Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department in Revenue
(Central Board of Direct Taxes )
Dated the 21st August, 2014.
Subject: Instructions regarding maintenance of cleanliness, punctuality in the offices of the Income Tax Department -reg
Cabinet Secretary in his recent directives to Revenue Secretary has emphasised that ‘cleanliness of work areas and improvement in the over-all ambience of office buildings as also punctuality on the part of the officials should be reviewed on sustained basis so that there is a visible improvement and that there are no report of slippages in this regard,’
The importance of clean and tidy office which gives an air of efficiency and observance of punctuality which is essential for maintenance of office decorum and discipline needs hardly be emphasised. Accordingly, the following instructions are brought to the notice of all Cadre Controlling Principal CCsIT and the offices under their jurisdictions for information and compliance and to help them to discharge their responsibilities in a more effective and efficient manner:
(i) Precincts of each office has to be spit and span. There should be no dust, no old ACs, Almirahs, and old furniture belonging to the office lying around in corridors, or common areas near staircases, and no betel leaf-stained comers. Dustbins should be provided in the rooms, corridors and washrooms for putting waste paper and garbage. The Agency responsible for maintenance of cleanliness and upkeep of office premises should be instructed suitably to provide services of highest standard failing which penal provisions of the contract signed with the agency may be invoked. Services of Civil, Electrical and Horticulture Wings of CPWD should be obtained wherever required, to improve the overall ambience of office buildings consistent with the prevalent green building norms. To give a neat and tidy look to the sections, the officers concerned may also be impressed upon to take special interest in weeding out of obsolete papers/files and to record all closed cases after action on the issues considered thereon has been completed, as per the prescribed retention schedule.
(ii) All the officers and staff working in offices under cadre control of Pr.CCsIT should strictly observe the prescribed office timings. It should be ensured that they do not overstay the lunch break and leave offices early before closing of office hours. No amount of external efforts can bring about improvements in punctuality of the officials on sustained basis unless Heads of Departments themselves take a personal interest in the same and observe the prescribed office hours. Therefore, all HODS may be instructed to conduct regular ,unannounced and surprise punctuality checks alongwith checking of attendance registers of the offices to see that the officials are observing office hours meticulously. Habitual latecomers may also be warned to mend their ways failing which disciplinary action may be taken against them.
This issues with the approval of Chairman, CBDT.
Source: http://irsofficersonline.gov.in/Documents/OfficalCommunique/18222014110324.PDF
i want to thanks my prime minister for this step
C A K C AGARWAL, alld
it is exactly the same in all State and Centra Govt offices. They fight for their rights but neglect their duties
Visit any I-T Office in Mumbai and you would find that even officers don’t attend office in time, not to speak of clerical staff. Files are piled up haphazardly with years of accumulated dust on them, many of them torn. Only the sepoy (if he is present)knows where a particular tax return file could be found. None of the staff members is willing to search for your file.
It is essential for all I-T offices to display the timings of work at the entrance, like what bank branches do in India, as also the time when an officer would be available without appointment. The Commissioner in charge of a group of offices should undertake surprise checks of each office and take strict action by marking all those who come late as absent, including officers. You wont find a clerk at his seat even at 11:30 am when his timing is 09:30 am! The Dept. also enjoys a 5-day week, to boot, with poor productivity!
The I-T staff Union is pretty strong and the Govt. does not want to take action to ensure discipline. IF only the staff attend in time and also attend to their work diligently, there would be no Return kept pending for more than 6 months, and you would find that the staff complement is excess, as against the often complained ‘staff shortage’. The work culture in I-T offices is abysmal, to say the least.
Unless the stick is wielded by the Govt. to enforce discipline and measure the output of each person by scientific methods, there would be no use in simply issuing instructions of the type mentioned in this circular. The Govt. does not want to do this, in order to buy peace.
I would say with confidence, therefore, that the instructions now issued are only for the sake of record, and the Govt. knows that would not (and possibly cannot) be implemented!
If other readers have a different view, I request them to give their comments.