POINTS RAISED IN THE JCM MEETING

Bangalore, the 28th February, 2012

Dear Members, 

The points raised in the JCM Meeting in respect of the cadre controlling authority, i.e., the Chief Commissioner, Central Excise, Bangalore Zone, is placed below for information.

Ref.No.JCM/01/2012                                                                   Date:- 20.12.2011

To,

The Hon’ble Chief Commissioner,

Central Excise, Bangalore Zone,

Bangalore.

Respected Madam,

                   Sub:- Holding of JCM Meeting with representatives of recognized

Associations –submission of points- reg.

* * * *

Please refer office letter C.No.II/39/02/2012 dated 13.02.2012, on the subject matter.  In this regard, the following points are submitted on behalf of this Association, for discussion in the proposed meeting.

I.            Posting of Ministerial Officers – to Administrative Sections only – Difficulties faced consequent to depletion in the working strength:-

2.       The comparative sanctioned strength, working strength and the Vacancy in the Ministerial cadre vis-à-vis the Executive cadre, as on 01.02.2012, in respect of Karnataka Zone is as under:-

Ministerial cadre:-

Cadre	Sanc.strength	Working Strength	Vacancy	Percentage
CAO	10	2	8	80%
AO	52	51	1	2%
DOS	110	56	54	49%
STA	168	63	105	63%
TA	218	105	113	52%
LDC	28	21	7	25%
Total	586	298	288	49%

Executive Cadre:-

Cadre	Sanc.strength	Working Strength	Vacancy	Percentage
Supdt.,	730	715	15	2%
Inspr	1054	786	268	25%
Total	1784	1469	315	18%

3.       From the above tables, it may please be seen that there is acute shortage in the Ministerial cadre, owing to various reasons like, delay in filling up of vacancies, resignations, promotions to higher grades etc.,. After the promotion of STAs to the grade of Inspectors (31 officers) in the month of September, 2011, the vacancy position in the grade of Ministerial cadre has gone up, while the vacancy level in the grade of Inspector has reduced significantly. Recently DR inspectors have also joined, which has added to the working strength of Inspectors and hence, it is felt that the leftover Ministerial officers should be transferred to Administration, Accounts and Establishment Sections from technical/Review/legal Revenue related sections.

The commissionerate wise allocation of Ministerial officers (DOS, STA, TA & LDC) is as under:-

Formation	S/S	W/S	VAC	%age
Bangalore – I	72	48	24	33
Bangalore – II	69	30	39	57
Bangalore – III	68	23	45	66
Service Tax	21	12	9	43
LTU Bangalore	4	9	-5	-125
Bangalore Customs	51	15	36	71
Belgaum	71	42	29	41
Mysore	66	25	41	62
Mangalore CEX	68	23	45	66
Mangalore Customs	34	18	16	47
Total	524	245	279	53

4.       From the table above, it may be seen that the vacancies are not evenly distributed even within the zone/station, due to which the existing officers posted to sections which has more vacancies are facing difficulties in coping up with the day to day work. It is to state that, the executive officers (Inspectors) are not posted to the Accounts/ Administration or Establishment sections and these are normally manned only by Ministerial officers, and therefore, it is requested that posting of the existing Ministerial officers be limited only to these Sections, in order to overcome the difficulties that are being faced.

II.         Filling up of vacant posts in the grade of CAO:-

5.       Out of the sanctioned strength of 10 posts in the grade of CAO, 8 remain vacant and hence, the charge is invariably allocated as additional charge to any of the AOs posted at the Headquarters Office. The Reconciliation of Revenue is one of the important tasks assigned to the CAOs in absence of whom, the said work is not being carried out anymore. The AOs who are allocated with the additional charge are finding it difficult to handle this task. Further, the support staff (Inspectors) to handle the work is also not being provided. It is requested that the Ministry may be requested to fill up the vacant CAO posts on priority.

III.       Allocation of Additional Charges to AOs:-

6.       In certain cases, the DDO charge of a division is entrusted to the AO posted to another Division, to address the vacant position or the AOs at Headquarters are given additional charge of another section.  In both these instances, the Officers entrusted with additional charges are facing difficulties in handling the work due to the shortage of staff and also lack of time.  Such an arrangement (holding additional charge) can be for a temporary period and it is not fair to continue with such practice for a very long period of time. In view of this it is requested that at no point an AO is entrusted with more than one additional charge along with their regular charge, either in the Divisional Office or at the Headquarters Office. Instances have been brought to notice, where the junior most AO is posted in the Headquarters Office with more than one charge and the Senior amongst them is posted in a Division Office. It is submitted that the Senior AOs may be preferably posted in Hqrs., Office and entrusted with Additional charges, wherever necessary and the junior Officers be posted to the Divisional Offices.

7.       Further, the sanctioned strength of AOs in respect of Bangalore –II is only 7, whereas presently 8 AOs are working in this Commissionerate. It is submitted that the AOs in Bangalore –I & Bangalore –III Comm’te are holding more than one charge due to non-availability of AOs and hence, one excess AO presently posted to Bangalore –II Commissionerate may kindly be transferred to either of these commissionerates, in order to bring down the additional burden placed on the AOs currently posted in Bangalore –I or Bangalore –III Comm’tes.

IV.        Non-appointment of regular Cashiers:-

8.       Each of the formations i.e., Hqrs., Office or a Division Office in the commissionerates is required to have a full time cashier to attend to all cash related work. However, due to shortage of staff, no regular nominations/appointments are being made, due to which the DDOs are facing difficulties in dealing with cash. This has given rise to many audit objections in the lower formations. Hence, it is requested that a minimum of two Ministerial Officers be posted to each Divisional Office, and one eligible officer be nominated/appointed to function as a full time cashier. Similarly a regular cashier may be appointed/nominated in each of the Headquarters Office as well.

V.           Office Building space and working area for Officers:-

10.     The Office Building space in the CR Buildings is insufficient to accommodate all four Commissionerates and two Chief Commissioner’s Office apart from a Commissioner (Appeals) Office, by a huge margin and due to which the Officers are forced to work in a cramped up area. The Department has grown manifold during the last decade after the cadre restructure in 2002. However, there has not been any corresponding increase in Office space. Initially temporary arrangements are made which become permanent over a period of time.

9.       Similarly there is no proper Record Room for any of the Commissionerates due to which they are being now stored in Departmental Quarters at Yelahanka, without any maintenance or a proper Record Keeper. In this era of RTI, it is a necessity to have a proper Record Room with a Record Keeper for attending to the day to day work in a smooth and efficient manner. In absence of sufficient Office space, it is not possible to have a Record Room.  Not only that, there is no proper facility for a holding a meeting of the Officers of our Department on any occasion. Neither do we have any space for a library, Gym or any cultural activity nor for the Recognised Associations.

10.     In view of the above, it is submitted that a new Office Building needs to be either built or acquired or hired immediately, in order to provide the minimum prescribed/ mandatory working space to all the Officers. It is requested to kindly initiate necessary action in this regard, preferably, before the implementation of the ensuing Cadre Restructuring.

VI.        Upgradation/modernization of EPABX system in Hqrs., Office of CR Buildings:-

11.     The present EPABX system functioning in the C.R Buildings for the combined Commissionerates is an outdated one, which breaks down quite often. Further the present system does not have the capability to provide additional lines to cater to the ever increasing demand for more extensions. It is therefore, requested that necessary steps be taken to upgrade/replace/modernize the system, in order to address the problem.

Yours faithfully,

Sd/-

 (M.Chokkalingam)

General Secretary

All Comments/correspondences may be addressed to karccemoa@gmail.com