Commissioners Session Room: Fill & Download for Free

Here's my versionOne day in the life a CommissionerI was a IRS indirect taxes service officer from November 71 till retirement in 2007.Let me recount the one day routine of my days as Commissioner of Customs. Ahmedabad.Ahmedabad Custom HouseAs is well known Commissioner is the last word in his Commisionerate which is his jurisdiction.The tablet on the table says‘The Buck Stops Here ‘That means everyday Commissioner has to make several decisions. In various areas of work .The Commissioner can consult and seek guidance etc but eventually the decision is of the Commissioner.Once having taken the decision there's no going back. The decision will be conveyed to those who are awaiting the decision swiftly.No scope for a rethink.The decision can go right or wrong or end up not satisfying anyone.If it goes wrong the blame is on you. If it's the right decision then everyone shares the joy. But if does not satisfy the stakeholders Commissioner will still get the blame. .But decision makers can't please everyone. It’s not their job to keep everyone happy.Commissioner has to do the right thing. And run the administration smoothly.Commissioner can't afford to not to take a decision. delaying decision making is itself taking a decisionRecall what PM Rao exclaimed even as Babri Masjid was being demolished.Some decisions are far reaching. Others are just routine. Like sanctioning leave to the staff.But the typical day for a Commissioner begins pretty routinely. But the first half is crucial. The first half sets the pace.As soon as the Commissioner reaches office the fun and games begin.Deal with urgent pending matters on priority. Meet junior officials for updates and developments. Read the important mail. Make a few calls. Attend a meeting meetings . Meet the visitors waiting in the ante room.Appointment or no appointment.Take a ten minute break for tea with biscuits. Many a times the ten can stretch a lot more if a colleague drops in.Anti - smuggling operations are a different kettle of fish. If an operation is going on the Commissioner is available round the clock.Gold Seizures by Ahmedabad Customs.Even the car used to be equipped with wireless and connected to base at the office.Directions have to be given on the feedback. Smugglers don't wait for Commissioner to reach office.They go by their own schedule.Now days of course the cell phones keep one connected 24× 7.Lunch time. Lunch in the room. With a colleague if possible. It’s lonely at the top. Bit of a snooze and then one is ready for the second half of the day.But as evening approaches some important issue or the other is more than likely to drop in your lap.Has to be dealt with even if it means delay in leaving office and reaching home.And the days on which Parliament is in session Parliament questions consume all your time.The urgency is replying is paramount. Particularly Starred Questions. They eat up your head. The MPs sure know how to ‘word’ the question teasingly. Probably written by an ex Babu.Someday your boss might to drop in to inspect your office. Day gone without routine.Same for visit of Parliamentary committee or some other committee. Or sports days during Zonal sports meet.Overall the day starts innocuously and routinely but it can implode in your face quite quickly.But in between there are routine days when the going is all normal and smooth. Those days look very dull.After all officers too want some excitement.But let me say this loudly and clearly: office day for Group A officers is rarely a bed of roses.

