Taking Bribes and Vigilance Bureau

Taking Bribes and Vigilance Bureau

-Lalit Kumar Setia

Demarcation of farming land by Kanoongo

In newspapers, most of the time, there is news of catching an employee red-handed taking of bribe by the Vigilance Bureau. For example, a Kanoongo caught red-handed while accepting illegal gratification of an amount of money. The Vigilance Bureau in its raid nabs the employee after getting any complaint from any citizen who has been asked by the employee to give a bribe. In news, it is found that the employee asked for a bribe for doing any work, he is authorized to do at his seat in office. For example, the Kanoongo is authorized for demarcating farming land and he is caught for accepting bribes in lieu of demarcation of farmland.

It's our pleasure to do an addition to the knowledge of others, yesterday the training inputs on *Pensionary Benefits* and *e-Procurement* made the learners get an exposure to potential irregularities and how to deal the files as per latest Government instructions.

The Deployment of Contractual Persons Policy using HKRNL, Administrative and Financial Vigilance, and more training inputs are new additions, for every government employee in the future courses.

https://smartinstituterls.blogspot.com/2022/12/deployment-of-contractual-persons.html 

Compensation for the damaged crop by a Revenue officer

The Government in Revenue Department in every season whenever the crops are damaged due to natural calamities provides compensation to the farmers in lieu of damaged crops. In December 2019, the State Vigilance Bureau caught red-handed a Patwari, demanding and taking a bribe of Rs. 20 thousand for transferring the money of compensation in the account of a farmer. In a village Pauli of Jind District, as per Government rules, a farmer was supposed to get Rs. 40 thousand for the compensation in lieu of damaged crop during the year 2017-18. The Government sent the amount to the Revenue Department and the patwari who was authorized to transfer the money in the account of a farmer, demanded Rs. 20 thousand from the farmer. The farmer complaint to the State Vigilance Bureau (SVB).

How Vigilance Bureau worked?

As Duty Magistrate, the Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO), Safidon, and an inspector of State Vigilance Bureau prepare the raid for catching the patwari red-handed while accepting the bribe. An amount of Rs. 20 thousand in form of notes, with the signature of the duty magistrate, and powder were given to the complainant (farmer). He dialed the number of the patwari and the patwari asked him to come to the Julana Tehsil Office. While accepting the bribe, the farmer gave the signal to the team and the team caught the patwari red-handed.

*Copyright © 2021 Dr. Lalit Kumar. All rights reserved. 

All Intellectual Property rights including Copyright etc. are reserved and vested exclusively with the author or editor, Dr. Lalit Kumar. No part of the material contained in this webpage may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, technical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without the written permission of the author or editor, Dr. Lalit Kumar. 

This content is written by Dr. Lalit Kumar Setia; a renowned author and trainer. He completed his Doctorate in Commerce from Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra and MBA in Information Technology from GJU, Hisar. He also wrote two books, 15 research papers, and organized more than 200 Training Courses during his working period since 2006 in Haryana Institute of Public Administration, Gurugram. The article was published on 23rd December 2021 and last updated on 23rd December 2021. The writer can be contacted on lalitkumarsetia@gmail.com 

More Articles

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Office Procedures in Government

 Office Procedures in Government

-Dr. Lalit Kumar Setia

The Government functions to ensure the availability of public services to citizens of a country. The mandate of 'Minimum Government Maximum Governance' is possible to achieve with proper planning and implementation of specific target-oriented programs. 

Why Office Procedures are important?

For getting the things done from others, three basic things are required to be ensured. A. Transparency B. Responsiveness C. Accountability. Good Governance and e-Governance are possible only if these three things are focused on administration. How to make employees responsive to the new guidelines and instructions? How to ensure transparency in functions of office? and how to fix accountability of Officers / Officials? 

Simplification is the Key to Success:

The Government Process Restructuring is transforming the way the government delivers or ensures the delivery of goods and services and public services to the citizens. It is required to make the organizations more logical with fixing the responsibilities and accountabilities of the Officers / Officials in better forms with the delegation of authorities and responsibilities. 

