February 24 is observed as central excise day across the country. But superintendents of the central excise and service tax are in no mood to celebrate. The All India Association of Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers (AICEIA) and its sister associations across states have decided to boycott the celebration. Fed up with no promotions, low salary and lack of proper working conditions, 11,500 superintendents of the excise department all over the country are planning to tender mass resignations on April 30.

“We have been presenting our demands for the last two decades but the authority concerned turned a deaf ear to our demands,” says Ravi Malik, who is secretary general to All India Association of Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers. Malik joined as central excise inspector in 1985 after clearing staff selection commission (SSC) exam. He has got only one promotion in the last 27 years of his service and became superintendent. The employee association alleges that there are wide disparities in promotions within and among the three cadres of Inspectors of Central Excise/ Preventive Officers of Customs/Examiners of Customs to the Gazetted Group B posts and further to the Group A.

“We are forced to retire with only one promotion in our more than 35 years of service while our counterparts in other organisation get five to six promotions,” he says. While the same cadre staff in the income tax office retires as additional commissioner, in the excise office people have to remain content with the post of superintendent. In terms of tax collection, the union excise duties collected Rs 1,50,696 lakh crore for the financial year 2011-12. For the current financial year, the estimate collection from the department is estimated to be Rs 1,94,350 lakh crore.

“When our inspectors generate so much of revenue for government why there is such disparity in the salary for its ground level staffs,” says Malik. The central excise superintendents retire in merely pay band – 2 resulting into even their salary less than their counterparts who retire in pay band – 4. The cadres have not been restructured since 2002 while it is prescribed to be done in every five-year interval. “The employees’ grievance redressal mechanism has totally failed in their case as the authorities are not interested to do anything for them. The government has not granted arrears of pay, time scale, promotions despite the orders from the supreme court in 2011 for ‘just and fair representation’,” he says.

However, the employee association plan is to protest step wise. From February 25 to March 1, the excise superintendents will wear black badges to register protest. They will also observe only “work to rule” in relation of budget related as well as revenue collection work and will perform only the official duties to achieve the revenue targets. A demonstration is planned on March 1. And if government doesn’t listen to their demands they have decided to tender mass resignation on April 30.