Relative ranking of IRS(IT) post faceless assessment

Going by the reaction among IT community it seems that faceless assessment may drastically impact relative ranking of IRS(IT). This message by a young IRS officer in their group captures the angst:

Today, as a young IRS officer, I feel disgruntled, angry, helpless, demotivated, disheartened and disowned. I joined service when IRS was called the “Indian Royal Service”, “The service of the future”, “The most balanced service”. In just a few years that I can count on my fingers, the words used to describe it have been reduced to “Indian Raddi Service”, “Indian Customer Care Service”, “Indian Faceless Service”. 

From the speech of the hon’ble Prime Minister on 13th Aug regarding “Honoring the Honest”, what struck me the most was the undertone of the monologue- that corruption defines us. All these years of taking pride in working honestly and delivering services professionally seemed to be written off in a sweep. It pained to see our service, the “IRS family” being publically denigrated. My mind was inundated with questions- some pertinent, some naïve, some coherent, some disjointed……Not everybody is corrupt here, then why tarnish the entire service? Doesn’t corruption pervade other services, politics, judiciary, the private sector- then why were only we flagged and flogged in public? Appeals within the department have been made faceless, what about higher appeals where corruption is known to be rampant? Wasn’t there a better way to address corruption? Is being faceless the best way to deliver services or to enforce law, if yes, will this apply to other law enforcement agencies? Can a tax enforcement agency function efficiently without a face? Are we ready for efficiently executing the system with a complex network when the already existing system-based functioning has not been stabilised and is a cause of grievance for the taxpayer and the tax officer alike? Are the timelines given for implementing the setup practical? Are the assessee’s ready for this when many businessmen still maintain manual books and network connectivity in remote areas is poor? Would the assessees comply without the fear of a tax authority in their vicinity especially in a country like ours with very low tax compliance and still very high cash transactions? Isn’t the very assumption of an honest taxpayer and a dishonest tax officer flawed and shows unverified/ merely-crowd-pleasing stereotypes? 

While I alongwith many young IRS sat disillusioned, the IRS patrons, the head of the “IRS family” did nothing to calm our jitters- not a word from them! Didn’t they think it necessary to answer some of the most obvious questions and address the nerves which are associated with any and every major organisational change? Are we only a bunch of “yes-men” looking for extensions and post-retirement jobs at “any cost”? The Hon’ble PM said, ” Income tax adhikariyon ne apne adikaaron ko apni taakat ko khud ne kaata hai”. Probably, this is the only statement which my mind agrees to! 

Dear seniors, sorry to say, but you have let us down!