New Delhi: The principal director general of the National Academy of Direct Taxes in Nagpur Alka Tyagi has served show-cause notices for “indiscipline” to 70 Indian Revenue Service (IRS) trainee officers for not completing their “assignment” of hand making greeting cards for soldiers on the occasion of Republic Day, a report has said.
The additional director general of the academy, Nausheen Ansari, had asked the officers to make cards for soldiers, in the first week of January. However, only 80 out of the 150 OTs or officer trainees could make the cards before January 15.
Following this, Tyagi took a “serious view” of the matter, and stated in an order, “This utter indifference and lack of respect towards the soldiers reflects poorly on the Course Team [or faculty] for its failure to instil the right values in the officer trainees”.
“This may itself be treated as an act of indiscipline on the part of these OTs for their failure to comply with the instructions issued by the superior authorities,” the order further reads.
It must be noted that all OTs had made the cards, but the academy considered only the once that were submitted by noon on January 15.
Speaking to The Print, an OT said, “It was a very hectic time for us…We had our final tests when this diktat came…How can these kinds of things be forced upon officers? We are not school students.”
The ADG also appreciated five OTs for their “commendable work,” (in making the cards) and on the other, asked the faculty to ensure explanations for non-compliance are delivered by their OTs.
Also read: CBDT Chief Mody Accused of Giving a Directive to Bury a ‘Sensitive Case’
The principal director general Tyagi, who was promoted last year, is a 1984-batch secretary-level IRS officer who handled the Deepak Kochhar-ICICI Bank case and the Jet Airways case among others.
In October 2019, Tyagi had alleged that chief of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, P.C. Mody, who was her professional superior then, had given an unlawful directive to bury a “sensitive case” involving “serious allegations”.
In what was considered an incriminating charge against the Narendra Modi government, Tyagi had said that the CBDT chairman tried to entice her to fall in line by claiming that he had secured the top position only because of a “successful search” operation against an opposition leader, The Wire‘s report of the time had noted.
The charges had resulted in much media furore. Tyagi had been transferred shortly thereafter.