Surat I-T staff stage walkout

To protest the government's failure in resolving their various long-pending issues, the officials and employees of income-tax (I-T) department staged a walkout on Tuesday.

The protest was under the aegis of the Joint Council of Action (JCA) of the Income-Tax Employees Federation & the Income-Tax Gazetted Officers Association.

All income-tax employees and officials from Surat participated in the walkout. The union leaders addressed the employees at the Aaykar Bhavan campus and lashed out at Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) authorities for their failure in fulfilling their demands.

The employees have placed eleven demands before CBDT, but the board is still unmoved. These demands include filling up vacant posts, stopping of outsourcing its functions.

The demand list also includes promotions to the cadre of assistant commissioner for the recruitment years 2003-04 and 2004-05, and joint commissioner for the recruitment year 2004-05.

The association has also demanded that promotions be made to the cadres for which recruitment rules are yet to be notified on the basis of instruction dated June 4, 2001.

One association member further listed the demands and said, "Giving effect to revision of payscale of ITOs and inspectors with effect from January 1, 1996, and promotion of group D employees to fill up 25 per cent vacancies in the cadre of tax assistants. We also demand immediate modification in the duty list of group D staff as suggested by the JCA and redesignation of cadre of daftaries as record assistants while another demand is withdrawal of bifurcation of assistant commissioners vacancies of 2000-01 made in contravention of the cabinet decision on cadre restructuring."

The employees have demanded the issuance of instruction regarding the seniority of direct recruits and promotees in terms of final advice given by DOPT in clarification of their OM dated February 7, 1986, and notification of examination rules and pending such notification to conduct the examination for the year 2004, as per the suggestions of the federation.

They have also asked for equitable distribution of workload as per the cadre restructuring plan and hiking the manpower in proportion to the increased number of tax payers.

The JCA plans to organise a mass dharna on January 6 in front of the residence of CBDT chairman at New Delhi, and also in front of all offices of CCITs/ CITs throughout the country if the issues are not settled by that time.

The employees will go on a one-day token strike on February 24, in case of non-settlement of demands.