Last Updated on January 4, 2021 at 1:26 pm
Many IAS officers belonging to Jammu and Kashmir cadre are not following instructions of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of Government of India and General Administration Department (GAD) of Union Territory on online filing regarding Immovable Property Returns (IPRs) even though they are fully aware of the fact that non-compliance may lead to disciplinary proceedings against them and their vigilance clearance might be denied.
The Department of Personnel and Training of Union Ministry of Personnel had stated that submission of hard copies of Immovable Property Returns has caused problems like IPR getting lost in transition, IPR though submitted but not up-loaded by the State Government, IPR without date uploaded in the system, ante-dating of IPR etc are being faced. The government decided to implement online filings from January 1, 2017 for IAS officers to avoid similar problems in future.
The General Administration Department informed All India Service officers working in connection with the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir Government by a circular dated January 27, 2017 to make them aware of the updated system. Rule 16 (2) of All India Service (Conduct) Rules, 1968, asks the IAS officers to submit their Immovable Property Returns every year as on January 1 and latest by January 31.
Since many officers didn’t follow the orders, the General Administration Department released a circular dated April 23, 2019 observing that many officers have submitted hard copy manually while they were expected to submit online. These instructions were again sent through circular on December 12, 2019 with an expectation that rules will not be overruled again. Still many officers are not complying with the rules.
Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Commissioner Secretary to the Government, General Administration Department, passed a circular recently which states that many IAS officers have not submitted their IPRs for the year 2018 and 2019 electronically even though they were constantly reminded for that. The latest circular also brings to the notice of non-complying IAS officers that timely submission of IPRs is very important as late submission migh cause denial of vigilance clearance by Department of Personnel and Training.
It is hoped that all the non-complying IAS officers would follow the orders and won’t compel either the DoPT or the General Administration Department to take stricter actions.
