LUCKNOW, Oct. 29 -- A joint commissioner of the state tax department and former president of UP Commercial Tax Officials Association has flagged growing tax evasion in the state due to the "acute understaffing" of enforcement mobile squads responsible for road checks and field inspections. In a letter to principal secretary (state tax) M Devraj on Monday (October 27), joint commissioner (Azamgarh zone) Sriram Saroj said in many districts, fewer than two mobile squads were functioning effectively, with only one or two state tax officers deployed per team. This shortage, he warned, was hampering inspections and enforcement drives, allowing potential tax leakage to go unchecked. Saroj recommended that each district should have at least three fully functional mobile teams, adequately staffed with trained officers, to ensure round-the-clock vigilance on goods transport and prevent revenue loss. When only one team is operational, enforcement activity often stops altogether if officers are unavailable due to administrative or technical reasons, he noted. He said while manpower was short in enforcement, two officers were unnecessarily posted in registration sections -- calling it a "misuse of manpower" that could be better utilised in revenue-generating field operations. The letter urged urgent deployment of additional officers in smaller districts and a rational reorganisation of manpower to strengthen enforcement and boost state revenue. "It is humbly requested that in districts with fewer than three operational enforcement teams, additional officers be deployed promptly," the letter stated....