The Hindu : Front Page : Chidambaram’s Adviser quits

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Saturday, Dec 29, 2007
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Chidambaram’s Adviser quits

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s Adviser at North Block, Parthasarathi Shome, has put in his papers ahead of the Union Budget for 2008-09.

With Dr. Shome’s exit — the fourth change at the top level in the Ministry within a few months — it will virtually be a new team in place for preparation of the Budget for the next fiscal.

According to official sources, Dr. Shome’s resignation has already been accepted and he is to relinquish charge on January 11. During his tenure as Adviser, he had played a major role in the introduction of a number of innovative levies such as the value-added tax (VAT), the fringe benefit tax (FBT) and the banking cash transaction tax (BCTT) to trail black money.

Joining as Adviser to Mr. Chidambaram in October 2004 for a three-year period, Dr. Shome’s term was extended recently till October 2009. However, for reasons unexplained, his tenure contract was terminated with effect from January 11. Dr. Shome was not available for comment.

Dr. Shome’s exit is the fourth high-level change in the Budget-making team. While P.V. Bhide replaced K.M. Chandrasekhar as Revenue Secretary, D. Subbarao took over as Finance Secretary from Adarsh Kishore. More recently, Arvind Virmani was appointed the Chief Economic Adviser in the Ministry in place of Ashok Lahiri, who moved over to the Asian Development Bank in Manila. The tenure of Expenditure Secretary Sanjiv Misra, however, stands extended by three months till March 31, 2008.

In a way, Dr. Shome’s resignation has come as a surprise as he was the Finance Ministry’s representative in the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on VAT in view of his experience in introduction of the levy in Brazil. Alongside, he was also the co-convener of a working group on Goods and Services Tax (GST) which is slated for introduction from March 1, 2010. In fact, he was on the committee that is engaged in working out the rates for GST.

Honour in Brazil

For his pioneering work in introducing VAT in Brazil, Dr. Shome became the first Indian to be awarded the nation’s highest civilian hour for a non-Brazilian, the ‘Commander of the Order of the Southern Cross.’

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