09 MARCH, 2022: Shri Amitesh Bharat Singh, an alumnus of the Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (2015-16) at IIM Bangalore, has received the President’s Award for ‘Specially Distinguished Record of Service’. Union Minister of Finance Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman awarded him the certificate and medal, in an investiture ceremony, on March 7th, 2022.
Shri Singh was appointed to the IRS (Customs & Central Excise) in 1997 and currently heads the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Zonal Unit in Karnataka. The DRI is the apex intelligence and investigation agency for anti-smuggling and trans-border crimes in the country. He has served in Customs, Service Tax and Central Excise, and GST Committees in India, and has handled public and taxpayer communications as ADG DGTS for the Karnataka and Kerala region. He has served as a Diplomat, being stationed as First Secretary (Commerce) at the Indian High Commission in Singapore. He has served as Deputy Director DRI at Delhi. He actively mentors young officers.
He has been Member of the GST Single Interface Standing Committee, Member of the GST Working Group on IT/ITeS, Member of the CBIC-GST Dispute Resolution (DSR) Committee and has contributed to the work of the GST Law Review Committee (LRC). He has also been Member of the CBIC’s Committee to work on improving the scheme of manufacturing and other operations in a warehouse. He is currently Member of the GST Council’s GST Law Committee.
He has been awarded the Finance Minister’s Gold Medal for Best Probationer and a Certificate from the Secretary General, World Customs Organization (WCO), for exceptionally Meritorious Services rendered to the Customs administration in India. He has received a Certificate of Recognition from the Chief Commissioner, Central Excise, at Bangalore.
About the President’s Award:
In November 1962, the President of India sanctioned a scheme for the recognition of ‘Exceptionally Meritorious Service at Risk to Life’ and for ‘Specially Distinguished Record of Service’ rendered by officers and staff of the Customs, Central Excise & Land Customs Departments. This scheme was later extended to include officers and staff of the Directorate of Enforcement and of the Narcotics Department in India.
Until 2022, that is, over the last 60 years, 1221 officers have been awarded Presidential Certificates of Appreciation. This includes 75 Presidential Certificates of Appreciation for Exceptionally Meritorious Service at the Risk of Life and 1146 awards for Specially Distinguished Record of Service.
The process of selection for the awards is rigorous and only those cases are considered for the grant of award in the risk to life category where the risk to life was grave and real, and where the officers, while knowing the risks involved in a particular case, still performed the meritorious acts in question. Similarly, the awards for Specially Distinguished Record of Service are conferred on those officers who have shown extraordinary performance consistently over a length of time (over at least 15 years), and in exceptional cases, and whose work, devotion to duty and accomplishments in public service have been exceptional.
“IIMB will always be special”
Shri Amitesh Bharat Singh has fond memories of his time at IIMB. “I particularly enjoyed the Big Data Analytics course and courses in Strategy, Public Policy and Economics. What I learnt at IIMB has a lot of practical relevance. It continues to help me effectively address different challenges,” he says.
He believes that capacity building, improving productivity and delivery of public services remain as important as ever, especially given that technology opens up new possibilities for both public policy formulation and delivery of public services. He also feels that questions of new economic and security challenges and of achieving high rates of growth with equity, in a space which is changing geo-strategically, remain vital.
“I made friends across programmes at IIMB and I have been going back to the Institute to take sessions in Public Economics and Big Data,” he adds.