparent manner. If a policy already in place cannot be implemented at micro-level, i.e. Commissionerate, doubts remain whether it can be implemented on a much larger Sectoral and Zonal level.
7. In any case, going by draft itself, this draft cannot be translated into a policy this year considering that it is mentioned in draft itself that all annual transfer/placement orders shall normally be issued by 15th May with the directions to join new place of posting by 31st May. By this time, it is already 23rd May and we have no orders on the horizon.
You may like to incorporate any/all suggestions as above while representing us before the concerned authority.
(Vikas Mehta)
it is nice to hear that Madam would like to give disparity in equal opportunities in terms of exposure and postings as well as giving rise to extremely localized factors causing administrative inconvenience and unbalanced distribution of human resources. But from the above policy it is not clear that how she will give equal opportunity and how she would like to remove localized factor. If any one will transfer in any other sector he will give better performance? It is humbag because everybody have their own set up and set their family at any one place, if he will transfer he has to shift his family and in present scenario atleast 10000/- rupees rent they have to pay and it's will be a overburden to staff and naturally he will try to earn money from other sources.
ReplyDeleteWhether madam is try prove that their previous officers were not learned and frame policy without applying mind in 2009?
Views / comments received from members of the both the Associations :
ReplyDeleteSUGGESTION FOR NEW DRAFT POLICY:
1. Remove the sectors within the zone.
2. Consider the entire Gujarat as ONE ZONE.
3. Abolish other two posts of Chief Commissioners as only one is more than sufficient.
4. The draft policy is contradictory in its own as it says “The existence of more than one sector within the zone is resulting in disparity in equal opportunities in terms of exposure and postings as well as giving rise to extremely localized factors causing administrative inconvenience and unbalanced distribution of human resources.”
BUT, ALAS !!! THE SECTORS ARE THERE IN THE DRAFT POLICY.
5. The transfer policy of Vadodara Zone at Para 07 says “Vadodara zone will provide the requisite number of officers so as to cover the number of posts in for Ahmedabad Customs which relate to South Gujarat and the number of posts in
Kandla proportionate to its sanctioned strength.”
BY DOING THIS, THE POLICY WILL GIVE THE EXTREME RISE TO NON-LOCALIZED FACTORS. WHAT A JOKE !!!! WHY VADODARA OFFICERS SHOULD NOT BE POSTED TO ANYWHERE IN CUSTOMS ZONE INCLUDING JAMNAGAR CUSTOMS AND ONLY IN SOUTH ZONE OF A’BAD CUSTOMS AND KANDLA ONLY ????!!!!
6. Further Vadodara & Ahmedabad zone shall post the officers to Customs Zone as per criteria mentioned in the policy.
THIS WILL CERTAINLY GIVE THE RISE TO THE INFLUENCE. THE OFFICERS HAVING FORE-FATHERS IN THE DEPARTMENT OR HAVING ANY INFLUENCE/ NEXUS WITH HIGHER OFFICERS WILL BE POSTED TO MOST SENSITIVE POSTINGS AGAIN AND AGAIN BY TAKING THE SHELTER OF POLICY. THIS WILL GIVE A RISE TO NON-EXPOSURE TO OTHER OFFICERS HAVING NO FORE-FATHERS/INFLUENCE/LINK WITH HIGHER UPS. THIS WILL CREATE HIGH LEVEL DISPARITY AMONGST THE OFFICER AND WILL SOLVE THE PURPOSE OF HIGHER OFFICER AS IT WILL WORK AS “DIVIDE AND RULE”
DITTO TO POINT NO. 7 OF AHMEDABAD CUSTOMS POLICY.
7. Further para No. 12 & 13 and para No. 16 & 17 of the Draft policy of Vadodara Zone and Ahmedabad Zone, respectively are very interesting ones.
THIS WILL WORK AS ‘ALADDIN KA CHIRAG’ FOR THE OFFICERS HAVING NEXUS WITH HIGHER OFFICERS/ HAVING INFLUENCING CAPACITY AND HAVING FORE-FATHERS. THE HIGHER OFFICERS BY TAKING SHELTER OF THESE POINTS CAN POST THEIR DEAR & NEAR ONES AT ANY PLACE REPEATEDLY.
8. This has proved beyond doubt that the Chief Commissioners working previously in Gujarat Zone were impotent, incapable and mere spectators instead of taking policy decisions as proposed by the current Chief Commissioner. It is a question in itself whether one Chief Commissioner of Customs holding Additional Charge of Chief Commissioner, Central Excise, Vadodara and Ahmedabad in empowered to take such policy decision. The current chief commissioner is having a great network and nexus with the high ups and therefore, no regular chief commissioners either in Vadodara or in Ahmedabad is being posted. This will given an extreme rise to DICTATORSHIP in Gujarat Zone of CBEC.
Views / comments received from members of the both the Associations :
ReplyDeleteSome factual situations which will certainly make anyone think whether exposure is required to IRS or to the Gr.’B’ officers ?
1. The department has filed appeal before Commissioner (Appeals) against the order of the Assistant Commissioner. The Assistant Commissioner has imposed redemption fine on the manufacturer though the goods were seized from its dealer in Bengaluru.
2. The Joint Commissioner has passed the order in favour of the assessee by dropping the show cause notice though in the similar matter the departmental appeal in pending in Hon’ble High Court of Gujarat.
3. Though there is no proposal in show cause notice itself, the Assistant Commissioner has imposed penalty on the assessee.
4. In Kutch Area Based Notification, one amendment by way of Notification No. 16/2008 was introduced. The assessees aggrieved by this Notification can file special rate application with the Commissioner. Numbers of assessee have filed special rate application with the Commissioner. The Commissioner sits on these applications and till date the same are pending. The jurisdiction Assistant Commissioner having full respect with the Commissioner, decided all the re-credit/refund claims against the assessees by bluntly ignoring the on paper fact that the special rate applications are pending with the Commissioner.
Chief Commissioner Madam, these are few jokes for your kind information so that you can decide whom to give exposure. Superintendents/Inspectors have service of at least 10-15 years in the grade of Inspectors or even in clerical grade and so they are already exposed. If given chance, they can expose the working style and mentality of their higher ups which will create chaos in the CBEC itself.
Views / comments received from members of the both the Associations :
ReplyDeleteAbsolute power corrupts absolutely.
Whether madam is thinking that poor Superintendents and Inspectors have no right to live peacefully?
ReplyDeleteWe should stop protocol and work to rule policy should be implemented. Every Inspector / Superintendent have to decide that we will not prepare any order or any work related to higher officers. On 26th every officer should wear black ribbon for opposing mohamad tughlagh's transfer and rotation policy.
ReplyDeleteViews / comments received from members of the both the Associations :
ReplyDeleteFor the last 2 months 20 Supdt. are waiting for their new place of posting on promotion, Does it the efficiency of so called higher ups, who are trying to make the department more efficient on the name of new rotation
policy.... if our higher officer who have to take the decision if have been
in Pvt sector have already shown the way of real exit.
When higher ups hold additional charge of one or other office, they simply put the files " let the regular officer take the charge" what urgency has come out that such a big issue related to the policy matter going to affect so many back bone officer has to be dealt with by the just in-charge officer.