PM’s statement on red tap and tax matters, what it means for bureaucracy

PRIME Minister Manmohan Singh's statement on “no arbitrariness in tax matters” and cutting red tap in government have direct impact on bureaucracy. In a rare email interview to a national daily, Hindustan Times, Singh gave enough hints that he was not happy with the tax matters.
Here are two major points that Singh said in that interview and what those mean for Indian bureaucrats:

Anna aide Arvind Kejriwal still a government servant?

IS Arvind Kejriwal, a key aide of anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare, still a government servant? According to government records, Kejriwal’s resignation submitted in 2006, was not accepted as yet, thereby making him a government servant in all technical terms.

The issue cropped up when Income Tax department asked him to pay over Rs 9 lakh as dues a week before Hazare was to begin his fast, at least two media reports said. According to official records, Kejriwal has not joined back after he went on a study leave. Kejriwal joined Indian Revenue Service officer after a short stint in Tata Group.

I-T department demanded Kejriwal to return two years’ salary amounting to Rs 3.50 lakh and interest accumulated so far of Rs 4.16 lakh apart from Rs 1 lakh for a computer loan with interests, according to a Times of India report. Kejriwal defended his position saying that he had not violated any conditions in government bond.

He joined the service after he went on study leave. Finally, he resigned in 2006. In earlier communication, Kejriwal had also asked the department to deduct his dues towards the computer loans from his General Provident Fund, according to reports.

Kejriwal’s wife Sunita is also an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer working with the same I-T department which has slapped the notice on Kejriwal.

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10 things you must know about Arvind Kejriwal

All India Judicial Service a reality

The government has said that “it is seized of the matter of creation of an All India Judicial Service under article 312 of the Constitution.” Giving this information in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, law minister Salman Khurshid said that this creation requires a Resolution to be passed by the Rajya Sabha enabling the Parliament to enact necessary laws.

Action and Appointments

a) Pinuel Basumatary, a 1983 batch Indian Audit and Accounts Service officer, has been appointed as Executive Director (North East Region) at the level of joint secretary in the Food Corporation of India at Guwahati. Basumatary will have a five-year term.

Tax hounds search 40 properties of a hotel group promoted by a former Gujarat cadre IAS

TAX hounds have reportedly searched 40 properties of a hotel and resort group owned by a former Gujarat cadre IAS of 1985 batch and a key player in the state’s power corridor in pre-Narendra Modi era.
According to reports, the Income Tax officials on Wednesday searched 40 establishments of Neesa Group headed by former IAS officer Sanjay Gupta. The searches were conducted in the group’s establishments located in Mumbai, Jaipur, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad, and few other cities, but details of the seizure are not known as yet.

An IIT engineer from Roorkee, 47-year-old Gupta joined the IAS and handled assignments ranging from secretary of the Gujarat chief minister to Managing Director of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPCL) and Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGIL). The Neesa group is now a multi business conglomerate worth Rs 1000 crore with a work force of over 1500. Cambay is the flagship brand of the group.

Gupta left IAS in 2002 to join as CEO (Infrastructure) of Adani Group.

Action and Appointments

a) The suspension order on Avinash Kumar, an IAS officer who was OSD to ex-Jharkhand Governor S S Razi, has been revoked, according to reports. He was suspended following CBI had raided at his residence last year.

b) The government has decided to grant the higher grade of DG in the pay scale of Rs 75500-80000/- to the following officers with effect from April 26, 2010, i.e. the date on which the junior-most officer, namely RN Ravi, IPS (KL-76) took charge of the post of Special Director in IB on 'in-situ' basis:-(i) Mahavir Singh Bali, IPS(UP-76), (ii) Rakesh Jaruhar, IPS(JHK-76), (iii) PC Sabarwal, IPS(UP-76), (iv) Smt. Manjari Jaruhar, IPS(JHK-76), (v) Anirudh Uppal, IPS(HP-76) and (vi) Alaxander Daniel, IPS(UP-76)

c) Justice Jora Singh, Additional Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has been appointed as a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Mamata announces a slew of welfare measures for railway employees; should civil servants expect sops from Mukherjee on Monday?

THE 1.4 million-strong railway brigade across the country has reasons to cheer after railway minister Mamata Banerjee announced a number of sops to railway employees in her Rail Budget presented in Lok Sabha on Friday. Before coming to what finance minister Pranab Mukherjee can do for government employees including officials during the General Budget to be presented on Monday, let’s list some of welfare measures announced by the railway minister for railway employees. a) The contribution of Staff Benefit Fund would be enhanced to Rs 350 per railway employee by one year. According to the announcement in Rail Budget, out of this contribution, a sum of Rs 100 per employee will be used exclusively for activities relating to women empowerment. This would also include the provision for vocational and occupational skill development training for physically and mentally challenged wards of railway employees, especially the girl child and higher education for girls. b) Ms Banerjee also announced the proposal to construct 6560 staff quarters during the year 2009-10. A thrust would be given under the Corporate Welfare Plan for improvement of staff quarters and colonies. The Budget also proposes to set up indoor stadia in major railway divisions and zones to promote sports and cultural activities amongst the railway employees. Scholarship for higher education of girl children of Group D staff will be launched. Seven nursing colleges on railway land in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai (Kalyan), Chennai, Secunderabad, Lucknow and Jabalpur will be opened on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The Budget also envisages to establish medical colleges attached to existing railway hospitals through PPP mode to give higher education facilities to the wards of railway employees. The locations where such colleges are planned include: Chennai, Hyderabad, Bilaspur, Lucknow, Barasat, Bhubaneswar, Mysore, Kharagpur, Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Jodhpur, Gardenreach, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, B.R. Singh Hospital, Bhopal, Jammu and Trivandrum. It was also announced that the General Managers would be empowered to sanction cases upto Rs 4 lakh for special medical treatment of railway persons. The Budget also provides for construction of dormitories for ladies and gents who accompany the patients at 16 hospitals having 150 beds and above. Burn Units will be provided at major railway hospitals of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Secunderabad, Bangalore and B R Singh Hospital, Kolkata.

Mukherjee on Monday: What Babus should expect from General Budget? No major initiative is expected to be announced in the Budget which will have a direct impact on civil servants except finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s direct tax sops would make bureaucrats happy as well. The possible raising of the income tax slabs or restoration of standard deduction would help the bureaucrats as well to save some hard cash.