Monday, May 19, 2014

Meeting on All India Seniority for Inspectors

Posted by Secretary General on 5/19/2014 11:57:00 PM with 4 comments

A meeting was held today in the DGHRD office at Rajendra Place, New Delhi, which was  attended by the Committee appointed by the CBEC (to study issues concerning  proposed All India Seniority for Inspectors of Central Excise and their Customs counterparts)  and office bearers of  Associations representing Gr B Executives of both Excise and Customs sides. DG - HRD chaired the meeting. Chief Commisioner, Delhi Customs, ADG HRM and several other senior officials of the CBEC and DGHRD were present in the meeting.

AICEIA reiterated our earlier submissions made under letter dated 12. 05.2014 and also the fresh points raised in our letter (text reproduced hereunder) handed over during the course of today's meeting.


 F.  No. AICEIA/Merger/ HRD/2012/03                                                                  Date :  19.05.2014


The Additional Director General [HRM]
Directorate General of HRD
Central Board of Excise and Customs
409/8, Deep Shikha,
Rajendra Place,  New Delhi 110 008


Sub: Unification of Group B Non- Gazetted Executive grades into three AI cadres - Reg


Madam,

             Please refer to the DGHRD, CBEC OMs on the captioned subject issued under F. No. 8/B/36/HRD(HRM)/ 2014 Part- I dated 07.05.2014 and 09.05.2014, and this Association’s letter of even no. 2 dated 12.05.2014 in response to the same, further to which the following  submissions are made :

1.      Apart from the Judgment of the Hon’ble  Supreme Court in the Radheshyam Singh case, the provisions laid down by DoP&T as regards Seniority too mandate all India Seniority for all Inspectors who have been recruited by an All India Merit List:-

“2.1. SENIORITY OF DIRECT RECRUITS
The relative seniority of all direct recruits is determined by the order of merit in which they are selected for such appointment on the recommendations of the U.P.S.C. or other selecting authority, persons appointed as a result of an earlier selection being senior to those appointed as a result of subsequent selection. (O.M. No. 20011/5/90-Estt (D) Dated 4.11.1992)

2.      Para 2.3 (page 3) of the Board Brief (F.No. 8/B/36/HRD(HRM)/2014)  does not represent wholly true facts inasmuch as the assertion that  “Even though the selections are made on the basis of all India Merit List, allocation of selected candidates is done on the basis of merit-cum-preference basis to various zonal /Commissionerate based cadres. Allocation of the grade, viz. Inspector CE, Preventive Officer or Examiner, is also done on the basis of the preference indicated by the selected candidates at the time of submission of application for CGLE to the Staff Selection Commission.” is not correct . Information available indicates that for 1996(1999), 2003, 2004 & 2005 batches the process of allocation was not as per the above mentioned scheme. Promotion prospects for Inspectors (to the grade of Superintendent) / extant or projected relative levels of  stagnation have obviously never been a criteria adopted for allocation of Zones to a newly recruited Inspector.

3.      The very first paragraph of the aforesaid Board Brief (page 2)  states that “it is necessary to ensure that the legitimate aspirations of the officers and staff for promotions and upward movement in the hierarchy of the department are adequately addressed, as far as possible, in the present cadre restructuring exercise or even after that.” This Association welcomes this assertion of the DGHRD, and reiterates its submissions made countless times earlier that the Cadre Restructuring is an instrument to address such vexatious issues, and enhance career prospects of all cadres, and it has to be essentially implemented in a manner to resolve  issues such as these. The CBEC’s visualization that “zonal/cadre disparities in promotional avenues will gradually disappear with passage of time” is not acceptable to this Association, as  such an attitude would be abdication of  responsibility to positively intervene in a situation of grave and long-standing injustice even when an unprecedented opportunity is afforded for addressing conclusively these matters. It may also kindly be noted that this Association and the cadre it represents have been repeatedly assured  by the Board over the past many years that come CR and the regional disparities plaguing it will be done away with.    


