Govt depts set for image overhaul

Taking a cue from the private sector, the government is set to shed its image of a sloppy service provider. The DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) and the income-tax department, which symbolised red-tapism during the licence raj, are set for an image overhaul.

The income-tax department will soon offer tax consulting, online grievance-handling services and much more. The department has launched a business process re-engineering project under the guidance of Adviser to the Finance Minister Vijay Kelkar.

The project, expected to be completed by the next fiscal, will also involve the nationwide e-filing of returns by assessees using digital signature. This project is expected to be announced by the new government.

Under the online grievance handling system, assessees will be able to track the status of their requests for correction in their tax returns from this fiscal itself, albeit in a limited way.

The services on offer will be based on feedback from market research, tax payers, income-tax officers and corporates.

The BPE exercise, with public interface, will be a first of sorts by any government department.

To sensitise officials, the department has already held meetings with them at the National Academy of Direct Tax in Nagpur last month. For a change, corporate honchos advised the government on how to become customer savvy.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade, on the other hand, has sought an ISO certification "" the first by a government office "" and has laid down a set of procedures for handling applications and grievances in a time-bound manner. It had initiated the process of sensitising officials and employees even before it sought to obtain the ISO 9001 and ISO 2000 certification.

A process manual and a policy objective, including the quality aspects, was prepared before the certifying agencies conducted audits in the third week of March.

The results of the audits have not yet been communicated to the DGFT. "The certification will impose a certain amount of self-discipline in the organisation. The idea is to upgrade the quality of services offered by us. Once you receive a certification, you are not only required to meet certain standards but also improve upon them every year," an official in the directorate said.