Nagpur: The Valediction Ceremony of the Induction Training of the 69th Batch of Indian Revenue Service was held at the National Academy of Direct Taxes 13th April, 2017. Sushil Chandra, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes, New Delhi, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Faculty Members of NADT and Senior officers from the Income tax department and other departments in Nagpur were also present on the occasion.
The ceremony began at 9.30AM with a group photograph of the batch with the Chief Guest and Faculty followed by planting of a sapling by the Chief Guest in the campus. In his welcome address, Rang Nath Jha, Principal Director General (Training), NADT, encouraged the outgoing batch to work fearlessly and diligently for public service. He expressed confidence that these young officers would work with a human touch and balance of mind and heart. He stated that there is no limit to learning and exhorted the young officers of the Department to keep striving to achieve higher levels of excellence throughout their career.
R.K. Choubey, Additional Director General (Training)-1, NADT, presented the overview of the 16 months’ long Induction training and highlighted the innovations done in pedagogical methodologies in the core areas of academic and extracurricular inputs given at NADT. Prakash Dubey, Addl. Director & Course Director of the 69th batch presented the Course Report with a view to brief the gathering about the batch profile and overall performance of the officers during the training period. Ms. Nausheen Jahan Ansari, Additional Director General (Training)-2, NADT, administered the Tax Administrators’ Prayer to the Officer Trainees, which binds the officers to discharge their duties with diligence and without fear or favour.
The National Academy of Direct Taxes in Nagpur is the apex training academy in India for the Indian Revenue Service officers of the Income Tax Department (IRS-IT). The IRS officers are recruited through the Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). These 150 direct recruit IRS officers along with two officers from the Royal Bhutan Service, have undergone Induction Training of about 16 months during which the Officer Trainees have been provided with specialised inputs in Income Tax Laws, jurisprudence and allied tax laws as also general laws like GST, Companies Act, Contract Act, IPC, CPC, CrPC, Indian Evidence Act, Transfer of Property Act, Benami Transactions Act etc. As IRS Officer Trainees, they have received intensive training in accounts & accounting systems practised in India. Further, inputs on Financial Forensics and Cyber Forensics have also been given in order to prepare the trainees for investigation in tax matters as well as financial crimes including tax evasion and money laundering. The trainees are duly sensitised towards public service and the right to information.
In addition to theoretical inputs, the trainees have also been exposed to various practical aspects by way of attachments with various statutory bodies in India including the Parliament, NISM, RBI, Stock Exchange etc, Bharat Darshan Industrial attachment and their On-The-Job Training modules. Moreover, in order to expose them towards the best international tax practices, an International Attachment was also a part of their training programme.
In addition to the academic inputs, due emphasis has been laid on the physical fitness and overall personality development of the officer trainees by way of activities such as Physical Training, Karate and Yoga. Their abilities in the domain of sports and physical activities are brought to the fore in various activities including INTAX games, which develop camaraderie and sportsmanship amongst Officer Trainees.
In his valediction address, Sushil Chandra, the Chief Guest greeted the officers on successful completion of their training and encouraged them to embrace their new roles and challenges with commitment and a sense of pride. He emphasised that today the Income Tax Department is entrusted with one of the greatest national responsibilities of eradication of black money.
He further emphasised the need for each officer of the Department to continuously keep learning and updating his knowledge and skills because unlike many other statutes, the Income Tax Act is a dynamically evolving statute. He stated that Indian Revenue Service is a specialised service and stressed upon the importance of core competence since the officers are required to deal with the best brains of the society in their day to day official duties. He asked the officers to develop super-specialisation and expertise in at least one of the functional domains and develop as an authority in that area. He also urged the young officers to strive to become so competent an officer that he or she is sought after in every section of the Department.
He further underlined that integrity is the greatest asset and polite conduct with public is the most essential requirement of public service. He stressed that the young officers of cutting edge level are the face of the Department and their conduct and behaviour defines how the Department is perceived by the public. He further stated that today IRS officers having cadre strength of just about 5000 cater to nearly seven crore strong taxpayer community and are still able to redress the grievances effectively resulting in the Department receiving the Prime Minister’s Excellence Award for grievance redressal.
He encouraged the young minds to unhesitatingly depart from the conventional pathway in favour of innovation, efficiency and effectiveness and to be the catalysts of change. To put across this point, he recounted how innovative strategies helped achieve the Budget Collection Target of the Department and how the efforts of just a few innovative officers of the Department made it possible to handle the enormous data emerging as a consequence of the demonetisation drive, in the given time frame. He stressed that the officers must not crib about impediments and should focus on how to turn obstacles into opportunities.
Concluding his address, Sushil Chandra asked all officers to work with a sense of pride and reposed his faith in the commitment & capabilities of the outgoing officers. He expressed his firm belief that they would leave no stone unturned in making the Income Tax Department, the best Department in times to come. Finally, he presented medals to the following Officer Trainees for best performance in academics and overall performance:
These outgoing officers will join their respective place of postings as Assistant Commissioners of Income-tax in various field offices across the country.