                                                                                                           Yours faithfully,



                                                                                                              (Ajit Kumar K G)
                                                                                                                        Secretary General

We have emphatically impressed upon the Committee that our demand is that All India Seniority must be introduced beginning the first batch of Inspectors recruited on an All India Merit List inducted in the Department in 2003, and that all Inspectors senior to them in all Zones must be promoted prior to that. We have also informed that if this is not accepted, there will most certainly be serious litigation immediately.


A point was sponsored in the Meeting by the AIACEGEO, the Assn representing Supdts of Central Excise that what was needed was to bring parity among all the 3 executive base cadres in the Deptt., and our Association extended full support to the same, and pointed out that vide letter dated 28.12.2012 and on various other occasions we have voiced this demand unequivocally, and that the AICEIA views  the removal of regional disparites among Inspectors from various Central Excise Zones as an important step in this direction.

An extremely unfortunate development was when during today's meeting  the Secretary General of the  AIACEGEO  vehemently opposed  our demand for introduction of All India Seniority and upgradation of  all Inspectors with 12 or more years of service stating that it would greatly inconvenience them (Superintendents) with fewer Inspectors to assist them in many Zones, and that if Inspectors have to move to other Zones on promotion as Superintendents, the apprehension of All India Transfer liability could arise in Supdts' cadre. We did counter this argument saying that the Supdts cadre is functioning  presently without any difficulty without AI transfers, and the only relaxation required in the new dispensation suggested by us was that transfers on requests may be allowed to Supdts wishing to be repatriated to their home zones if they have had to move  out to other Zones  on promotion on account of vacancies in the higher grade  not being available in their home zones at the time of their promotion.

Equally disturbing was the Superintendents' Assn SG's repeated insistence during today's meeting  for amendment of RRs of Supdts to reduce the residency period for promotion of Inspectors of Central Excise to Superintendents from eight years to two years, even as the AICEIA forcefully advanced its position that any reduction of minimum qualifying service should be considered only after regional disparities in promotions are completely done away with in the Inspectors' cadre.
   
The Office Secretary of the Central Excise Superintendents' Association who also attended the meeting today with his SG, in a vicious attack on our Association, said that Resolutions of AICEIA need not be considered seriously  as opinions of the C. Ex Inspectors' cadre since CEC meetings or Conventions are attended by hardly a hundred Inspectors whereas the cadre itself is about 17000 strong. AICEIA office bearers raised objections to this immediately, and made it clear that we cannot accept casting of such aspersions on our organisation. The DG HRD and the CC Delhi Customs agreed with our contentions and advised the Supdts' Assn office bearers to confine their submissions to functioning of their own Association.


The Committee shall now compile the different Associations' views and in light of the same submit its report to the CBEC, which, in turn, will take a final call in the matter. 

It was also informed that  notifications in respect of jurisdiction of new formations and staff allocations as part of CR shall be issued by the end of this week. 

Ajit Kumar K G
Secretary General

Saturday, May 17, 2014


Dear Comrades,

Many of our Circles and Branches have been negligent towards organisational issues. With a Convention just round the corner, it is high time that we spruce up our units to ring in some welcome change. Very soon it will be farewell time  for a majority of the office bearers of most of the units, as en masse promotions in course of  the Restructuring would be effected.

The average age of officers populating the cadre too would soon go down by a good  ten or twelve years, and there would thus  be a generational shift in the profile of the Central Excise Inspector, and it is  only fair and imperative that this  should be reflected in the new set of office bearers at every level of our organisation. The issues that confront the generation next of the cadre too are somewhat different - All India Seniority, Inter Zonal Transfers, New Pension Scheme  and the like, and those can be best addressed by a younger set of office bearers.

It is the responsibility of the present regional leadership of the Association to ensure that able successors are found immediately and fostered to make them ready to shoulder the new responsibilities, in those units where it has not already happened. Equally important is that willing and public spirited young men and women must come forward and accept responsibilities at all levels of the organisation. 

