Gauri Chhabra
Are you interested in a career that deals makes everyone ‘declare’ what he has? A position that everyone strives to be in? A career that make you the custodian of the economic frontiers besides giving you power and prestige. Well, if that is the case, a career in Customs is the best option for you. To get into Customs, you need to go into the nodal service- the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) – a department that amalgamates power, accountability and sense of service.
The Indian Revenue Service is the revenue service of the Government of India that functions under the Department of Revenue in the Union Ministry of Finance and is concerned with the collection and administration of the various direct and indirect taxes accruing to the Union Government.IRS comprises two branches – IRS (Income Tax) and IRS (Customs and Central Excise), which are controlled by two separate statutory bodies, viz., Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) respectively.
Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) is basically concerned with two main aspects, mainly Customs and Excise. While Customs is concerned with the checking and levy of duty on taxable goods brought into the country, the Excise department is involved with the taxation of goods manufactured within the country. Broadly put, it deals with the tasks of formulation of policy concerning levy and collection of Customs & Central Excise duties and Service Tax, prevention of smuggling and administration of matters relating to Customs, Central Excise, Service Tax and Narcotics to the extent under its purview.
Workscape
As a Customs Officer, you would be responsible for collecting customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of your country.A customs duty is a tariff or tax on the importation (usually) or exportation of goods.Besides, you would be responsible for the enforcing the laws and regulations for the import and export of goods into and out of a country, which are enforced by the Customs Authority including the restrictions on the import or export of some goods. There would be certain goods that are not through customs and you would be responsible for holding them in a customs area, often called a bonded store, until processed. In close association with the authorities, you would monitor the flow of people inside your country and check for appropriate documentation, verify that a person is entitled to enter the country, apprehend people wanted by domestic or international arrest warrants, and impede the entry of people deemed dangerous to the country.
RECRUITMENT
You can be recruited under two streams- Direct Recruits and Promoted Officers. Direct Recruits are selected from the Civil Services Examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission and based on preferences opted by you. You would be posted as Assistant Collectors of Customs and may rise up in the hierarchy to the level of Chief Collector of Customs. Appraisers in customs are those who missed the examination by few marks.
State Public Service Commission Allied Services Examination gives state level jobs in customs and Excise.Constables and customs preventive officers is the stage where direct recruitment takes place. Employment Exchange sponsors the names for the vacancies for the posts of constables.
Constables
At least Seventh standard examination must be passed for this post. Minimum 157.5 cms height and chest 81 cms is required.30 minutes are given to candidates to cycle 8 kms and 15 minutes to walk 1600 meters. Written test is taken for selection. Sweeper, chowkidars and peons are promoted for the post of constables at a certain percentage. Post of hawaldar or Head constable is given when a constable is promoted.
Preventive officers
For selecting candidates to this post Staff Selection commission holds an examination. You would be required to face an interview board after qualifying in the test. Graduation is minimum qualification required for this post. Minimum 157.5 cms height and chest 81 cms is required. 30 minutes are given to candidates to cycle 8 kms and 15 minutes to walk 1600 meters. Tax assistants and stenographer are promoted to the post of inspectors which comprises of twenty five percent of the total posts.
Clerical cadre
For the post of stenographer lower division clerks and upper division clerks, clerical cadres are selected. Matriculation is the minimum qualification required. Proficiency in shorthand and typing are tested.
A written test is taken for the post of Hindi Typists by staff Selection Commission. Proficiency test in typing is also tested. Matriculation is the minimum qualification required.
An all India level examination is taken for the post of upper division clerk. Minimum qualification needed for this post is graduation.
Promoted Officers like Income Tax Service, Group ‘B’ are promoted gradually over several years of service. The current ratio of two streams at entry level is kept at 1:1. Initial posting would be Assistant Commissioners up to senior rank of Principal Chief Commissioners, Member/Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes or Central Board of Excise and Customs.
Hierarchy
The following is the hierarchy under which you would be required to work:
*Probationers
*Assistant Commissioners (Customs)
*Deputy Commissioners (customs)
*Additional Commissioners (Customs )
*Commissioners (Customs)
*Member (Central Board of Excise and Customs)
*Chairman (Central Board of Excise and Customs).
As a Probationer to the customs service, you would begin your field training at Madras. As a Customs officer, you would be posted at international airports and ports like, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Goa, etc. You could also be posted at other border and coastal towns. Your primary duty would be to levy customs’ duty on goods, which are brought to the country. Customs & excise cadres are not watertight compartments. You would be liable to transfer from one to another, depending upon your experience and the exigencies of the work. You can graduate to the level of Chief Commissioner of Customs and Excise, with the pay of an Additional Secretary and hold technical and administrative charges in all the regions, exercising overall supervision on the technical and administration work. The head of the administration is the Chairman. Central Board of Excise and Customs.
Forking Pathways
You can have forking pathways to many other agencies and departments in the central and state governments in the law enforcement and intelligence organizations like the Central Bureau of Investigation, Research and Analysis Wing, Intelligence Bureau etc. You would be serving at various consulates and embassies as diplomats and also in international organizations like World Bank, OECD and IMF.
You would work in the unearthing of many scams in the country and take up all fraud and economic offences investigations by using the tax assessment details. Investigation conducted by the Revenue Service officers is used by other enforcement agencies in cases of corruption too and it leads to the recovery of black money. You would protect the country from smuggling and safeguard its economic borders and undertake patrolling missions in high seas and also takes preventive operations against piracy and smuggling.
Therefore, get ready for stepping up the stairs of safeguarding the economic frontiers of the country by getting into Customs.
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