Strengthening relationships within Organization:

The Office Procedures not only guide how to maintain the relationships alive among various designations of organization structure. The norms, rules, policies, instructions are in compliance with the proper implementation of office procedures. To bring efficiency in outcomes of functions, it is a must to strengthen the relationships. It is required to reidentify the strategic aims and purposes to strengthen the relationships and better achieve the objectives. 

Noting and Drafting

The decisions are taken based on the information and the information should be briefly provided as per the requirement of the Officers. For this purpose, there are guidelines to be followed by the concerned officials so that the decisions be accurate and faster in the offices and time of the Officers be utilized to the great extent possible. The letters and other forms of correspondence within the organization and between the organizations have been computerized with e-office applications. The e-Office not only saved time but also reduced the cost of operations. The file numbering system, processing of DAK, and accurate procedures for official communication are the premises for effective compliance with office procedures. 

Principles for Records Management

Firstly, compliance with the record retention schedule so that the old records that are not required can be easily settled down as per norms. Secondly, maintain the records properly so that decisions can be taken the time and effectively. Third, most important the records should be easily retrievable without wasting time and for this purpose, the records index should be available in the office and everyone who may require the record/s should have access to this index. Fourth, for inspection of the activities, the audit should be carried out of the records whether the entries in the records are accurate or not. Fifth, most important is to dispose of the obsolete records so that the decisions are not delayed unnecessarily due to wastage of time in exploring such records that are of no use in the present time. 

Hindi Version

सरकार में कार्यालय प्रक्रियाएं

-डॉ. ललित कुमार सेतिया

सरकार किसी देश के नागरिकों को सार्वजनिक सेवाओं की उपलब्धता सुनिश्चित करने के लिए कार्य करती है। विशिष्ट लक्ष्य-उन्मुख कार्यक्रमों की उचित योजना और कार्यान्वयन के साथ 'न्यूनतम सरकार अधिकतम शासन' का जनादेश प्राप्त करना संभव है।

सरकार में कार्यालय प्रक्रियाएं

कार्यालय प्रक्रियाएं क्यों महत्वपूर्ण हैं?

दूसरों से काम करवाने के लिए तीन बुनियादी बातों को सुनिश्चित करना आवश्यक है। A. पारदर्शिता B. उत्तरदायित्व C. जवाबदेही। सुशासन और ई-गवर्नेंस तभी संभव है जब इन तीनों चीजों को प्रशासन पर केंद्रित किया जाए। कर्मचारियों को नए दिशानिर्देशों और निर्देशों के प्रति उत्तरदायी कैसे बनाया जाए? कार्यालय के कार्यों में पारदर्शिता कैसे सुनिश्चित करें? और अधिकारियों की जवाबदेही कैसे तय करें?

सरलीकरण सफलता की कुंजी है:

'सरकारी प्रक्रिया पुनर्गठन' सरकार द्वारा नागरिकों को माल और सेवाओं और सार्वजनिक सेवाओं के वितरण या वितरण को सुनिश्चित करने के तरीके को बदल रहा है। अधिकारियों और जनता के प्रतिनिधिमंडल, अधिकारियों की जिम्मेदारियों और जवाबदेही को बेहतर रूपों में तय करने के साथ साथ, संगठनों को और अधिक तार्किक बनाने की आवश्यकता है।

संगठन के भीतर संबंधों को मजबूत बनाना:

कार्यालय प्रक्रियाएं न केवल संगठन संरचना के विभिन्न पदनामों के बीच संबंधों को जीवित बनाए रखने के लिए मार्गदर्शन करती हैं, बल्कि ये प्रक्रिया मानदंड, नियम, नीतियां, निर्द के उचित कार्यान्वयन को भी  सुनिश्चित करती हैं। कार्यों के परिणामों में दक्षता लाने के लिए, संबंधों को मजबूत करना अत्यंत आवश्यक है। संबंधों को मजबूत करने और उद्देश्यों को बेहतर ढंग से प्राप्त करने के लिए रणनीतिक उद्देश्यों और उद्देश्यों को फिर से पहचानना आवश्यक है।