My interview was on 30th March, 2017, in the afternoon session. And I was to be interviewed by Arvind Saxena Board. IIn the beginning we were taken to a room where all the documents were checked by the staff of upsc. After that we were sent to the Central Hall, sitting around the antique round tables, you can feel the nervousness, seeing all candidates lost in their notes and newspapers. To relax tea and coffee is provided to the candidates. When your turn comes a peon will come and escort you to the interview room, where you will be sitting outside the room and when the bell rings, you have to enter the room. This time is most stressful.I went inside and wished good afternoon to all the members and when the chairman asked me to sit, I pulled the chair and sat. It was a oval, chairman sitting opposite to me, two members on my left, and two on my right, one of them being a woman. So it went like this-Chairman- read the daf to me...studied here, done this etc.. why u left job at Tata motors. What are u doing since then.Me- Sir I left the job to prepare for civil services and I have also joined EPFO as Assistant Commissioner.Chairman- Oh that's good, so where are you posted nowadays.Me- Nagercoil in Tamilnadu Sir.Chairman- OK Suresh, So you like photography, which camera do u use?Me- Sir I use Nikon D5300 DSLR Camera.C- Does an analog camera lens will work with DSLR camera?Me- Yes sir it should work, but we will have to use focus manually as the electronic sensor will not work.C- OK, tell me which is the most interesting development u find in international affairs nowadays?Me- Sir the new Trump policy and changing dynamics between US-Russia, USA- Europe.C- Yes indeed it is very interesting. How will u find poppy cultivation thru satellite imaging?Me- Sir if we have a database and know what color poppy will show through satellite imaging then we can know about its cultivation.C-What is the difference between BIS and ISO standards.?ME- I don't know sir.C- OK, where do you find BIS hallmark.Me- Jewellery sir..C- Started laughing… and asked the next member to ask the question.(This is taking too much time to write so now I am just writing the questions, hope you will forgive me)M1- what is India's energy security policy?On which countries is India dependent fr energy security?What about African countries and energy supplies to India?What is NPT?is it moral?M2- from where do u belong in rajasthan?For what is this place famous?Status of sambhar lake.What is the current rate of interest in provident fund?How is rate of interest forecasted?How do they manage to give such high interest?Where did ur training took place, where are u posted now?M3- what is the difference between participation of women in work force in north and south?Why such high rates in south?Is brexit good or bad?Are anymore countries planning to quit EU? WHEN was EU formed?M4- what new u learnt in anthropology about world?Is world going in right direction?How do u find BBC as a news source?Who owns it?Why we don't have such channels in India?Name some news reporters of BBC..The chairman then said, “Ok Thank you Suresh, good luck for your future”.I bowed slightly and said thank you sir and left the room, closing the door slowly behind me.Overall the board was very cordial, there were not many cross questions and no grilling.I was confused about how my interview went and kept on assessing it in my mind, but ended up with decent marks.

This recalls one of my favorite scenes from The West Wing’s dramatization of a government shutdown, when President Bartlet marched up to the Hill to confront Speaker Haffley:Indeed, if Trump were to insist on marching into the House to give the State of the Union Address, we could be treated to a great drama.The Rules of the House of Representatives[1] explicitly state the President is one of those persons who “shall be admitted to the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto.” The rules further, explicitly deny the House the ability to suspend the rule providing for the President’s admittance (although they might have stuffed that up when they slightly amended the “Use and Admittance” rule at the beginning of this Congress[2]; but that’s the Clerk’s problem now).So if Trump rolled up to the House of Representatives and demanded to be admitted to the floor, well, the Rules of the House technically say, “Let him in.”However, being admitted to the floor of the House doesn’t mean that he would automatically earn the privilege of being recognized to give any remarks. The Rules are fairly explicit that only “Members, Delegates, or Resident Commissioners[3]“ may seek recognition by the Speaker to address the House. When the President gives the State of the Union Address, he is technically doing so under the authority of a joint resolution of the House and Senate for the express purpose[4] .But if Trump became particularly boisterous (Him? Nah.) and tried to shout out the State of the Union Address, given that the Speaker’s office has explicit control over the broadcasting of the floor proceedings, she could order the cameras turned off. Moreover, the Sergeant-at-Arms would be compelled to enforce order on the floor and have the President removed at the direction of the Speaker.Alternately, the Speaker could go full Madagascar and shut down everything[5] by calling a recess and ordering the Hall to be cleared of all persons.Basically, once you step into the Hall of the House, you either play by the Speaker’s rules, or you get punished.Now, rebuked by Speaker Pelosi, President Trump could make his way over to the friendlier Senate, whose rules also explicitly provide for the President’s admittance to the floor[6] . From there, things might get more complicated.Under the Standing Rules of the Senate, only former Presidents of the United States are entitled to address the Senate from the floor; however, a very liberal reading of Rule IX, which provides that, “Messages from the President of the United States . . . may be received at any stage of proceedings,” could very well permit the President to give his “message” in person.As such, if Trump insisted on showing up to the Capitol, we could witness the spectacle of the President being raucously kicked out of the Democratic House and then welcomed with open arms into the Republican Senate to deliver his message.So that’d be fun to watch.Footnotes[1] https://republicans-rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/115/PDF/House-Rules-115.pdf[2] Text - H.Res.6 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Adopting the Rules of the House of Representatives for the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, and for other purposes.[3] Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives - Wikipedia[4] Text - H.Con.Res.101 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): Providing for a joint session of Congress to receive a message from the President.[5] Shut Down Everything[6] Rules Of The Senate | U.S. Senate Committee on Rules & Administration