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HISTORY OF CHENNAI CENTRAL EXCISE (continued)
The report had compared the system of assessment and
control over sugar and match factories in the various
provinces.
· The total expenditure of collection of Central Excise
was estimated to be about Rs.4,97,000/- per year.
· The then existing cost of collection was found to be
highest in Bombay and lowest in Madras.
Consequent to the report, the administration of Central
Excise was taken over from the provincial governments by
the Madras Salt Department (now under the control of
Government of India) under the Central Board of Revenue.
There were 7 Sugar factories and 3 Match factories
during the year 1938-39.
Due to
compulsion of War finance, the Government had to mobilize
additional resources and took a bold decision of
introducing excise levy on un-manufactured tobacco.
Survey on feasibility of imposing excise duty on
tobacco was made in 1942. The advent of excise on tobacco
led to mass recruitment of personnel to cover every nook
and corner of the country. The Madras Central Excise
Collectorate at that time (1944) covered the whole of then
Madras Presidency Viz., from Vijayanagaram in the North to
Kanyakumari in the South and from Madras in the East
to South Canara in the West. The Central Excises &
Salt Act, 1944 also came into existence subsequently.
Says, Shri C.Chidambaram, Retired Collector of Central
Excise, Chennai (1972-1975) "Although the country was then
ruled by an alien power, it is to their eternal
credit that the administration was totally assessee-friendly.
The principle adopted was that the procedures should
be such that they should be tailored to meet the
requirements of Trade and Industry instead of other way
about. Consequently, the senior officers went round
the country to get a feedback and to find solutions
for the practical difficulties of the assessees. Officers
of all
grades were also encouraged to come up with suggestions
towards the same end. The working conditions were
extremely harsh. No Government vehicle was provided at any
level. Survey of tobacco fields required intensive visits
to villages. However, thanks to the inspirational
leadership and the motivation provided no one felt
reluctant to undertake the onerous tasks. Sir Harry
Greenfield was the architect of tobacco excise Shri. A.N.
Sattanathan, ICS, Member Central Board of Revenue prepared
a supplement of Tobacco Manual, which was
adopted for the rest of the country. Likewise, the
procedures for Coffee and Betel nut excise.
Preventive activities centered around Karaikal, Mahe and
Yanam and the number of excisable commodities were much
less. Tobacco, Matches and Cement were the main revenue
yielding commodities in 1960s and thereafter every year
few more items were added. Initially there was physical
control with Central Excise Officers, mostly Inspectors
posted to factories. In case of less revenue yielding
units like Match factories, Sub-Inspectors were posted".
The scale of pay of an Inspector in 1950 was Rs.
80-Prob.-100-5-120-8-200 (as compared to the present
Rs.5500 – 9000 grade). The daily allowance on tour was 15
Annas for a place 8 miles beyond head-quarters.
Since then much water has flown under the bridge. The
cadres have been rationalised. In particular, the grade of
Assistant Inspector (in the rest of the country it was
known as Deputy Superintendent) was abolished.
The Sub-Inspector grade (that did not exit in the South)
was also abolished. Other milestones (in common with the
rest of the country) were the introduction of Self Removal
Procedure (SRP) scheme, subsequent withdrawal of
unmanufactured tobacco excise, setting up of separate
appeal machinery such as Tribunal, Settlement Commission
etc. in order to avoid the impression of prosecutor
himself functioning as judge etc.
The Madras Collectorate has been reorganised. Bangalore
Collectorate came existence in 1957 and Kerala was placed
under newly created Cochin Collectorate with Head Quarters
at Cochin in 1960. In 1962 Hyderabad Collectorate was
carved out. Madurai Collectorate was created in 1971.
Separate and compact Collectorates at Trichy and
Coimbatore within Tamil Nadu were set up in 1983.
Trichy Collectorate also looked after customs work outside
the jurisdiction of Madras Custom House.
Chennai Commissionerates was re-organised on 01.08.1997
into Chennai-I, Chennai-II and Chennai-III
Commissionerate respectively.
Madras Central Excise Collectorate was functioning from
No.15, Harington Road, Chetpet, Madras, in the
forties. It moved into its own premises at 121,
Nungambakkam High Road (now Mahatma Gandhi Salai), Chennai
during 1958.
The States of Hyderabad, Mysore, had their own excise
system. Recruitment during the earlier period in the
forties was purely on educational qualification and
on the basis of performance in the interview. In the
sixties, recruitment was made through nominations
received from employment exchanges. The recruitment
system was overhauled with Government setting up Staff
Selection Commission in the eighties, which selected
candidates based on written test and interview.
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