Finally, Najib Shah in Excise and Customs Board after One Year Wait

Modi Govt Fills CBEC to Full Strength with Five New Entrants

Government on Monday appointed five senior IRS officers, as the new Members of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).

Najib Shah is the first on the list. He should take over from the current Chairman Kaushal Srivastava who will retire in two months at end July. Shah will thus oversee the next two Budgets in his innings as the head of Excise and Customs Board. The senior had to wait for nearly a year to join the Board. (The rumours is that the BJP Government did not want a Muslim at the top during their term in the Central Government.)

Others to join the Board along with the retirement months are: Ashok Kaushal (September 1955) presently Chief Commissioner of Customs Mumbai, V.S. Krishnan (November 1955) currently Chief Commissioner Excise, Mumbai, Neerja Shah wife of Najib Shah (September 1955) currently DG HRD, Vanaja Narayan Sarna (January 1958) currently Chief Commissioner TAR.

Ram Tirath who is now DG Safeguards should join the Board in the vacancy created by Ms. Roy Chander who is retiring at this month end.

It seems that the BJP government is filling up vacancies in top positions in line with established norms of seniority to keep the promotion chain moving. This will boost the morale of the revenue officers who had protested to the Finance Minister on the move to supersede the entire 1979 Batch to stop Najib Shah from entering the Board.