Around 250 superintendents, inspectors and all the Group ‘C’ staff of Customs and Central Excise Department in Raipur, Bhilai and Bilaspur have threatened to go on a hunger strike if their demands for setting up new Commissionerates do not meet in Chhattisgarh.
“There are several officers in our department who have received only one promotion in a career span of more than three decades. Creation of new Commissionerates will create more posts and lead to prompt promotions,” said Anand Kishore, General Secretary of All India Association of Central Excise, Raipur. According to the norms, a new Commissionerate could be created if revenue generated from the existing Commissionerate is more than Rs 2,000 crore annually.
Despite rapid industrialisation in Chhattisgarh, there is only one Commissionerate which overburdens the staff. Demand for cadre restructuring and creation of new Commissionerates in Bhilai and Bilaspur has been long-pending, he said.
“It is frustrating to work on the same designation even as one’s capability has increased over the years. The stagnation is unparallelled in comparison to other Government departments,” said Ajit Kumar, Secretary General of All India Central Excise Inspectors Association. Kumar said it is demoralizing for the staff and it ultimately affects the financial growth of the country. A cadre review was held in 2008 to analyse functioning of the department and make amendments. However, it failed to address grievances of its employees, especially group B, he said. “If the Government does not accede to our demand, we will hold a hunger strike. We have nothing to lose,” Kumar said.
However, denying the allegation, Commisioner Pradeep Kumar said he is in favour of creating a new Commissionerate and a ‘positive’ response regarding the expansion will come in six months time. “I admit that the restructuring has been delayed for quite some time now but we are a body under the Central Government. The decision has to come from Delhi,” he said.