Promotion of babus linked to info on assets

HYDERABAD: IAS and IPS officers with ill-gotten wealth have a problem at hand. Vexed that many officers are not submitting their mandatory immovable property returns (IPRs) or declarations every year, the department of personnel of the Government of India has decided to deny promotions and central deputations to recalcitrant All India service babus.
Vigilance clearances that are mandatory for such postings will also not be furnished to the non-conforming babus.

For the first time from this year onwards, the IPRs will also be uploaded on the department's website so that it is in public domain. The IPRs are mandated to be submitted to the department of personnel by the officers by January 31 every year.

But highly placed sources told TOI that of the 284 IAS officers belonging to the AP cadre, as many as 82 officers are yet to submit their returns this year. For many of them, this is the second year of non-adherence. The number of non-compliant IPS officers is not known.

Peeved over the state of affairs, the establishment officer of the personnel department in a circular, dated April 4, 2011, to chief secretary S V Prasad pointed out that the deadline for submission of the IPRs had been extended thrice, from January 31 to February 15 and then to March 26, 2011. "It is once again requested that IPRs of IAS officers working in the state and central ministries/dept be forwarded to reach us positively by 5 pm on April 20, 2011," the circular signed by the EO, I V Subba Rao, said.

With the deadline just a week away, the officers are scurrying to file their IPRs. According to sources, thanks to some officers not submitting their returns, the corrupt ones are able to go scot-free as they would claim that the property in question was bought several years ago and that its value was very meagre at the time of purchase.