नोटिंग और प्रारूपण

सूचना के आधार पर निर्णय लिए जाते हैं और अधिकारियों की आवश्यकता के अनुसार संक्षिप्त जानकारी प्रदान की जानी चाहिए। इस उद्देश्य के लिए, संबंधित उप - अधिकारियों द्वारा दिशा-निर्देशों का पालन किया जाना है ताकि कार्यालयों में निर्णय सटीक और तेज हो और अधिकारियों के समय का यथासंभव उपयोग किया जा सके। संगठन के भीतर और संगठनों के बीच पत्र और पत्राचार के अन्य रूपों को 'ई-ऑफिस अनुप्रयोगों' के साथ कम्प्यूटरीकृत किया गया है। ई-ऑफिस न केवल समय की बचत की बल्कि संचालन की लागत को भी कम करता है। फाइल नंबरिंग सिस्टम, डाक की प्रोसेसिंग और आधिकारिक संचार के लिए सटीक प्रक्रियाएं कार्यालय प्रक्रियाओं के प्रभावी अनुपालन के लिए जरूरी हैं।

अभिलेख प्रबंधन के सिद्धांत

सबसे पहले, रिकॉर्ड प्रतिधारण अनुसूची का अनुपालन जरूरी है ताकि पुराने रिकॉर्ड जिनकी आवश्यकता नहीं है, उन्हें मानदंडों के अनुसार आसानी से व्यवस्थित किया जा सके। दूसरे, रिकॉर्ड को ठीक से बनाए रखें ताकि निर्णय समय पर और प्रभावी ढंग से लिए जा सकें। तीसरा, सबसे महत्वपूर्ण, रिकॉर्ड बिना समय बर्बाद किए आसानी से पुनर्प्राप्त करने योग्य होना चाहिए और इस उद्देश्य के लिए, रिकॉर्ड्स इंडेक्स कार्यालय में उपलब्ध होना चाहिए और हर किसी को जिसको रिकॉर्ड की आवश्यकता हो सकती है, उनकी इस इंडेक्स तक पहुंच होनी चाहिए। चौथा, गतिविधियों के निरीक्षण के लिए अभिलेखों की चेकिंग की जानी चाहिए कि अभिलेखों में प्रविष्टियाँ सही हैं या नहीं। पांचवां, सबसे महत्वपूर्ण है अप्रचलित अभिलेखों का निपटान करना ताकि ऐसे अभिलेखों की खोज में समय की बर्बादी के कारण निर्णयों में अनावश्यक रूप से देरी न हो।

*Copyright © 2021 Dr. Lalit Kumar. All rights reserved.

This article is written by Dr. Lalit Kumar Setia; a renowned author and trainer. The article was published on 25th August, 2021 and last updated on 4^th September, 2021. The writer can be contacted on lalitkumarsetia@gmail.com 

How a Person Caught for Tax Evasion

 How a Person Caught for Tax Evasion

-Dr. Lalit Kumar Setia

Modes of Tax Evasion:

Taxpayers most of the time, try to delay the payment of taxes or even be failed to pay the taxes. The Government takes it very strictly and there are provisions of penalties, late fees, interest on delayed payment etc. Secondly, there are instances where the smuggling is used to hide the transactions and such things are curbed with the help of taxation inspectors. Third, one of the major modes of tax evasion is the submission of false tax returns. In Government as well as Corporate organizations, the employees and suppliers to organizations, submit false tax returns hiding their income; known as concealment of income. Submission of false tax returns is taken very strictly and the person is required to pay 300% of the amount including a 200% penalty and even there are provisions for imprisonment if it is done intentionally by a person.

The fourth way is to show inaccurate financial statements, most organizations maintain two types of books, one in the fairway and the second is a rough way. Whenever any taxation inspector or audit team comes into the shop/office, the fair accounts are shown which are incomplete. Even it is tried to give bribes and hide the facts from Government.

