There are some great insights that we can pick from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s today address at Rajasva Gyan Sangam. He was addressing tax administrators coming from various parts of the nation from both the Union and State Governments. While inaugurating the event today at New Delhi, Prime Minister emphasizes officers to improve their work-culture. In fact, incorporating both a “sense of urgency” and “measurability” in their performance. In fact, if these two factors come into everybody’s life, probably that will change the face of the nation. It all lies in mind. Most important task is to convince mind. Once we are able to convince our mind, nothing remains impossible or unachievable. That is probably the crux of this message in today’s event.
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During his address at Rajasva Gyan Sangam, PM also mentions GST. He says GST is a great tool not only for economic integration of the country but also for the transparency in the whole mechanism. In fact, more than 17 lac new traders have entered into the indirect tax system within a short span of two months. That is quite a significant achievement for the government and the nation. The Prime Minister emphasizes that all traders must take maximum benefit of GST. And that is not difficult to perform. It is just a question of all traders, even relatively small traders with a turnover below Rs. 20 lacs registering with the GST system. In fact, he says, all officers must make efforts in this direction by creating a favorable ecosystem for this category.
Rajasva Gyan Sangam Addressed by PM
For this, the Prime Minister says on the occasion of the inauguration of Rajasva Gyan Sangam, the officers should fix clear targets in order to improve the country’s tax administration by 2022. That will be the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. He ensures that the Union Government is creating an environment which is strong enough to shatter the confidence of the corrupt. And at the same time, the same system installs a new level of confidence and trust among the honest taxpayer. Demonetization and implementation of strict laws against black money and benami property are some of the powerful steps in this direction. He advocates minimum human intervention in the whole mechanism of tax administration’s dealings. At least, for the first time, in our country, a substantial emphasis is given to automation.
While addressing the tax administrators at Rajasva Gyan Sangam, Prime Minister also asks for faster deployment of “e-assessment” and anonymity of proceedings using technology. It is important to ensure that vested interests do not impede the due course of law. In fact, it all depends on the administration mechanism and mindset. As he says, a huge pendency of tax cases in adjudication and appeal is a big concern for the nation. In fact, there is a huge volume of money which is locked up in these cases. The same money once come to realization can be helpful in the welfare of the poor. He suggests officers come up with a concrete course of action during the Rajasva Gyan Sangam in order to eliminate pendency.
Rajasva Gyan Sangam Needs To Build A Strong Ecosystem For Honest
As a matter of fact, the Prime Minister asks officers to use data analytics tools to proactively track and determine any discrepancies like undeclared income and wealth. He acknowledges that officers are making efforts each year to increase tax revenue. But, on the other hand, the amounts of tax that should accrue to the system does not match that. In reality, the actual tax collection is substantially lower than what it should be. He asserts that the honest should not continue to pay the price for the misdeeds of the dishonest. In fact, there has to be a time-plan with officers to ensure a solution to ‘tax raised and not realized’. As a matter of fact, during his address at Rajasva Gyan Sangam, the Prime Minister suggests a complete reworking of human resource management thus helping in the enhancement of data analytics and investigation wing.
