FM Directs I-T Wing To Work For Benefit Of Common People

Mumbai/New Delhi: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday urged the income tax (I-T) department to work for the benefit of common people without making them run from pillar to post. She also said that she is not asking the officials to break the rules or do something out of the way for the common citizens but rued that it takes a lot of effort in this country for people to get their rightful claims.

Citing the challenges faced by the department in getting permissions to construct a building in the Nariman Point business district, which she inaugurated on Sunday, Sitharaman said these experiences, despite serving in the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), would have given them an idea of what the common man goes through.

She also went public with her disappointment at the ‘laidback’ nature of government departments, which leads to illegal occupation or encroachments on government lands and underlined the need for integrity in conduct from all officials.

An IRS officer has the name of the income tax department behind him, a "powerful force to frighten people", Sitharaman reminded, adding that despite this, the officials had to run from pillar to post to get clearances from authorities to proceed with work on the 13-floor building.

“Can this (experience) incentivise you to understand the position of a common citizen when he approaches you? Don't make them run from pillar to post where your authority is required; do the work for them,” the finance minister said.

The land parcel on which Aaykar Sindhu, the 1.13 lakh sq ft building, is built, had been with the I-T department since 1973, Sitharaman said, adding that despite this, illegal occupations had sprouted up on the land.

“The fact that you led it to have occupations, illegal occupation, shows somewhere in our governance, we are too laid back. It is somebody's job to take care of our assets, and when it is encroached, we say, oh, we have the land, but we can't build it," she said.