https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Meet the IRS Officer Behind India’s PAN Operations and Instant e-PAN

1995-batch IRS officer Madhukar Bhagat, who started his career with the ‘best probationer’ award in his batch, now represents India in an expert panel of OECD called Global Forum for Information Security. He has a vast experience of 27 years in taxation law, during which he accomplished many milestones, including the national operation of PAN and launching of instant e-PAN. He has also authored around 12 books, ranging from topics related to civil services examination to TDS.
Indian Masterminds Stories

The officer who led India’s PAN operations and engineered the launch of instant e-Pan is a senior bureaucrat with more than 27 years of experience in taxation laws. Incidentally, he is a qualified engineer, too. He is Mr. Madhukar Bhagat, a 1995-batch Indian Revenue Service officer, who is currently the Additional Director General of Income Tax and is heading the National Academy of Direct Taxes, Regional Campus, Delhi.

He started his career as an Assistant Mechanical Engineer in Indian Railways, but, later, joined Indian Revenue Service, and now after almost three decades, he has been nominated as an expert on ‘Information Security’ from India to an expert panel of OECD called the Global Forum for Information Security. He is also a prolific writer, and has authored around 12 books so far.

Indian Masterminds interacted with him to know about his career and writing journeys, and his many accomplishments in both these fields.

COURTING EXCELLENCE
Mr. Madhukar Bhagat started his government service career as an Assistant Mechanical Engineer in the Indian Railways in the early 90s, after being among the 25 successful candidates selected by UPSC from nearly a lakh of aspirants. In the personality test (interview) conducted, he was awarded a superlative 82% marks (246 out of 300), which is counted among the highest.

However, he soon left Railways for the Indian Revenue Service. “Inspiration from family members, the challenge of competing in one of the toughest of competitions, and the desire to be a part of the civil services made me take this leap,” Mr. Bhagat told Indian Masterminds.

Although finance was never his background, he performed exceptionally well in his new career. “The 16 months long training at the National Academy of Direct taxes, Nagpur, took care of the understanding of subjects like accounts, finance, etc. Also, a good grounding in Mathematics as an engineer helped,” he said.

He was awarded the Finance Minister’s Gold Medal for the Best Probationer in IRS-95 batch. And, once on the job, he successfully carried out the most important, and famous, work assigned to him. As Additional Director General (Systems), CBDT, he headed the national operations of PAN and the launching of instant e-PAN.

Looking back to those times, he said, “It required a lot of learning and was quite challenging in terms of the expectations of the tax administration and people’s needs. The entire process involved innovation at every step, but overall, it was greatly satisfying. In two years of time, we were able to launch the free-of-cost instant e-PAN, a big step forward, as earlier, allotment of PAN took nearly a month from the time of the application.”

In 2019, he received the Express Computer Award for excellence in e-governance for the project of allotment of e-PAN.

Pan Card

CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Mr. Bhagat was nominated as a the country’s expert on ‘Information Security’ by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). The work entails assessment by a handful of experts from all over the world, of the information security set-up of the taxation regime of more than 100 member countries of Global Forum, AEOI.

Earlier, as Additional Director General in the Competition Commission of India, he conducted the first dawn raid (search and seizure operation) under the Indian Competition Law. Further, he started the use of cyber-forensics and CDRs for investigation of cartels. Investigation work done by him in one of the cartel cases, was much appreciated by Retired Justice G.S. Singhvi (then member of CLAT).

As Director in CBDT, he was entrusted with litigation before courts. He conceptualized the National Judicial Reference System (NJRS), the largest online repository and search engine of judgments and appeals pertaining to direct taxes.

And, as Additional Director of Investigation, he handled the conduct of a number of searches, surveys, cyber forensic investigations, legal interceptions (interceptions of telephones and emails) data-mining, Air Intelligence Unit of Delhi and other sensitive investigations.

PROLIFIC WRITER
Mr. Bhagat is also an author and has written around 12 books on varied topics, including, CUET, taxation, preparation for civil services examination, personality test, aptitude test, Indian culture, and many other subjects. He has also written nearly 30 articles for various leading media organisations and magazines.

Three of his articles pertaining to spread of Covid-19 pandemic in India, its projections and prognosis, were published by the Outlook magazine in April and May 2020 and May 2021. These accurately brought out the extent of the spread of the pandemic in India and suggested the need for a graded action plan.

