By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, JAN 27, 2017: WHILE speaking on the occasion of International Customs Day and the Investiture Ceremony organised by the DRI, the Union Finance Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, tried to allay the fear of the CBEC officers about the loss of jobs due to reduction in in the assessee-base in the GST regime. He also promised that the ad hoc promotions and Group B to A promotion would be expedited by the Board.

Referring to the proposed GST he said that when important changes take place they are never put on the backseat merely because it may result in job loss. The number of officers required and the opportunities would remain the same except that the nature of activity would undergo a change.

Mr Jaitley made his statement in response to the CBEC Chairman's request that there is rising disquiet in the Service and the FM should address that.

Given the fact that the IRS Association has raised many points in its representations to the FM, the officers were disappointed by the FM's remarks as they had expected announcement of more concrete measures from the FM. In fact, when the timing of the event was changed from morning to evening, it was rumoured that the FM may make major announcements to alleviate the pain of the officers but nothing of that sort happened.

While addressing the gathering the Revenue Secretary, Dr Hashmukh Adhia, said that the officers have no reason to fear of any cut in their promotional avenues and the reduction in their workforce. They will have enough tax base under the GST to ensure workload for the existing workforce.