Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday urged income tax officials to make it easier for people to access government services, saying citizens should not have to “run from pillar to post” to get work done that is within the department’s authority.Speaking after inaugurating Aaykar Sindhu, a 13-floor, 1.13 lakh sq ft income tax office building in Mumbai’s Nariman Point, Sitharaman said the department’s own experience in getting the project approved should help officials understand the problems faced by ordinary people.She said that even though officers of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) carry the name of the income tax department behind them “a powerful force to frighten people,” they still had to go from one authority to another to get the required permissions for the building.
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“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 FM said.She clarified that she was not asking officials to break rules or offer special favours. But she said people often have to make too much effort to get what they are rightfully entitled to, and that should change.Flags delays in protecting government landSitharaman also criticised what she called the “laidback” approach of government departments, saying it had allowed illegal encroachments on government land.She said the land on which Aaykar Sindhu has been built had belonged to the Income Tax department since 1973. Despite that, illegal occupations had come up on the property over the years.“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.She said the difficulties faced in getting approvals for the Nariman Point project, despite being an Income Tax department project, should give officials a better idea of what common citizens face while dealing with government offices.Promises to look into housing for officialsThe finance minister also said she would look into the issue of official accommodation for income tax officers in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. She said many officials do not have government housing, with nearly half having to travel long distances to work.Sitharaman said she would prefer government-to-government transfer of land to build more housing and promised to help speed up land transfers and approvals. She added that the Income Tax department would have to handle the remaining work, including getting permissions, coordinating with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), awarding contracts and completing tenders.“Get it all done at the earliest so that we do not get into the second half of the 21st century with scattered office spaces, rental accommodation in a city, which is fast growing and expect to pay rents or lease rental at phenomenal rates,” she said.She also asked officials to pursue land owned by state-run BSNL and said she would speak to the concerned minister to help with the process.Sitharaman also stressed the need for honesty and integrity in tax administration, saying it should guide every official’s work.“Integrity is the one and only principle I will advocate to each one of you,” she said.