By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, JAN 03, 2016: WHILE addressing the 67th Batch of Officer Trainees (OTs) of the IRS (Customs & Central Excise) yesterday the Union Finance MInister, Mr Arun Jaitley, said that the taxation should not be a painful process for the people. Ideally, the Minister said that the Government should collection taxes like a honeybee, which sucks just the right amount of honey from the flower so that both can survive.

Mr Jaitley also mentioned that the starting point of any activity is investment and the purpose of investment is to yield profitability. And in this process, he said that the investors work out the element of taxability and this tax content which is generated as revenue is used for infrastructure and for fulfilling the social responsibilities of the State as well as to yield more economic activity. And for this, the Finance Minister indicated the road map for the future. He wanted the officers to retain the idealism which they inculcated at the time of joining the service to be retained with the same enthusiasm at the time when they are retiring from Service. For this, the Finance Minister said that they need to have the basic cardinal principle of striving for excellence.

The Finance Minister calls upon the young officers to maintain absolute standards of ethics and 100% integrity; asks them to emulate the Gandhian principle that even in moments of struggle, they should be in a position to maintain the position of ethics and morality on their side.

Their training includes class room training in Customs, Central Excise, Service Tax and Narcotics besides Public Finance and Policy, Foreign Trade Policy, International Conventions, Administrative Law and other related laws including those relating to protection of the environment, heritage of India, national security etc. Besides they are exposed to on the job training in the various field formations of Customs, Excise and Service Tax and also training with para military forces, like BSF, ITBP, Coast Guard, Indian Navy to learn the finer aspects of Border Management and National Security. They are also sent to a leading university abroad for a week’s training on leadership and public policy and to acquaint with international best practices.