Hey days for tax fraudsters; taxation officers going on indefinite strike in Punjab
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh
Punjab state bread and butter department- excise and taxation department officials under the banner of Confederation of Associations of Senior Officers, ETO’s and Inspectors has decided to go on indefinite strike, from Wednesday, September 9, 2020, after the talks between state government and the Confederation of Association, reaches nowhere.
The Confederation of Associations of Senior Officers, ETO’s and Inspectors were already remained on two day mass casual leave from September 7 to September 8, 2020, in protest against the unlawful and unwarranted actions taken against the officers of the excise and taxation department by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau which, inter alia, included registration of FIRs on flimsy ground, arrests of officers, raids and search at the residential houses and calling and humiliating the officers in the name of investigation.
The Confederation of Associations of Senior Officers, ETO’s and Inspectors, includes the officers from the rank of excise and taxation inspectors, ETO’s, AETC’s, DETC’s, joint commissioners, additional commissioners of Punjab excise and taxation department had already gave the representation to the state government through Financial Commissioner (Taxation), Government of Punjab, against the atrocities on the officers by Punjab Vigilance Bureau, on 3rd September 2020 and 5th September 2020, requesting “ the kind intervention in the matter to reign in and refraining VB from taking action against the officers of the department.”
In today’s representation the confederation said “despite repeated representations, the confederation has not received any word from your side wherein VB was refrained from taking actions against the officers of the department. Moreover, VB actions are continuing unabated. Fresh FIRs have been registered against the seven seniors officers of the department and Two of them have been arrested by VB today morning and for creating sensations in the media, property details of the officers are being highlighted in bad taste without proper verification and without hearing the officers concerned.In such an atmosphere of fear and terror, everyone in the department is feeling strangulated and unsafe. A wave of resentment and anger is present in all the cadres of the department. The matter has been deliberated in the meeting of the steering committee which has been authorized by the confederation to take any action as it deemed fit. Considering the seriousness of the matter and representations submitted being left unheard, this committee has left with no other option but to call for indefinite strike by all the cadres of the department from the level of Inspectors till Additional Commissioners beginning from 09.09.2020 (Wednesday) till the time this issue is addressed and redressed to the satisfaction of the entire cadre.”
The confederation also requested “to kindly intervene in the matter to reign in the VB so that conducive atmosphere for working without fear and terror is created in the department. “
A member of the steering committee said that “the government had already lost and will lose huge amount of revenue in the covid pandemic. The excise and taxation department is the bread and butter , key earning department and with the entire staff already on protest, the government is going to lose revenue, no trucks will leave the distilleries, no supply of liquor to L1, L2, wine shops, no GST collection, no checking of tax evasion and will dent the state exchequer.
September,8,2020