We  have been getting calls from some Units informing that elections are overdue there, but not being held  citing one reason or the other. This is deplorable, and cannot be tolerated since it affects the healthy functioning of the organisation. WHEREVER ELECTIONS ARE DUE, PLEASE GET THEM HELD IMMEDIATELY. OR ELSE, AT LEAST GET A GENERAL BODY MEETING HELD AND APPROPRIATE DECISION IN THIS REGARD BE TAKEN AND COMMUNICATED IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER TO THE ALL INDIA BODY.

An initiative which this Committee had pushed right from the beginning of its tenure was  to get the performance of all units recorded and reviewed  every six months by compiling  information relevant to the organisation in a format. Unfortunately, it  has not met with much success so far. The intent was to let the units themselves evaluate their own working, identify shortcomings if any, and take necessary remedial steps. In the process accounts of the Central Committee too could be got updated, since our Treasurer is always severely handicapped not just because units do  not pay their dues on time, but do not even submit information about their membership, nor copies of their DDO certificates, which in turn renders it impossible for him to update the dues position, compile the All India body’s accounts  and get them audited. Even under these very difficult circumstances, our Treasurer   Com. Ashish Biswas (09826960962) has done an exceptionally good job, and I request all Unit Secretaries and/ other  office bearers to fully co-operate at least this one time, so that this Committee can hand over charge to the next with correct accounts, and a comfortable bank balance to begin with. Though Recognition is not an immediate concern, it is essential that DDO Certificates be compiled on an yearly basis, and kept in readiness at all times. We wish none of the Committees succeeding us would have have to face the kind of  difficulties we faced last year in this connection, though we ultimately succeeded in getting the Recognition renewed for  five years.

Despite the poor response from the regional formations, we feel it prudent and essential to persist with the reporting system initiated earlier. Placed hereunder is a format which is to be compulsorily sent  (filled in correctly and completely and with DDO Certificates enclosed) latest by 31.05.2014  by all Units intending to effectively participate in the ensuing Trivandrum Convention. It may be noted that Voting Rights of Units shall also be determined and decided on this basis. Regional Vice Presidents and Joint Secretaries  shall monitor progress in this regard within their respective charges, and the Organising Secretary Com. Devender Kumar  shall co-ordinate this entire exercise. General members in each formation are requested to contact their Unit office bearers and ensure that the needful is done in this regard within the specified time frame so that the proper representation or franchise of the unit does not suffer  on account of   negligence of any office –bearer.

A Memorandum is required to be submitted in a few weeks to the Seventh Pay Commission. Please send you suggestions on this  at the earliest at ajitkgbhilai@gmail.com, with a copy endorsed to our Jt Secretary (South)  Com.M.Chokkalingam (who has volunteered to prepare the draft Memorandum) at his mail id chokkalingamrmn@gmail.com  .    

Trust that  all concerned will accord to the above issues the attention and urgency deserved.

Yours fraternally,

Ajit Kumar K G

Secretary General

Information to be sent by e-mail latest by 31.05.2014 at ajitkgbhilai@gmail.com and satish1971a@yahoo.com  by all Circles/ Units/ Branches participating in  the AICEIA  Convention at Trivandrum on 27.06.14 and  28.06.14

[ please enclose scanned copies of DDO certificates and documents indicating details of remittances made ]

Name of the Circle/Branch/Unit:

Address for Correspondence:


Secretary:   Name:                                                   Cell No.                                    email

President:   Name:                                                    Cell No.                                    email

Area  and  formations covered by the Unit:

Date since when present Committee has been in office:

Date of last elections:

Due date for next elections:

If due date elapsed, reasons for delay in holding elections, details of authorization obtained for postponing elections, and date by when elections will be positively conducted:


Total Working Strength of Inspectors of Central Excise on 31.03.2014 in the Formations claimed to be represented by the Unit :

Total Membership  on 31.03.2014 in the Formations claimed to be represented by the Unit:

Details of DDO Certificates being  submitted by the unit:

          No. of Certificates:

No. of members as per the Certificate(s) :


Period to which it pertains:


