ADDRESS BY THE HON’BLE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, SMT. DROUPADI MURMU ON THE OCCASION OF CALL ON BY OFFICER TRAINEES OF INDIAN REVENUE SERVICE

I extend my good wishes to all of you on the occasion of International Women’s Day, especially to the women officers gathered here. I congratulate you for your selection in this prestigious service. Indian Revenue Service will give you an opportunity to play a vital role in mobilizing resources for the Government. I also welcome the 2 officers from Royal Bhutan Service who are present here today. You all are expected to be partners in the nation-building process by ensuring effective tax administration and improved voluntary compliance.

After hearing your training experiences, I understand that the induction training has enriched you all with the knowledge and skills required for performing your job efficiently and effectively. I am told that you all have diverse educational backgrounds. Though majority of you are from engineering background, the batch also includes doctors and law graduates, while some of you hold degrees in humanities, agriculture and business administration. A large number of officers among you have previous work experience also. I am told that the strength of women officers in this batch is nearly 38 percent. This is a good number but I would like to see higher number of lady officers in future batches.

Dear officer trainees,

Having spent many months together during training, you would have learnt a lot from each other and adopted new learnings that will help you in carrying out the challenging task of tax administration. I also compliment the National Academy of Direct Taxes for the efforts to develop requisite skills and inculcate values of discipline, integrity and accountability among the officer trainees.

Once your training is over, most of you will be posted in the field and will be carrying out your statutory duties. You must remain steadfast in your duties to facilitate compliance of tax laws by the taxpayers and also contribute towards creating deterrence against tax evasion. You all are aware that the direct tax collections of the country have shown a consistently rising trend over the years. I am happy to note that over the past decade, the direct tax collections have risen more than three times and the number of people filing income tax returns have increased to nearly two and a half times. Revenue from these collections will be used to fund the development projects in the country and ensure the well-being of citizens. Therefore, your contribution in the development of the country is going to be very important.

Dear officer trainees,

Digitization and latest technologies have opened up new opportunities for tax administrators to bring in more efficiency into their day-to-day operations. Tax authorities are now leveraging new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and advanced analytics to improve tax administration, reduce tax evasion and facilitate taxpayer compliance. I am told that the Income Tax department is using technology for collection of information with a view to increase the tax base and also for eradicating the menace of black money in the country. Hence, it is essential for each of you to make the best use of emerging technologies.

Several initiatives taken by Income Tax Department over the years have ushered in an era of greater transparency and efficiency. I compliment the Income Tax Department for such steps and other initiatives taken in the areas of non-intrusive tax investigation methods.

Dear officer trainees,

It goes without saying that citizen-centric tax services boost the confidence of people in tax administration. I appreciate that through many initiatives, the Income tax department is working towards changing the mindset of the people. I urge you all to continue to work towards enhancing the trust among the citizens so that they become more tax compliant. It is also important that methods of tax collection should be friendly to the tax payer. You should also make efforts to highlight the initiatives being taken in the social sector, especially the measures for senior citizens and Divyangjan.

I exhort each one of you to discharge your duties in a fair and transparent manner and maintain absolute integrity throughout your career. I wish each one of you a bright future and an illustrious career.

Thank you, 
Jai Hind! 
Jai Bharat!