The first training course was held at the Income Tax Office at Queen's Road, Bombay. The residential accommodation of the probationers was popularly known as Bhootkhana. Some Income Tax officers took upon themselves the responsibility of training the newly recruited officers. Early probationers fondly recall the dedication and commitment of Shri V.R. Akerkar, the Income Tax Officer in-charge of training at Mumbai. He is considered the aadi guru of the Department. Shri V.V Chari, Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax (Headquarters), was then in-charge of training and Diwan Bahadur R. Varadachari, Commissioner of Income Tax, Mumbai Presidency, Sindh and Baluchistan, was the patron.
Shri VR. Akerkar taught the batches of direct recruits from 1945 to 1949. Shri Y.G. Joshi acted as a part time lecturer of Income Tax law an d book keeping. Shri Desai taught accounts in Gujarati as many taxpayers maintained their books in Gujarati in Bombay Presidency. He also looked after establishment matters. Among the other teachers whose names deserve a mention are: Shri Pophale, Shri Bagadthey, Shri Gopinathan and Shri R.D Shah. They were officers of the Department who taught on a part-time basis.
The initial training setup at Mumbai consisted of three Income Tax officers engaged in regular training and a few more Income Tax officers supplementing their work.
The training set up was shifted to Kolkata in 1950 for administrative reasons. The training centre functioned from 3, Government Place, Kolkata. An Income Tax office is still housed here which has now been declared a heritage building. At Kolkata, an officer of the rank of Inspecting Assistant Commissioner (Training) headed the training establishment. Shri Athalye was the first Inspecting Assistant Commissioner (Training) appointed in 1952. There was no residential accommodation for the trainees at Mumbai or at Kolkata. Unfortunately, detailed account of training at Kolkata is not available except for the fact that the practice of numbering of annual IRS batches started at Kolkata.
Modest beginnings - Income Tax Officers' Training College, Nagpur
In 1957, the training of directly recruited IRS officers was shifted to Nagpur. Training at Nagpur
MLA’s Hostel At Temple Road, Civil Lines, Nagpur
had a modest beginning. With its central location and a long tradition of learning, Nagpur was a natural choice. The first classroom session at Nagpur was held on 5th February 1957, in a room fashioned out by partitioning the office of the Income Tax Officer (Headquarters) with a wooden screen. The 9th batch of the IRS had its initial training in Kolkata but completed it in Nagpur. The 10th batch was the first to have its entire training at Nagpur (1957-58).
Subsequently, the classes were shifted to MLAs' Rest House Number-2 at Civil Lines, Nagpur. The training institution was christened the Income Tax Officers' Training College. One of the forty rooms in the Rest House was used as a lecture hall. Another room housed the staff room and the remaining ones were used as hostel rooms. The Administrative Block and the Library were located across the road (fondly remembered as Gokul).
In the initial years at Nagpur, there was no separate head for the Training College. The Training College functioned under the overall control of the Commissioner of Income Tax (M.P, Nagpur and Bhandara) with its headquarters in Nagpur. In 1965, the post of Commissioner of Income Tax (Training) was created. For quite some time, the CIT (Training) remained dependent on the Commissioner of Income Tax, Nagpur for establishment and budgetary support.
In 1969, the faculty at the Training College consisted of a Commissioner of Income Tax (Training), four Inspecting Assistant Commissioners of Income Tax (Training), three Income Tax Officers (Class-I) and one Income Tax Officer (Class-II) who acted as Income Tax Officer (Headquarters). The shortage in establishment and administrative support forced the probationers to prepare their monthly pay bills. The Inspecting Assistant Commissioners, the Income Tax Officer (Training) and Commissioner of Income Tax (Training) took classes for the probationers.
The probationers arrived in mid-November from the National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. In their first spell of training, the probationers were mainly provided with theoretical inputs. Classes were conducted up to middle of March, when the first departmental examination was held. The Director of Inspection (IT) declared results for the first departmental exams in early June. The second spell of training ended by mid-September. In this phase, equal emphasis was given to theoretical and practical aspects of Income Tax. The second departmental exams were usually held in September. The Director of Inspection (IT) declared results of the examination in early December. After the second departmental examination, talks were given on the Finance Act of the year. The officers were briefed on the working of Income Tax Offices across the country. Probationers visited the local Income Tax offices to get a feel of the ground reality. By mid-November, the probationers left for a three week long Bharat Darshan. Valediction of the outgoing batch and the inauguration of the new batch were held simultaneously in December every year.
1. Additional manpower for training
The Wanchoo Committee and the Informal Review Team on the working of Central Training Institutes (Department of Personnel, Government of India) recommended expansion of the existing training facilities. The Review Team, in its report, expressed an immediate need for recruitment of more trainers as well as provision for better infrastructure. Its recommendation to increase the number of trainers for the Staff College was accepted. The training set-up now comprised one Director (Training), six Deputy Directors, six Assistant Directors, one I.T.O.(Headquarters) and one I.T.O.(Class-II).
2. Additional infrastructure for training
With the passage of time, collection of direct taxes increased and consequently the recruitment of officials ill the Income Tax department went up. The shortage in training infrastructure began to be felt keenly. In 1972, additional space was hired at 3'd floor of Bank of India building at Kingsway for lecture halls and a library. Hostel and administrative office continued to be at their earlier location.
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