New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: As many as 24 officers and staff of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Department of Revenue, have been selected this year on the occasion of Republic Day, for grant of Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate for ‘Exceptionally Meritorious Service Rendered at the Risk of Life’ and ‘Specially Distinguished Record of Service’.
Amongst these awardees, two officials from Odisha - Suvakanta Pradhan and Himansu Sekhar Sha - have been conferred with the President’s Award for ‘Specially Distinguished Record of Service’ for maintaining excellence in the discharge of their duties.
While Himansu works as a Senior Intelligence Officer, Directorate General of Goods & Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) in Bhubaneshwar; Suvakanta Pradhan, also a Senior Intelligence Officer, is posted at the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Hyderabad Zonal Unit.
This year, the Presidential Award of Appreciation were given to 24 officers and staff of Indian Customs out of which two are for ‘Exceptionally Meritorious Service rendered at the risk of life’ and 43 for ‘Specially Distinguished Record of Service’ on the basis of their exemplary and flawless performance in their respective fields of service over the years.
Vipin Pal and Albert George, associated with DRI Delhi Zonal Unit, Jodhpur, and DRI Cochin Zonal Unit, as Intelligence Officers have been honoured with the ‘Exceptionally Meritorious Service At Risk To Life’.
As per sources, every year for this Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate, officers are selected on the basis of a tough selection process. The awardees selected this year include the officers working as Additional Director General, Assistant Director, Superintendent/ Senior Intelligence Officer (SIO), Intelligence Officer (IO), Senior Technical Assistant and Driver, who have been consistently committed to the department in various fields over the years.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on January 27 observed the International Customs Day, 2021, with the theme “Customs bolstering Recovery, Renewal and Resilience for a sustainable supply chain”, as suggested by World Customs Organisation (WCO). The WCO Certificate of Merit for 2021 was awarded to eight officers present in Delhi at the programme in North Block and rest of the officers were awarded by their HODs at respective locations virtually observed by all the attendees.