Overview
- Addressing officer trainees of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Indirect Taxes) at Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Droupadi Murmu set expectations for modern tax administration.
- She called for transparent, accountable, technology-driven systems and urged adoption of data-driven decision-making, automation, and digital governance to improve citizen experience.
- Murmu said tax collection should cause minimum discomfort to taxpayers and serve as a bridge of trust and fairness.
- She described the September Goods and Services Tax reforms as a landmark reshaping designed to enable entrepreneurship, job creation, and affordable living.
- Emphasizing a balance between enforcement and facilitation, she cited officers’ roles in combating smuggling and fraud, invoked Chanakya’s honeybee maxim, and linked revenue to funding infrastructure, education, health, and social welfare.