No. of members in respect of whom DDO Certificates  not submitted:

Amount outstanding as payable to All India body  on 31.03.2013:
[With detailed break –up, including when all previous dues were cleared, if that is stated to be  the case]


During  F Y 2013-14:

No. of  new members enrolled :

Membership Admission fee collected from them :

Amount remitted  to  All India Body  on above account:

Amount received as subscription from all members :

Amount remitted to All India Body as its share on above account:
 (please enclose scanned copy of  document indicating remittance details)

Any expenses incurred during this period on behalf of All India Body (with full details including copies of receipts, with a signed statement certifying the same, by the office bearer who actually spent the concerned amount  )


Date and Place :                                        Signature: …………………………………

                                                 Name of the   Secretary:…………………………………                                                                                      (or office bearer signing on his behalf)                                                                                
                                                                   Branch/Circle/Unit ………………………………………..


Monday, May 12, 2014

On 10.05.2014 the Finance Minister gave the go ahead for implementing CR in the CBEC.  Notifications of the new formations and staff allocations are expected to be made public  shortly. For our cadre the most important concern now is  whether our  long standing issues of stagnation and intra-cadre as well as inter-cadre disparities are addressed  in the implementation of the CR, and if so, to what extent. 

The present Committee of the AICEIA had made a promise to this cadre at the Patna Convention in December 2012 that we will not rest till regional disparities in promotions among the various Zones are not eliminated, and All India Seniority for Inspectors of Central Excise does not become a reality. We have not left any stone unturned in our efforts in this direction, and during the past many months there has hardly been a door left which we have not knocked seeking justice. The responses  that our efforts have met with have varied from appreciation to ridicule, encouragement to fury, indifference to unstinted support. We have faced it all with equanimity, and we thank  every single member of the Central Executive Committee for standing by us through  these diffcult times. As the Restructuring unfolds in its implementation, it will be revealed to us how we are treated in this family.

Next month, there will be a change of guard in the AICEIA, and it is time now for our youthful comrades to take over the reins of this Association. I exhort the relatively fresh entrants into the cadre to come forward and lead from the front this organisation and strive to secure for themselves much better careers than those that we have seen - remember, most of us holding key positions in the organisation today have put in around twenty years of service as Inspectors, and we have only ourselves to blame for not foreseeing this plight much earlier and not having agitated unitedly and stridently for what is rightfully ours! Once All India Seniority is ushered in, I'm sure it'll be a far more united  Association with commonality of interests, and a spirited movement can be launched for betterment of  career prospects and service conditions for Inspectors. 

The ADG(HRM),  DGHRD, CBEC has issued an OM  calling for views of Associations on All India Seniority for Inspectors after the Board has at last taken a decision in-principle to prospectively introduce All India Seniority for Inspectors and informing convening of a meeting to hold consultations on the issue. AICEIA has submitted  its views today . Scanned copies of  the subject OM and   letter submitted by us  in response  are placed below. We hope that the Board will appreciate our perspective and will be alive to our concerns while taking a final call in this matter.






























































 








































































































Ajit Kumar K G 
Secretary General

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Letter submitted to RS on 25.04.2014

Posted by Secretary General on 5/01/2014 12:15:00 AM with No comments
Dear Comrades,
A scanned copy of the letter submitted to the Revenue Secretary when a five member delegation of All India office bearers of the AICEIA met him on 25.04.2014 is placed below. Details of the meeting, as well as copies of  correspondence referred to therein may be seen in earlier posts.



Long Live AICEIA!
With Fraternal Greetings on this May Day,

Ajit Kumar K G
Secretary General

Notice for the 18th Convention of the AICEIA

Posted by Secretary General on 5/01/2014 12:06:00 AM with 1 comment
As already informed by an earlier blogpost, it has been decided to  hold  the 18th Convention of the AICEIA at Trivandrum on 27th and 28th of June 2014. A scanned copy of the  Notice for the same alrady sent by e mail to the  Secretaries and Presidents of all Circles/Branches/Units is placed below.