KOCHI: The supervisory control of the Customs has become almost ineffective with the Kochi unit facing a severe shortage of personnel at all levels, according to Customs officials.Several posts, including assistant and deputy commissioners, are lying vacant for the last six to seven months. The posts became vacant after the personnel who held these offices retired. Since then, efforts have not been made to fill these posts or promote subordinate officers to higher posts. “The shortage of staff is causing additional burden on existing officers. At times, we are forced to remain in office till 9 pm to 10 pm,” said a senior Customs official.He said the shortage of officers had made supervisory control of the Customs almost ineffective. “It has affected activities of Customs at the Cochin International Airport too, as officers for the airport are also deployed by the Kochi unit. Manning the airport is very important as there are many sensitive areas such as rummaging aircraft and surveillance of departures and arrivals, which come under our supervision,” he said. The personnel for the Customs is recruited through competitive exams conducted by the Staff Selection Commission. “We had reported about the shortage, but no steps were taken so far. It seems other major cities are given priority while alloting personnel,” the official said.The sanctioned strength of assistant commissioners and deputy commissioner together is 12, but the working strength is only five. Similarly, there is only one joint commissioner when three other posts are lying vacant. The sanctioned strength of superintendents is 111, but the working strength is 109 (this includes six superintendents of the Central Excise at the airport). The working strength of preventive officers is 92, which is way lower than the sanctioned strength of 168.
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