Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
North Block, New Delhi-110 001
Tel. : +91-11-23092849, Fax : +91-11-23092890
E-mail : vivekjohri.irs@gov.in
07th November, 2022
Vivek Johri
chairman
DO No. 49/CH(IC)/2022
One of the many joys of serving in the Board is the opportunity to be in North Block. I have had the privilege of serving in quite a few rooms in my various assignments here. While each has been special in its own way, a feature of my current room is the ringside view it affords of the construction of the buildings coming up as part of the redevelopment of the Central Vista. It is very interesting to observe the vision take shape.
Last week, a beginning was made in giving shape to the vision of an ambitious project of CBIC viz. the construction of office complex and residential quarters at the Customs Enclave Wadala, Mumbai when the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) awarded the work to the executing firm. The project, comprising of an office complex and 769 residential quarters is expected to be completed in 32 months. The project, located in a prime part of the city, will go a long way in ameliorating the accommodation crunch in Mumbai.
Moving on, last week saw the culmination of the month-long Special Campaign for Disposal of Pending Matters (SCDPM) 2.0. I would like to place on record my appreciation for the vigor and enthusiasm with which our formations took part in the campaign.
As a result of our cumulative effort we were able to dispose of a large quantity of scrap which resulted in freeing up of more than 65,000 sq. ft. of office space; 1.27 Lakh physical files were reviewed and more than 50,000 were weeded out, further cleanliness drives were organized in more than 2300 locations across the country. Our efforts have been well received and acknowledged in various fora.
I would like to take this opportunity to share about an initiative taken by the Directorate General of Goods & Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) who launched an E‑Waste Disposal Campaign, …….As part of the drive, almost 700 kg. of e-waste including printers, computers, scanners and their parts were collected and handed over to a designated agency for disposal as per prevailing guidelines. Kudos to the officers for their initiative.
Another initiative, although in a different realm, that received wide acclaim is the ADVAIT Hackathon on Data Analytics organized by the Directorate General of Systems & Data Management, earlier this year. The second iteration of the event is scheduled to be held in February, 2023.
An interesting addition in the second iteration would be ADVAIT-BUGBASH. The event calls on users to point out bugs such as data/logic errors, visualization bugs etc. in any ADVAIT utility. It is proposed to recognize users pointing out the maximum bugs. My compliments to Pr. Director General, Directorate General of Systems & Data Management and his team for re-imagining the event. I would encourage our officers to enthusiastically take part in it.
On the anti-evasion side, in a targeted operation, officers of Mumbai Airport Customs, intercepted three outbound passengers suspected to be carrying a large amount of undeclared foreign currency. Subsequently, examination of their baggage led to the recovery of foreign currency amounting to USS 4,97,000 (more than Rs 4 Crore). Congratulations to the officers for an excellent interdiction.
Before I sign off for the week, I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the entire CBIC family and on my personal behalf, to bid farewell to Sh. Sandeep Kumar, Member, CBIC — an outstanding officer who piloted many key initiatives of the Department, who superannuated last week after putting in 35 years of exceptional service. We also bid adieu to Sh. Deepak Arora, Chief Commissioner on his superannuation. Wishing them all the best for all their future endeavors.
Till next week!
Yours Sincerely,
(Vivek Johri)
All Officers and Staff of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
