NEW DELHI: The trade and taxes department of Delhi government has introduced a lottery system to assign postings to newly inducted GST officers and inspectors. Calling it a significant reform, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said it will ensure fairness in implementing administrative processes.
Gupta said 87 GST officials were posted in the department through this system on April 23. The exercise was conducted in the department’s conference hall in the presence of all newly posted as well as senior officials, including the commissioner, special commissioner, joint commissioner and assistant commissioner. The process was carried out openly to eliminate any scope for doubt or bias, she said.
This comes after Gupta on April 8 made a surprise visit to the trade and taxes building and found several officers absent from duty. She interacted with taxpayers who complained about the bureaucratic delays in routine work and regular absence of senior officials. Following this, around 162 officials were transferred to the state GST office.
The chief minister said that a specially designed lottery system was adopted to ensure impartiality. Each officer drew slips personally. Two separate boxes were used, one containing the names of officers and staff, and the other containing the vacant ward numbers.
The ward allocation was finalised only after slips were drawn from both boxes, ensuring fairness, transparency and equal opportunity. She added that the entire proceeding was videographed from the start to finish to ensure that an official record of every stage could be preserved. This process was conducted under the supervision of senior officials.
The CM further said that Delhi follows a zero-tolerance policy against corruption, and this initiative was a strong step in that direction.