AGITATION BY Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers likely to affect Budget implementation

Ludhiana, February 21, 2013: The All India Association of Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers’ leadership, has warned the Centre that if their long-pending demands are not met then may also consider going for indefinite pen-down strike that will affect the Budget implementation causing major revenue loss to the government exchequer.

Speaking to City Air News on Thursday evening, the association’s zonal president (Chandigarh Zone, comprising of the states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and UT Chandigarh) AK Sharma added the organisation represented about 11,800 Gazetted Executive Group-B Officers of Central Excise and Service Tax Department.

Sharma further told that they had also decided to observe “protest week” from February 25 to March 1.

Further, he revealed that they had already decided to offer mass resignations on April 30, if their demands were not accepted by the government.

Meanwhile, the association’s zonal (Chandigarh Zone) general secretary Boota Singh, in a statement, said the All India Association of Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers, had embarked upon a nationwide agitation programme from September 25 last year, demanding immediate approval of  Cadre Restructuring proposal for making avenues for promotion in Central Board of Excise and Customs  without any cut of posts and for grant of Grade Pay-5400 in Pay Band PB-3 with effect from January 1, 2006.

Singh said the Inspectors are joining in the department as direct recruit, through a common entrance exam conducted by Subordinate Staff Selection Commission for Income Tax Inspectors, Preventive Officers and Examiners in Customs and Inspectors of Central Excise.

Further, Singh said officers in Central Excise, after serving 30-35 years, are retiring after getting only one promotion whereas their counter-parts in Income Tax and in their own departmental wing of Customs, are getting 3-4 promotions.

Likewise IRS officers in their department are getting 5-6 promotions in their service career. The parity is the basic concept of their Constitution, parity in promotion is required to be maintained amongst the similarly placed employees of same department, but till date the Ministry of Finance has not initiated any action to maintain parity in promotion amongst the Examiners/Preventive Officers and Inspectors of CBEC. The educational qualification, mode of recruitment and Grade Pay for these post are similar.

“The Honorable Apex Court has held that one should at least get 3 promotions in his service career but Ministry has not allowed even two promotions to the cadre of Inspector of CBEC”, said Boota Singh.

Adding, he said inspectors and superintendents are basically responsible for earning major chunk of revenue for the country. During the financial year 2011-12, the net revenue collection of the department stood at Rs. 3,90,894 crores which is the largest share contributed by any government department. Inspite of this, their officers are not being rewarded with even two promotions in their service career. It is surprising that although majority of the officers are already drawing salary of Deputy/ Assistant Commissioner which means that giving functional promotion to them to the grade of AC/DC will not burden the government financially, he said.