Central Excise and Customs is considered one of the backbones of the country’s economy. To tone up the administration and increase the revenue collection, the department has taken several steps in recent months. In an interview with Amitabh Shukla, Chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs, S.K. Shingal says that custom cooperation agreement would soon be signed with several countries to give a new orientation to information sharing. Excerpts.
Q: What are the major evasion prone commodities in excise and what are the steps taken to combat such evasion?
A: The main evasion prone commodities are pan masala, Iron and Steel, Plastics and pharmaceuticals. We have intensified our drive against the evasions in the last 2-3 months and have seen good results. There has been significant seizures and from pan masala alone, the monthly revenue has increased from Rs 35-40 crore to Rs 200 crore. We plan to be more stringent and known evaders have been raided in the recent past to bring tax compliance. Due to these measures, some of them have also come up with voluntary disclosure.
Q: Any major step being taken from the Customs on the airports to streamline the services and become passenger friendly.
A: Well, the privatisation of the airport has been done and when the renovation work is over and it is modernised, the customs too would adapt it to the surroundings. We are aiming at hassle free clearance for the passengers.
Q: Could you tell us the priority areas as Chairman particularly in human resource management with around 70,000 employees?
A: The problem areas in human resource management are now being tackled. Promotions were not being given on time and there was stagnation in the cadre and the service. This had happened due to the conflicting orders of the court and various administrative tribunals. We have now approached the Supreme Court to tide over these problems. We want to give ad hoc promotions so that the employees remain motivated to deliver.
Q: What is the green lane project which is being talked about?
A: In this India and Belgium would sign an agreement to facilitate trade. Simply put, Antwerp port in Belgium would be linked to Mumbai port in India. This would ensure real time information to both the ports from where large business is transacted. This is a method to facilitate trade wherein import document of one country would become export document of the other and vice versa. This would help save time for the business and make it more competitive. A few rounds of discussion have already taken place and we expect the system to be put in place by the end of the financial year – March.
Q: What are the major countries with which India is signing the Customs cooperation agreement?
A: There are several countries – Brazil, Russia, Nepal, United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, UAE, amongst others. Basically, we are looking at assisting each other in sharing information. This would help making the mechanism of enforcement smoother and effective.
Q: It is understood that there is a major shortage of staff, particularly in the growing service tax sector. What is the government doing about it?
A: Actually no separate staff was provided to us when service tax was carved out. We started the collection from the existing staff alone. But now the government has sanctioned 4647 posts for service tax alone. With the manpower, we would be able to increase the collection. So far, we have not been able to tap it completely. Service tax is being administered in a gentlemanly manner. (9.12.2007)
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