The Union Government has appointed eight senior Odisha-cadre IAS officers as Nodal Officers to monitor implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the State. The officers would look into the problems haunting consumers due to the new
tax regime.
They are all Union Joint Secretary-level officers, Nikunja Kishore Sundaray, Parag Gupta, Satyabrat Sahu, Santosh Sarangi, Aparajita Sarangi, Sushil Kumar lohani, Usha Padhee and Suresh Kumar Vashisth.
While Sundaray will monitor GST implementation in Baleswar, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts, Gupta will cover the districts of Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada and Dhenkanal. Sahu will cover Khordha, Puri, Ganjam, Nayagarh and Kandhamal.
While Santosh Sarangi will monitor the GST in Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri and Gajapati, Aparajita Sarangi will be the Nodal Officer for Sundargarh and Deogarh.
lohani has been given the charge of Sambalpur, Bargarh and Jharsuguda while Usha Padhee is in charge of Balangir, Subarnapur and Nuapada. Vashisth is entrusted with the charge of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Angul.
The Nodal Officers are assigned terms of reference for monitoring GST implementation. They will look into registration of traders, display of tax rates in shops, awareness and publicity, GSTN functioning and proper billing in shops.
The officers will also obtain feedback from consumers’ associations, individual consumers, business associations and district administration on a daily basis. They will activate and utilise channels of feedback such as call centres, web portals, videoconferences and social media for the purpose of GST.
The Nodal Officers will monitor calibration of billing software by traders with special focus on accounting and billing systems of PSUs. Thy will report about the specific instances of price rise in real time basis to the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Revenue in Government of India.