‘Wrong to have assumed role of Excise would decline with NLTP’
Morung Express News
Dimapur | October 28
The department of Excise & Prohibition as an enforcement agency has been functioning without field patrol vehicles for decades now. This was pointed out as an immediate and “pressing concern” of the department at the annual conference of the Nagaland State Excise Field Staff Association (NSEFSA) held at the Excise Directorate in Dimapur on October 28.
In a memorandum to the Parliamentary Secretary for Excise, BS Nganlang Phom, who was the chief guest of the conference, the NSEFSA stated the situation is such that vehicles assigned to the Superintendents of Excise have to double-up as “mobile pool/patrol vehicles.”
While stating that the Excise department would like to depart from the “past paralysing antecedents and move to a new trajectory by creating an enabling infrastructural environment,” the memorandum added that the lack of field vehicles is only aggravating the problem for an already depleted field strength.
In this regard, the NSEFSA requisitioned for obtaining field vehicles phase-wise and also separate vehicles for the district Excise chiefs, including the heads of the Mobile Squad and the Narcotic Cell and also for subordinate officers in the rank of deputy superintendent and Inspectors.
Parliamentary Secretary, Nganlang, in his response to the memorandum stated that the government is taking up the matter. “It maybe not upto your expectation but it’ll be done gradually,” he said, while admitting that vehicles, communication sets and weapons are prerequisites which an enforcement agency cannot do without. Commenting on the arms the Excise personnel are equipped with at present, Nganlang held that the conditions of the weapons are far from satisfactory. According to him, it was mistaken to assume that the responsibility of the Excise would decrease with the imposition of the NLTP Act.
On the proposal to change the department’s nomenclature from Excise & Prohibition to Excise & Narcotics, he said that work is on at the governmental level. Currently, narcotics is under the state police jurisdiction. On transfers and postings, he said that it is practically impossible to entertain each and every request to be posted in Dimapur or Kohima. He further discouraged the culture of bringing “VIP notes” for transfer bids.
While stating that the personnel should work in such a way that builds the image of the department, he added that as a revenue earning department, its personnel should be honest and sincere.
Commissioner of Excise, Tarep Imchen, held that discipline is paramount in an enforcement agency. Modernising the department further calls for equipping the personnel with the requisite knowledge and skills, he added.
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