The fifth way is the submission of false documents (affidavits, certificates, undertakings, etc.) particularly to claim exemptions, deductions, and other benefits available in the Income Tax Act. This is mostly done by the persons who know the provisions in a smarter way.

The sixth way is ‘Non Reporting of Income’, for example, hiding the income from specified sources such as the sale of assets, business transactions without taking money in a bank account, etc.

The seventh way is ‘to store the money and wealth outside the country so that the Government cannot look into the money and wealth retained by the persons.

How Government collects Tax?

The Income Tax Department directs Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) to deduct a certain percentage of tax from certain specific nature of payments and thereafter remit the same. In the United States of America (USA) is known as ‘Pay As You Earn’ means the citizens while receiving an income, get the tax deducted first. It is basically a great method to reduce tax evasion. Isn’t it?

Status of Income-tax return forms

In India, the extended last date of Income-tax return was 31st December 2021. As of 19th December 2021, the total income tax return forms received were 3.83 crores out of which, more than 50% that is 2.17 crores were submitted by salaried employees. The figures state that out of people contributing to the collection of income tax, the majority of taxpayers belonged to the 'Salaries category', and this majority matters in the economic development of India. 

In Government organizations, DDOs are responsible to withdraw government money from the treasury and disburse the same as per the rules of the Finance Department. How do DDOs support tax administration? What is expected from the DDOs as far as Income Tax is concerned?

A. Obtaining Tax Deductor Account Number (TAN):

Before deducting tax at source (TDS), it is a must for the DDOs to obtain a Tax Deductor Account Number (TAN). It is required to mention the TAN number while depositing the TDS, submit the return of TDS, and issue the certificate of TDS to the deductee.

B. Receiving the correct PAN number from the Deductees and Mentioning it:

It is true that the DDO has to deduct TDS if payments are of certain specific nature as per the Income Tax Act. But it is also necessary that the amount deducted at the source is reflected in the correct PAN of deductees. In case, the PAN number is written wrong or the deductee submits it wrong; the tax credit cannot be provided.

C. Tax Deduction at Correct Rate as per Act and its Deposit

A DDO should be aware of the provisions of Income Tax, how much tax or at which rate, the tax be deducted from which nature of the payment. After deduction of tax, it cannot be retained in the pocket of DDO or in any other account of office/government. It is required to transfer the deducted amount to the designated banks either through book transfer or challan. In case, the TDS is collected by Government Department then it is transferred immediately with the book transfer entry at the time of making payment, and in case of others, it is required to deposit the TDS amount before the 7^th of the following month. There is one exception, that is the last month of the financial year i.e. March. In case, the TDS amount is collected by others (i.e. other than Government Department), it is required to deposit the amount before 30^th April.

For a deposit of TDS, the deductor is required to use Challan no. 281 and pay the amount either on the web portal of Income Tax or in designated banks that facilitate Income Tax Department in effective administration. It is also necessary to quote the correct section of the Income Tax Act with the correct rate of TDS in each deductee record.

D. TDS / TCS Return filing by Deductors:

All Government Departments, Companies, Persons whose accounts are required to be audited, and the persons with more than 50 deductees are required to compulsorily submit the TDS / TCS return in a specific format i.e. Form 24Q for Salaries Payments, Form 26Q for Non-Salaries Payments, and Form 27EQ for Tax Collection at Source, etc.

It is also necessary to file the correction statements whenever there is any discrepancy noticed in the earlier-filed TDS / TCS returns.

E. Issue of Certificates to the Deductees:

It is required to issue the certificate to the deductee with mentioning the details of the amount deducted. In the case of salaried deductees, Form 16 is issued up to 31^st May and in the case of non-salaried deductees, Form 16A is issued within 15 days from the due date of furnishing the TDS return.  

*Copyright © 2021 Dr. Lalit Kumar. All rights reserved.

