Jaitley bids adieu to retiring Finance Secretary Adhia

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday wrote a blog praising the contribution made by Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, who is retiring on November 30.

Jaitely, who started his blog by talking about the four-year term of Adhia in the Finance Ministry, lauded Adhia's role as revenue secretary and praised his contribution for successfully accomplishing Mudra Yojana.

Outlining the key aspects of Adhia's term as the revenue secretary, Jaitley wrote, "His tenure as the Revenue Secretary will be remembered for various initiatives where he provided the bureaucratic leadership in shaping and implementation of the policy. The campaign against black money both within and outside the country was the initial highlight of the Revenue Department. The Income Tax department now functions online with no physical interface between the assessee and the assessment official. "

 

He further brought forward the reference of GST implementation during Adhia's term and credited him for the effort made by him and his team for meeting the tight deadline of the tax reform's implementation.

"After the centre-state developing a consensus on the multiple GST legislation, drafting of rules and fixing tariffs, which was achieved in a short period of time. It was his efforts supported by his team of officers of centre and state governments, which made it possible to hit the deadline of 1st July 2017. Rate reductions and smoothening of the rough edges were also achieved in a record time," Jaitley wrote.

The finance minister, in his blog, also outlined that Adhia's tenure saw an exponential increase in tax base and the tax realisations.

Asserting that the follow-up after demonetisation in detecting the large cash depositors and making them accountable was no mean challenge, the finance minister praised Adhia for executing these steps with calmness and professionalism.

Jaitley also put an end to the speculation of government extending the term of the finance secretary and wrote, "The Government wanted to use his capability and experience in some alternate capacity. He had informed me earlier this year that he would not work for a single day after the 30th of November 2018. His time thereafter belongs to his favourite passion and of course his son.