New initiative for transparency and reform in Commercial Tax Department: Extensive transfers after years

O P Choudhary – Minister of Finance of Government of Chhattisgarh-File Photo .

Raipur : In line with the Good Governance Policy of the Chhattisgarh Government led by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, many initiatives are being taken to make the government functioning transparent, fair and execute their duties in public welfare in all departments.

In this sequence, large-scale transfers have been done in the Commercial Tax (GST) Department after years. Earlier, in the last two-three years, only a limited number (only 10-15 officers) were transferred in the department once or twice. Most of the officers and employees of the GST department were working at the same place of posting for a long time. Some officers were posted at the same place for 18 consecutive years. This situation hinders the sense of transparency and fairness in the work execution and tax collection of the department.

Out of the 35 State Tax Deputy Commissioner posts approved in the department, 17 officers were given new postings after promotion. Among the remaining 8 Deputy Commissioners, 3 officers were posted in Raipur for the last 10 years, 2 officers for 8 years and 3 officers for 4-5 years. Apart from this, 8 Deputy Commissioners and 4 Assistant Commissioners were working in their home district for 5 years.

178 State Tax Officers/State Tax Inspectors were also posted at the same place for the last 4-5 years, out of which 34 State Tax Officers and 45 State Tax Inspectors were posted in their home district for 5 years continuously. Being a tax collection department, being posted in the same area for such a long period increases the possibility of developing personal relations with business organisations, which affects the work.

Commercial Tax Minister OP Choudhary said that the State Government has taken effective steps towards decentralisation and strengthening of tax administration in the state by making necessary improvements in this situation. Earlier, despite the number of circles of the department being 30, the departmental offices were limited to only 15 districts, whereas all the major departments of the state government have offices in all the districts. To overcome this deficiency, for the first time, circles have been established in Dantewada, Kondagaon, Jashpur and newly formed districts Sakti and Sarangarh and officers have been posted there.

To strengthen revenue collection, BIU and Audit Unit have been formed in the department and officers have been posted in them. Despite such large scale transfers, full attention has been paid to human sensibilities. Especially, posting of both husband and wife officers has been ensured in the same district and women officers have been transferred to nearby districts as far as possible.

Finance Minister Choudhary said that the state government will continue to take steps to strengthen honest, transparent and loyal work culture in all departments in the future as well.