Meeting of the CEC of the AICEIA at Mumbai – Focus on Removal of Regional Disparities in Promotions

The Central Executive Committee of the AICEIA met at Mumbai on the 22^nd and 23^rd of February 2014 and deliberated on all major issues faced by the cadre presently.

Offices that had fallen vacant in the interim were filled by the CEC unanimously as under :

Organising Secretary       : Devender Kumar, Delhi

Vice President (South)    : Varghese John, Kerala

Joint Secretary(South)     :  M Chokkalingam , Bangalore

On expected lines, the discussions were dominated by implementation of CR in CBEC, Regional Disparities in promotions of Gr B Central Excise executive officers  , All India Seniority for Inspectors, Issues of transfers from one Cadre Control Zone to another, futility of Control Room duties and redundancy of Uniform in the service, Improvement in working conditions, Streamlining deployment of personnel and avoiding duplication of work, bringing in efficiency and objectivity in automation of the department, preparing the Association for transition in the post CR era etc.

 In a great show of unity the CEC unanimously adopted the Resolution to demand from the CBEC immediate removal of all regional disparities in promotions from Inspectors to  Superintendents, and unequivocally authorised the Central Body to take any steps considered necessary to achieve that aim – be it calling for agitation or seeking appropriate legal intervention.  The CEC also adopted with nearly unanimous support a Resolution for demanding All India Seniority for Inspectors as mandated by the Apex Court verdict in the Radhey Shyam Singh case. It also unanimously endorsed the proposals submitted by the AICEIA for revision of Recruitment Rules that affect Inspectors’careers. A motion expressing  thanks to Shri Arun Zachariah and Shri Tirthankar Pyne for their valuable advice in this regard was also adopted by the CEC.  

Copies of two recent important communications addressed to the Chirperson CBEC are placed below.

 All other Resolutions shall also be communicated to the Board shortly.

On 22nd  evening the video recording of the Inaugural Lecture of the AICEIA Annual Lecture Series delivered by Shri R Manimohan at Nagpur on 25^th January 2014 was screened for all the delegates. It was watched with rapt attention and applauded by a standing ovation. The CEC welcomed the initiative, expressed its heartfelt gratitude to Shri Manimohan for the invaluable and inspiring address and  his continued support to the organisation  and hoped that it will continue in the years to come.  The Lecture will soon be made available on the internet by the AICEIA.

The contributions of Com Ashish Biswas (Treasurer, GS Raipur and Central India Circle), Com P V Satyanarayana (GS, Guntur)  and Com Chetan Shah (President, Ahmedabad) for  discharging  organizational responsibilities accepted by them were specially commended and appreciated by the CEC.

Minutes of the Shimla CEC meeting  Statement of Accounts and Auditor’s Report for the period upto 31.01.2014 were passed by the CEC.

Regarding the MACP issue for officers promoted as Inspectors, it has been informed by Com. Chetan Shah, who is pursuing the case with the Board and other Deptts too on behalf of the Association, that the matter was referred by CBEC to DopT, who have raised certain queries. Reply to the same has been furnished by the Board and the file it is now again with the DoPT. Association is actively following up the matter. 

 Regarding  a fresh Application to be filed by the Association in the Supreme Court of India praying for early hearing in the Civil Appeal concerning grant of Rs 5400/- GP to Inspectors on completion of 4 years after getting 1^st  ACP, it was pointed out that there aren’t sufficient funds available in the Legal Fund of the AICEIA to meet expenses of getting our case defended by a competent Senior Counsel in the Apex Court. It was therefore requested that all Branches/Circles may contribute generously to the Legal Fund to  enable effective pursuing the case to its logical end. 

The Kerala Circle of the AICEIA has  offered to host the next meeting of the CEC, which is due in July 2014. The same was accepted unanimously. Dates and venue shall be announced in due course.

AICEIA congratulates and thanks the AICEIA Team Mumbai, under the able leadership of Com Anil Kumar, President  and Com. Shishir Agnihotri, GS for the excellent arrangements and the warm hospitality extended to all delegates attending the CEC meeting. 

Several Circles and Branches have informed that they shall be conducting elections shortly to put in place new Committees in charge of the respective formations. In this context it is requested to all concerned, especially those comrades who have been running the show so far to inspire and encourage a new line of leadership to take over now so that the generation next is firmly in the saddle by the time promotions of most of the  senior office bearers takes place en-masse very soon. I also exhort my younger brothers and sisters to come forward and shoulder responsibility of this organisation  so that you can , at least to quite a significant extent, be the makers of your own destinies. From being armchair critics on social networking sites, its time now for you young men and women to don the roles of  real activism. The robust platform of this Association is waiting for you to take it to greater heights, and use it most effectively to bring to reality  careers and service conditions for yourselves of which each one of  you can be proud.  The recently concluded CEC meet at Mumbai  does raise hopes on this count - several relatively new entrants into the cadre are not only evincing a keen interest in the organisational matters but also are now holding some important offices and this does augur well for Association in the coming days.

Yours fraternally,

Ajit Kumar K G

Secretary General