The Faceless Turmoil
Gone are the days when posting in the Income-tax department was considered most lucrative by those selected in central services exams. It was so lucrative that even IITians and IIM toppers used to opt for the Indian Revenue Services (IRS) and posting in the Income-tax department. There are numerous cases when those selected in the IAS or IPS, used to go in for the IRS. But not anymore as times have changed. A number of officers have quit as IT is “no more lucrative”. They have decided to go back to the private sector for greener pastures. Ever since PM Modi set up the National e-Assessment Center (NEC) in October 2019, the IT department has lost its sheen and glory. The NEC has completely eliminated the physical interface between an assessing officer and an assessee. Gone are the days when assessees used to line up outside the rooms of IT officers and grease their palms. A silent revolution has created a turmoil as officers are returning to the private sector. These officers think that they have become merely data entry operators as there is no physical interaction with anyone.
Under the faceless system, the taxpayer would not know which officer is assessing his or her case and which city. The anonymity and absence of human interface has completely eliminated any kind of harassment or corruption. There is no territorial jurisdiction under the NES. For example, the IT return of an assee belonging to Delhi will be sent through a computerized system to Mumbai. Even in Mumbai, the assessing officer cannot issue notice directly to the assee. It will go to another officer who will vet the case and issue notice. The assessments also have to be completed in a systematic and time-bound manner.
With regard to conducting raids even the DG (Investigation) cannot take action suo-moto. A separate procedure has been evolved where the fresh vetting is done. Modi is planning to bring faceless assessments in other such lucrative departments as well. More than 30% of the faceless assessments have been done this year and the Finance ministry wants to achieve 50% assessments this year.
Congress facing Cash crunch
The Congress leadership may be basking in the glory of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. But now that the euphoria has died down, reality is biting the party hard in Karnataka where Assembly polls are underway. The movement of money bags to party candidates in the state has become almost impossible as more than 300 strong forces of Income-tax officials and other agencies have been stationed in Karnataka to keep a close watch 24X7. This strong force is aided by police and intelligence agencies tracking moments of funds never witnessed before. The random system of tracking mobile phones has increased many folds and the movement of cash by road, train or air has become so risky that the party has abandoned its plan to provide resources. Each candidate has been conveyed that they should arrange funds locally in their constituencies and the party would provide money to them later when the dust is settled. Though the current ceiling of expenditure by candidates in Assembly polls has been fixed by the EC at Rs 40 lakhs, actual expenditure runs into crores. But candidates are in a tizzy as the party is not known for honouring its financial commitments in the past. The AICC has not cleared dues of advertising and publicity agencies hired in Punjab and J&K. An agency which was contracted for the Jammu and Kashmir leg of the Bharat-Jodo Yatra, is learnt to have sent a legal notice to Congress president.
Yashwant Sinha gets Rs 4.25 Lakh notice
Yashwant Sinha, a former Finance & Foreign Minister in the Vajpayee government in 2004, has been slapped with a notice to pay Rs 4.25 lakhs. The notice has been sent to him by the Modi government almost 20 years after he ceased to be the minister. The notice has been slapped by the Directorate of Estates under the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs for overstaying in a government bungalow (6 Kushak Road) after he ceased to be a Cabinet Minister in 2004. Yashwant Sinha is shell shocked that the government chose to send him notice for the recovery of this huge amount almost 20 years after he quit. Yashwant Sinha has not been keeping well and living in a house in NOIDA. He plans to contest the recovery notice. The notice gives a clue to the working of ministries where old files are being dusted and no one is spared.
Another no-go zone for ministers
After intelligence agencies tipped off the government that some of the kith & kin of a few ministers and top bureaucrats are actively associated with NGOs, corrective steps are being taken. It transpires that PM Modi signaled to his ministerial colleagues that their kith & kin should refrain from holding positions in such NGOs particularly those receiving funds from abroad. If they want to work for the down-trodden and special causes, they can do it by associating with several schemes launched by the government. The way the Ministry of Home Affairs has cracked down on hundreds of NGOs for violations of FCRA rules & procedures in the recent past, sends a strong signal to political leaders and bureaucrats.
