The Ministry of Finance has issued a Notification today raising the monthly allowance to the recipient officers of the Customs & Central Excise, Narcotics Control Bureau and Directorate of Enforcement of Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate for exceptionally meritorious service at the risk of life.

As per the Notification, henceforth, the recipients of this certificate or his widow are entitled to the monetary allowance of Rs. 3,000/- per month for first such act of exceptionally meritorious service at the risk of life and Rs. 2,500/- per month for a fresh act thereafter of the meritorious service at the risk of life. The allowance at revised rates shall be admissible to the officers and staff who were sanctioned the Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate for exceptionally meritorious service at the risk of life till date and to future recipients of the said award. The existing amount of allowance was only Rs. 60/- in case of first such act and Rs. 40/- in case of any subsequent act of exceptionally meritorious service at the risk of life. The enhanced monetary allowance is expected to motivate and encourage the fellow officers to follow such acts/examples of gallantry.

The officers of the Customs & Central Excise, Narcotics Control Bureau and Directorate of Enforcement are considered for grant of Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate for exceptionally meritorious service rendered at the risk of life and especially distinguished record of service on their achieving and maintaining excellence in the discharge of their duties. These awards are announced on the eve of Republic Day.

It may be mentioned here that these awards are granted after a great scrutiny and for exceptionally meritorious service at the risk of life which inter-alia involve apprehending smugglers , Narcotics and drug traffickers, money launderers and other cross border criminals involved in fiscal and non-fiscal crimes. The rarity of the award may be gauzed from the fact that only 41 officers/ have received this award since the inception of same in 1962. The award was last given in 2010(posthumously) to Shri Narabadeshwar Singh Assistant Commissioner, Central Excise and Customs and in 2011 to Shri Satish Hari Kulkarni, Inspector, Customs.

The recipients of the Award of Appreciation Certificate for exceptionally meritorious service rendered at the risk of life were getting in addition to the certificate, a monetary allowance on the analogy of grant of such allowance to the recipients of Presidential Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) as well as recipients of Shaurya Chakra. While the monetary allowance for the PPMG awardees and Shaurya Chakra awardees was revised periodically, there has been no periodical increase in the monetary allowance in respect of the recipients of the Award of Appreciation Certificate for exceptionally meritorious service rendered at the risk of life. The recommendation of the Central Board of Excise & Customs for the corresponding revision of the same has recently been approved by the Finance Ministry.

Monetary allowance revision increases monthly benefit for recipients of presidential appreciation certificate and their widows. Notification revises the monthly monetary allowance for recipients of the Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate for exceptionally meritorious service at the risk of life, raising the monthly allowance for a first qualifying act and for subsequent acts. The revised rates are admissible to officers and staff already sanctioned the certificate and to future recipients and their widows, implementing the Central Board of Excise & Customs recommendation and aligning the allowance with periodic revisions made for comparable gallantry awards.