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1) Our ideologies are based on the concepts of democracy and liberty, which are rare in most of other associations.

2) Since its formation ACTOA has opposed hierarchical structure of organisation – and we very much believe that focusing power in any one place leads to a weaker organisational core. Placing all the responsibility on a small number of persons decreases efficiency – not just for the association, but for the leadership as well.

3) Furthermore, it means members have little or no say at all about the future activity of the association. This plays a negative role in the motivation of the members by minimizing their valuable input, and puts a heavy burden on the shoulders of the leadership to handle everything on their own.

So, in an association with a hierarchical structure, it is very common among the leadership to be over-burdened and also, to cope with bitter conflicts among members, who seek higher positions in the organisation for their own personal gain. This type of organisations encourage power-seeking and corrupt leadership to maintain positions of power for avery long time. So, realising the flaws of such organisational structure, our forward-thinking founder-members started seeking more flexible ways of leading our association and a solution was found – a more horizontal way of leadership, which is inherent in the structure of our association. And that is discussed in our next section.

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Assistant Commercial Tax Officers’ Association (ACTOA) is an association of Assistant Commercial Tax Officers or State Tax Officers (new cadre name under GST regime). When we get promoted, we join our brother association, West Bengal State Commercial Tax Service Association (WBSCTSA). This is one of our measures to ensure horizontal organisational structure, where cadres of two different hierarchical levels – i.e. ACTO/STO cadre and State Service cadre – have their own associations, so that they can make their own decisions and can strive towards the benefit of their own cadres without any conflict of priorities.

The next important measure is to maintain – informal channels of communications among the members of our two brother associations, and such communications are always encouraged, so that two associations can remain updated about their latest activities and can act as a cohesive whole, when there will be any need for joint movement. But, any formal/ official liaison is avoided, in order to safeguard the independent decision making process.

Another important measure, taken by us, is to prevent any group of members to be in our Executive Committee for a very long time. For that reason, none of our members can be the Office bearer (President/ Secretary/ Treasurer) for more than one term (two years) and none of our members can be in the Executive Committee for more than three terms (six years), without consent from majority of total strength of our members present and voting.

We have also an effective method of involving our members in the election process of our Executive Committee, where any member can participate and contest. Our members are extensively communicated and encouraged to participate and contest in the election process. This unique organisational structure and practices help our association to create an environment, where greater number of members can be involved in the decision making process and can develop true leadership qualities. Such collective efforts are always encouraged, instead of handing over such responsibilities to a small group of people for a very long time.

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During the past and current years ACTOA has spearheaded every positive approach concerning the career upliftment of the Assistant Commercial Tax Officers – be it the scale upgradation of the ACTOs (from scale no.12 to scale no.14 under previous ROPA Rules), cadre empowerment, deputation to the proper authorities on important issues, representation to the Pay Commission, representation to the higher authorities regarding the career prospects of our cadre, change of name of our cadre to State Tax Officer (STO) under the  GST regime, or any other activity concerning cadre interests. Our sincerity has always helped our association to grow.

ACTOA will help you develop your official connections and also will guide you with your professional needs. Again, in the course of time, you may be in a position to become a mentor to someone else. Giving back can be the greatest reward and benefit. Our association provides access to resources and information in your field of work or area of interest in this Directorate. Participating in different activities of our association often make some great friends with the same interests as you. And so, another simple reason to join our association is to have fun. Meeting new people, making new friends, and participating in our activities will help you make the most of your experience.

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This page is published by:
Assistant Commercial Tax Officers’ Association, West Bengal.
Address: 14 Beliaghata Road, 2nd Building, 8th Floor, Kolkata – 700015.

Contact ACTOA