Talking about his literary journey, Mr. Bhagat said, “Writing has been a passion since school days and I used to write as an editor of the school magazine. And, in the early years of service, I got an opportunity to write on TDS in booklets published by the Income Tax Department. Also, having scored one of the highest marks in the personality test conducted by UPSC, I thought of sharing my knowledge and experience with the CSE aspirants. Hence, I came up with my book on the CS interview, and later, others in the genre of CSE preparation.”


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
Bihar Government-resized-IM
Major Bureaucratic Reshuffle in Bihar: 6 IAS, 5 IPS & Over 100 BAS Officers Transferred; Anil Chaudhary Appointed Special Secretary, Home Dept
Ministry of Defence
Defence Ministry Opens Missile and Ammunition Production to Private Sector, Boosts Aatmanirbhar Bharat
Delhi Police
Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golchha Orders Formation of 3 Units for Contingency Action Plan Amid Nepal Protests
Rajasthan High Court
Rajasthan High Court Allows Prosecution of Retired IAS Officer in Rs 8 Crore Wheat Scam
Uttar Pradesh CM resized
Sacred Confluence, Modern Vision: Yogi Govt Approves Rs. 1 Crore to Develop Durvasa Ashram as Tourism Hub in Azamgarh
Aapki Punji
Every Penny Counts: Finance Minister Launches "Aapki Punji, Aapka Adhikar" Campaign to Return Unclaimed Assets to Citizens
NATPOLREX
NATPOLREX-X 2025: Indian Coast Guard Hosts Mega Marine Pollution Exercise with 32 Nations in Chennai
CM Vishnu Deo Singh
Chhattisgarh Unveils Its First National Highway Tunnel: A Landmark in India's Infrastructure Drive Built in Just 12 Months
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Dr G K Goswami IPS
Everything you ever wanted to know about e-murder, e-dacoity and data safety
IFS Ravikant Meena UPSC IFS
Ravikant Meena on IFS Preparation, Optionals, and Life in Forest Service
Siddhartha Saxena UPSC CAPF
How Siddhartha Saxena Cracked UPSC CAPF AIR 326 Against All Odds
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
Utkarsh Ujjwal IAS
IAS Utkarsh Ujjwal Shares Key Advice for UPSC Aspirants: Work Ethic, Failure, and Focus
Read the inspiring journey of IAS Utkarsh Ujjwal, 2023 batch, Gujarat cadre. From IIT Guwahati to clearing...
Sagar Datta Majumdar UPSC CSE 2024 AIR 317
“Don’t get trapped in the vicious cycle of self-doubt,” says UPSC Achiever Sagar Datta Majumdar
Discover how Sagar Datta Majumdar from Agartala, Tripura, cracked UPSC CSE 2024 with All India Rank 317....
UPSC Chairman Ajay Kumar Live Interaction
From Cut-off Dates to Coaching & Reforms: UPSC Chairman Ajay Kumar Assures Aspirants of Fairness, Transparency & a Future-Ready UPSC | UPSC@100
A Century of Service: The UPSC’s Landmark Year Begins. Chairman Ajay Kumar on UPSC’s Centennial: “Merit,...
Social Media
World Rhino Day India
On World Rhino Day, IFS Officer Parveen Kaswan Shares Rare Insights - India Now Hosts 80% of the World’s One-Horned Rhinos
September 22 Marks Global Call for Rhino Conservation; India Holds 80% of World’s Greater One-Horned...
Parag Madhukar Dhakate
Relentless Rains Wreak Havoc in Dehradun: IFS officer PM Dhakate Warns Citizens Amid Flash Floods
Cloudbursts in Dehradun triggered flash floods. IFS officer Dr. PM Dhakate warned citizens to stay indoors...
Forest Guard Tiger Encounter
Tigers Clash in the Wild as Forest Guards Capture Rare Footage , Retired IFS Mohan Pargaien Posts Viral Video
Retired IFS officer Mohan Pargaien shares viral video of three tigers brawling in Ramnagar, as forest...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
Bihar Government-resized-IM
Major Bureaucratic Reshuffle in Bihar: 6 IAS, 5 IPS & Over 100 BAS Officers Transferred; Anil Chaudhary Appointed Special Secretary, Home Dept
Utkarsh Ujjwal IAS
IAS Utkarsh Ujjwal Shares Key Advice for UPSC Aspirants: Work Ethic, Failure, and Focus
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Dr G K Goswami IPS
IFS Ravikant Meena UPSC IFS
Siddhartha Saxena UPSC CAPF
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT