Lok Sabha Question No. 3352 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-09
Subject: Cases of Gold Smuggling
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Suresh Kodikunnil

## Part (a)& (b)-

Yes Sir. The detail of gold seized between 2016-2020 (Calendar Year wise) in Kerala, is as below:

|   Year |   No. of Cases |   Qty of gold seized (in kg.) |   Value of the gold seized (in Cr.) | No. of persons arrested   |
|--------|----------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------|---------------------------|
|    166 |         75.428 |                         19.35 |                                  15 | 2016                      |
|    259 |        140.618 |                         38.39 |                                  45 | 2017                      |
|    981 |        447.627 |                        130.65 |                                 153 | 2018                      |
|   1076 |        726.631 |                        241.67 |                                 348 | 2019                      |
|    684 |        429.93  |                        186.14 |                                 343 | 2020                      |
|   3166 |       1820.23  |                        616.2  |                                 904 | Total                     |

## Part (c)-

## REPLY TO ADMITTED QUESTION

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3352

TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY, August 09, 2021/18Sravana, 1943 (Saka)

'Cases of Gold Smuggling'

## 3352. SHRI KODIKUNNIL SURESH :

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of increased instances of gold smuggling in the country especially in Kerala;
- (b) if so; the details of gold seized between 2016 to 2020 in Kerala;
- (c) whether the Government has taken note of shortage of officers in the Customs department leading to failure in vigilance and efficacy;
- (d) if so, the details of staff and vacancies remaining unfulfilled in CBIC department till date, region-wise with specific reference to Kerala; and
- (e)  whether  the  Government  intends  to  call  for  a  direct  recruitment  drive  for  filling  vacancies  in  the Customs Department and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE (SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY)

Yes Sir. The Government is cognizant of shortage of officers. No failure has been found in vigilance and efficacy due to shortage of staff in the Customs department.

## Part (d) -

The details  of  staff  and  vacancies  unfulfilled  in  the  CBIC  till  date,  region  /  zone  wise including Kerala State (Thiruvananthpuram zone) is as below:

## Region / Zone Wise

| Details of Staff &Vacancies in CBIC   | Details of Staff &Vacancies in CBIC   | Details of Staff &Vacancies in CBIC   | Details of Staff &Vacancies in CBIC   | Details of Staff &Vacancies in CBIC   | Details of Staff &Vacancies in CBIC   | Details of Staff &Vacancies in CBIC   | Details of Staff &Vacancies in CBIC   |
|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| S.No.                                 | State/UT                              | Field Formations                      | STAFF POSITION                        | Gr. 'A'                               | Gr. 'B'                               | Gr. 'C'                               | Total                                 |
| 1                                     | Andhra Pradesh                        | Vizag GST                             | No. of staff currently working        | 80                                    | 835                                   | 232                                   | 1147                                  |
| 1                                     | Andhra Pradesh                        | Vizag GST                             | Vacancies                             | 54                                    | 547                                   | 455                                   | 1056                                  |
| 2                                     | Assam                                 | Guwahati GST                          | No. of staff currently working        | 69                                    | 746                                   | 357                                   | 1172                                  |
| 3                                     | Arunachal Pradesh                     | Guwahati GST                          | No. of staff currently working        | 69                                    | 746                                   | 357                                   | 1172                                  |
| 4                                     | Meghalaya                             | Guwahati GST                          | No. of staff currently working        | 69                                    | 746                                   | 357                                   | 1172                                  |
| 5                                     | Mizoram                               | Guwahati GST                          | No. of staff currently working        | 69                                    | 746                                   | 357                                   | 1172                                  |
| 6                                     | Manipur                               | Guwahati GST                          | No. of staff currently working        | 69                                    | 746                                   | 357                                   | 1172                                  |
| 7                                     | Nagaland                              | Guwahati GST                          | Vacancies                             | 53                                    | 458                                   | 377                                   | 888                                   |
| 8                                     | Sikkim                                | Guwahati GST                          | Vacancies                             | 53                                    | 458                                   | 377                                   | 888                                   |
| 9                                     | Tripura                               | Guwahati GST                          | Vacancies                             | 53                                    | 458                                   | 377                                   | 888                                   |
| 10                                    | Bihar                                 | Ranchi GST                            | No. of staff currently working        | 97                                    | 1282                                  | 708                                   | 2087                                  |
| 11                                    | Jharkhand                             | Ranchi GST                            | Vacancies                             | 65                                    | 395                                   | 582                                   | 1042                                  |
| 12                                    | Chandigarh                            | Chandigarh GST                        | No. of staff currently                | 99                                    | 627                                   | 252                                   | 978                                   |
| 13                                    | Himachal Pradesh                      | Chandigarh GST                        | working                               |                                       |                                       |                                       |                                       |
| 14                                    | Jammu& Kashmir                        | Chandigarh GST                        | Vacancies                             | 63                                    | 473                                   | 327                                   | 863                                   |
| 15                                    | Ladakh                                | Chandigarh GST                        | Vacancies                             | 63                                    | 473                                   | 327                                   | 863                                   |
| 16                                    | Punjab                                |                                       |                                       |                                       |                                       |                                       |                                       |
| 17                                    | Delhi                                 | Delhi GST                             | No. of staff currently working        | 236                                   | 2514                                  | 795                                   | 3545                                  |
|                                       |                                       |                                       | Vacancies                             | 130                                   | 1599                                  | 742                                   | 2471                                  |
| 18                                    | Haryana                               | Panchkula GST                         | No. of staff currently working        | 75                                    | 589                                   | 164                                   | 828                                   |
|                                       |                                       |                                       | Vacancies                             | 56                                    | 598                                   | 296                                   | 950                                   |
| 19                                    | Gujarat                               | Vadodara GST                          | No. of staff currently working        | 284                                   | 3013                                  | 965                                   | 4262                                  |

| 20   | Daman &Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli   |                    | Vacancies                                | 155    | 1729      | 1643     | 3527      |
|------|-------------------------------------|--------------------|------------------------------------------|--------|-----------|----------|-----------|
| 21   | Karnataka                           | Bengaluru GST      | No. of staff currently working           | 207    | 1697      | 468      | 2372      |
| 21   | Karnataka                           | Bengaluru GST      | Vacancies                                | 117    | 1275      | 925      | 2317      |
| 22   | Kerala                              | Thiruvananthapuram | No. of staff currently working           | 94     | 986       | 297      | 1377      |
| 23   | Lakshadweep                         | Thiruvananthapuram | Vacancies                                | 52     | 774       | 541      | 1367      |
| 24   | Madhya Pradesh                      | Bhopal GST         | No. of staff currently working           | 111    | 1020      | 280      | 1411      |
| 25   | Chhattisgarh                        | Bhopal GST         | Vacancies                                | 81     | 547       | 384      | 1012      |
| 26   | Odisha                              | Bhubaneshwar GST   | No. of staff currently working           | 57     | 424       | 158      | 639       |
| 27   | Telangana                           | Hyderabad GST      | Vacancies                                | 29 137 | 382 1095  | 223 247  | 634 1479  |
| 28   | Uttar Pradesh                       | Lucknow GST        | Vacancies No. of staff currently working | 32 209 | 619 1644  | 523 681  | 1174 2534 |
| 29   | Uttarakhand                         | Lucknow GST        | Vacancies                                | 115    | 696       | 755      | 1566      |
| 30   | Rajasthan                           | Jaipur GST         | No. of staff currently working           | 86     | 691       | 233      | 1010      |
| 31   | Maharashtra                         | Mumbai GST         | Vacancies                                | 45 457 | 238       | 262      | 545 5578  |
| 32   | Goa                                 |                    | No. of staff currently working           |        | 3983      | 1138     |           |
|      |                                     |                    | Vacancies No. of staff                   | 246    | 2880 2514 | 1655 962 | 4781 3608 |
|      |                                     | Mumbai Customs     | currently working                        | 132    |           | 1276     |           |
|      |                                     |                    | Vacancies                                | 219    | 2404      |          | 3899      |

|   33 | Tamil Nadu               | Chennai GST     | No. of staff currently working   |   205 |   2492 |   691 |   3388 |
|------|--------------------------|-----------------|----------------------------------|-------|--------|-------|--------|
|   34 | Puducherry               | Chennai GST     | Vacancies                        |   128 |   1749 |  1748 |   3625 |
|   34 | Puducherry               | Chennai Customs | No. of staff currently working   |    80 |   1009 |   274 |   1363 |
|   34 | Puducherry               | Chennai Customs | Vacancies                        |    73 |   1066 |   541 |   1680 |
|   35 | West Bengal              | Kolkata GST     | No. of staff currently working   |   140 |   2459 |   530 |   3129 |
|   36 | Andaman& Nicobar Islands | Kolkata GST     | Vacancies                        |    76 |    967 |  1080 |   2123 |
|   36 | Andaman& Nicobar Islands | Kolkata Customs | No. of staff currently working   |    34 |   1283 |   575 |   1892 |
|   36 | Andaman& Nicobar Islands | Kolkata Customs | Vacancies                        |    45 |    493 |   658 |   1196 |

## Part (e) -

Yes  Sir.  Wherever  direct  recruitment  is  provided  as  a  method  of  recruitment  in Recruitment Rules, vacancies are regularly intimated to UPSC and SSC, through which recruitments takes place from time to time.