'Best' babus to head VAT, excise depts: CM Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: In an experiment of sorts, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has decided to appoint the best bureaucrat as the head of each department who can achieve targets set by the government. A beginning is being made with the two revenue generating wings of value added tax (VAT) and excise.

The announcement regarding the posts of VAT and excise commissioners were made by the CM during his speech at the CII conference on Tuesday. Currently the VAT wing is headed by Sanjeev Khirwar and the excise one by Neeraj Semwal.

The AAP government faces the challenge of improving the health of the state exchequer, which will enable it to fulfil the promises made to Delhi's citizens. The government claims it has inherited a set-up where there is a revenue shortfall of about Rs 4,600 crore as against the targets for 2014-15.

"We are going to issue a circular regarding the posts of VAT and excise commissioners. Whoever wants to become the VAT/excise commissioner, they will have to tell me how much money they can collect in one year. They will be asked to provide us with a quarterly plan, along with a blueprint of how they will collect that money," Kejriwal said.

He said the these bureaucrats will have to submit their plans detailing the changes they will make in policies, how they will stop tax evasion and what they need from the government to achieve their plan—like does he need any financial support or additional powers. "We will provide them everything they require to do their job," Kejriwal said.

"This will inspire people to come up with ideas and we can compile those ideas. Whoever will get the job, I assure that ...in one year, there will be no political interference, no transfers and we will give them a hefty sum as their performance allowance," the CM said.

Earlier, Kejriwal had asked HODs to think out of the box to achieve targets. The government is projecting the move as a bid to encourage healthy competition among bureaucrats. "We have seen what happens in transfers and postings. Recommendations come (to be in any department). This time we have decided that for some of the head of the departments, there should be a new experiment," Kejriwal had said.