This article is written by Dr. Lalit Kumar Setia; a renowned author and trainer. The article was published on 27th July, 2021 and last updated on 4^th September, 2021. The writer can be contacted on lalitkumarsetia@gmail.com 

Next Pages

-Taxability of Conveyance Allowance

https://questionsinexam.blogspot.com/2021/07/taxability-on-conveyance-allowance.html

-Irregularities in Tendering:

https://drlalitsetia.blogspot.com/2021/07/irregularities-in-tendering.html 

-TDS on payment made to Government

https://drlalitsetia.blogspot.com/2021/08/tds-on-payment-made-to-government.html

Haryana Budget 2021-22 : An Overview

 Haryana Budget 2021-22 : An Overview

-Compiled by Dr. Lalit Kumar*

The Chief Minister of Haryana presented Budget today on 12th March, 2021. He proposed Budget for Rs. 1.55 Lac Crores; which is almost 13% more than the budgey of last Financial Year 2020-21.

Out of total Expenditure, 25% is related to Capital Expenditure while 75% is related to Revenue Expenditure. The Capital Expenditure is for Rs. 38,718 Crores and the Revenue Expenditure is for approximate Rs. 1.17 Lac Crores.

Last year, the revenue deficit was Rs. 20,856 Crores and in next year, it is estimated that the revenue deficit will be Rs. 29,193 Crores. The increase is revenue deficit states that there will be more expenditure on items not related to long term development of the state. 

In case, more amount is allocated for development or capital expenditure, in long-run the capacity to earn revenues is increased which also support the Government to finance its revenue expenditure. The revenue deficit is estimated at 3.29% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). 

The Fiscal Deficit which is 2.9% during the year 2020-21 is estimated to be increased up to 3.83% of Gross State Domestic Product. However, the 15th Finance Commission stated to maintain the Fiscal Deficit up to 4% and the budget is also maintaining the same. 

In order to finance the revenue deficit, the debt liability is also estimated to be increased from 1.99 Lac Crores to Rs. 2.29 Lac Crores and it is estimated to be 25% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). 

The Old Age Pension will be increased from Rs. 2250 to Rs. 2500 per month from 1st April, 2021. The Budget Outlay is increased from Rs. 5052 Crores to Rs. 6110 Crores and out of Rs. 6110 crores of Budget Outlay, Rs. 2998 Crores is earmarked for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rs. 1274 for Cooperation, Rs. 1225 Crores for Animal Husbandry, Rs. 489 Crores for Horticulture, and Rs. 125 Crores for Fisheries. 

The Budget Outlay shows that the overall focus is to support farmers through Agriculture, Cooperation, Animal Husbandry, Horticulture, and Fisheries. The amount will be spent upon schemes of Agriculture, Crop Diversification through Horticulture, Water Conservation Schemes, and promoting Fisheries. 

Last year, the Health Sector has been allocated Rs. 6433 Crores and this year, an expenditure of Rs. 7731 Crores is earmarked for Health Sector. 

Further, the Government has also allocated Rs. 700 Crores for promoting Technology driven learning with use of digital infrastructure in Government Schools. However, earlier EDUSAT was used and remained unsuccessful. Now it is a new challenge for School Education Department to apply it and for this the School Principals, Lecturers and Teachers require training specifically in implementing Digital Education as per National Education Policy of India. 

The Government of Haryana will also provide Rs. 114.52 Crores for financial assistance to girl students. The Parivar Pehchan Patra - PPP Family IDs will be used to identify poorest families and financial assistance will be provided for uplift-ment to such beneficiaries through a new scheme i.e. The Mukhyamantri Antyodya Parivar Utthan Abhiyan - MAPUA; an amount of Rs. 1,80,000 will be used during the Financial Year 2021-22 on various measures for these poorest families including support in Education, Skills Development, Wages and Self Employment, and Job Creation etc. The objective of the Abhiyan is to uplift the families above the line of Poverty. 

*Dr. Lalit Kumar is working as Senior Faculty Member (Financial Management) in Haryana Institute of Public Administration (HIPA), Gurugram (Haryana).