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
Chairman
DO No. 50/CH(IC)/2022
14th November, 2022
Today on the occasion of Children’s Day, I couldn’t help reminisce about my childhood. A time defined by innocence, kindness, forthrightness and simplicity. A time when we may fight and not hold grudges, think out of the box not because we are told to but because there is no box on our imagination and, above all, we are not afraid of speaking our minds.
While we may lose some of these values in the process of growing up, we all would do
well to keep a bit of the child alive – forgive quickly, find the time to smile, keep exploring, asking questions & learning, be honest, and above all never stop dreaming.
Last week, was a week of achievements. I am happy to share that Shri BB Gupta, Additional Director General, Directorate of Systems & Data Management, was elected the Vice Chair of the World Customs Organization (WCO) Working Group on Data and Statistics for 2022-23 in the elections held last week at Brussels.
Acknowledging their valuable contribution towards organizational oversight, the WCO Asia-Pacific Region in its newsletter published last week, featured the leadership of the Vigilance Administration in CBIC. In an article titled, ‘Empowered Women = Vigilant Customs’, the new standards of performance in disposal of pending cases as well as in preventive vigilance were prominently featured. My compliments to Member (Administration & Vigilance), Pr. Director General and all lady officers in their team for the well-deserved recognition.
A number of events were organized by our field formations in the context of the celebration of the ‘Vigilance Awareness Week’. It was heartening to note that enthusiasm with which activities such as walkathons, quizzes, workshops on integrity and vigilance related issues were organized in keeping with this year’s theme of ‘Corruption free India for Developed Nation’.
As part of these celebrations, the second edition of the Handbook for Vigilance Administration, 2022 – a handy guide on Vigilance matters was released. The North Zonal Unit of the Directorate General of Vigilance, an interactive talk by eminent author, Sh. Gurucharan Das on.`Difficulty of being good in public services’. Kudos to Pr. Director General, Directorate General of Vigilance and her team for their efforts.
Observance of the week is a very significant fixture in our calendars which helps us recall and refocus on moral values that must underpin our conduct and work. The challenge is to ensure that the entire machinery operates in this state at all times and cases of deviance are dealt with timely & effectively. This can happen only when we form the habit of evaluating every decision or action on the touchstone of fairness, propriety & integrity.
You will agree that delaying work by raising needless queries, being unreasonable in resolving issues, or turning vindictive against stakeholders that report such instances is not a demonstration of these values. Let us work together to banish such behavior so as to harvest the full benefits of the Vigilance Week.
On the anti-evasion side, in a targeted operation, officers of Mumbai Airport Customs, intercepted seven arriving passengers. Examination of their belongings led to the recovery of 61 kg. of foreign origin Gold valued at more than Rs. 32 Crore. Congratulations to the officers for an excellent interdiction.
I would also like to share that a team of officers drawn from the Central Goods & Services Tax, Delhi Zone, Directorate General of Vigilance & Delhi Customs Zone, won a number of awards for the play “Kar Gatha – Kahani Rajasva Ki” at the All India Civil Services Music, Dance & Short Play Competition, 2022-23 held at Agartala, last week. The play won awards for Best Production, Best Child Actor, Second Best Play and Third Best Director. Felicitations to the entire team. You make us so proud!
Before I sign off for the week, I would like to urge you to keep a close watch on the revenue position and to ensure that there are no slippages. You may like to closely monitor the trends so as to ensure that there is no letup in collection of due revenue.
This time of the year, as the weather turns, there is a nip in the air. Do take care of your health and that of our near and dear ones.
Till next week!
Yours Sincerely,
(Vivek Johri)
All Officers and Staff of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
