Odisha’s Pranab Das elected as Director of WCO

Bhubaneswar: Bringing laurels for the country, Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Pranab Kumar Das from Odisha has been elected as the Director of World Customs Organisation (WCO), Brussels for five years.

Das, who is presently the Chairman of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), won an election in the WCO, a Brussels-based international organization with 183 members. He defeated the British Customs officer with a huge margin.

“Pranab Kumar Das, Chairman CBIC, India has won the election to the post of the Director, Compliance & Facilitation at the WCO for a term of 5 years. He garnered 108 votes against the UK candidate who got 68 votes,” tweeted Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.

He is the first Indian to be elected to the WCO Director post. Earlier, three Indian Customs officers had contested unsuccessfully for this post.

In January, the Central government had appointed Das as the Chairman of CBIC.

Das holds a post graduation degree in Economics from JNU and a graduation degree from BJB College, Bhubaneswar. He is the son of civil lawyer Late Ramesh Chandra Das.