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  Opinion   Oped  19 Feb 2017  Dilli Ka Babu: Staff crunch

Dilli Ka Babu: Staff crunch

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Published : Feb 19, 2017, 12:20 am IST
Updated : Feb 19, 2017, 3:56 am IST

Trust factor” is touted as one of the prime reasons why S. Jaishankar was given a one-year extension as foreign secretary.

The Income Tax Employees Federation reports a shortage of staff in the I-T department at almost all levels across the country.
 The Income Tax Employees Federation reports a shortage of staff in the I-T department at almost all levels across the country.

Already grappling with staff crunch, the income-tax (I-T) department is struggling to complete the verification of bank accounts where large sums of money have been deposited after the demonetisation announcement. The Income Tax Employees Federation reports a shortage of staff in the I-T department at almost all levels across the country. The workforce crunch at the top level is less, but there is a huge scarcity at the middle and lower levels.

Meanwhile sources say that at least 450 posts of joint commissioner or JAG level in the revenue department have been lying vacant. The apparent reason is there is no officer of IRS eligible to be promoted, as recruitment rules prescribe minimum residency of five years at deputy secretary level as eligibility criteria. Recently a delegation of IRS officers approached minister of state for personnel and PMO Jitendra Singh and sought an intervention by department of personnel and training for the clearance of backlog in promotions.

The delegation comprising officers such as Rajesh Menon (Mumbai), Anantharaman Aiyer (Delhi) C.K. Singh and B.K. Singh further appraised the minister that officers up to 2007 batch were promoted, and hence they requested for relaxation of nine months for gaining eligibility for the officers of 2007 batch who were left out.

Two months ago, a delegation of Central Secretariat Service officers also met Mr Singh to highlight their grievances, as about 1,600 under secretaries in GoI were waiting for a promotion and pay hikes for nearly four years since the submission of the CSS cadre review.

Fixed tenure
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved two-year fixed tenure for Enforcement Directorate (ED) head Karnal Singh and it will be effective from October 27, 2016 onwards. As reported earlier in this column, the move follows a recent direction by the Supreme Court to issue a fresh notification within a week on Mr Singh’s appointment as ED director for two years in consonance with the provision of the Central Vigilance Commission Act.

While hearing a public interest litigation in this regard, the apex court had recently said the fresh order would make it clear that Mr Singh’s appointment as ED chief would be for two years from October 27. A 1984-batch IPS officer of Union territories cadre, Mr Singh was appointed as ED director in October last and would have retired in August this year on his superannuation.

The SC had noted that the earlier appointment letter issued to Mr Singh was violative of Section 25(d) of the CVC Act. With this fresh order in his hand, Mr Singh can now look forward to a full term as ED chief.

Trust factor
Trust factor” is touted as one of the prime reasons why S. Jaishankar was given a one-year extension as foreign secretary. Apart from his excellent working relations with the Prime Minister’s core team, inclusive of national security adviser Ajit Doval, Mr Jaishankar has reportedly handled the Trump transition rather well. Whatever the reason, the extension means that many senior diplomats, including India’s ambassador to Italy Anil Wadhwa (1979-batch) and secretary (West) Sujata Mehta (1980-batch) will now retire without getting a shot at the top position.

Beyond these ripples, sources say, the foreign secretary has a lot on his plate. In the coming months he has to slowly steer India away from Saarc towards BIMSTEC and also prepare an overhaul plan for restructuring the MEA. Already two divisions have been merged, and over two-dozen top vacancies — like secretary (West), secretary (Economic Relations), ICCR chief (to retire in May) — will have to be filled. Also, appointment of envoy to Nepal, Indonesia, Geneva and Italy are pending. On Saarc too, PM Narendra Modi apparently wants India to move towards a wholesale suspension of the framework in its present shape to avoid further embarrassment from Pakistan. And Mr Jaishankar is the PM’s man for the job.

Tags: demonetisation, income-tax, enforcement directorate, s. jaishankar