Indian Express; Jasneet Bindra; Wednesday, Apr 27, 2011,
Chandigarh : While the service rules make it mandatory for all IAS, IPS and state services officers to file their annual property returns (APRs), bureaucrats in Haryana have been flouting the rules with impunity.
A reply to an RTI application provides a list of 35 defaulter HCS officers, 28 of whom have not filed returns ever since they joined service, while others have quite an irregular record. The list also includes name of BR Beri, OSD to the chief minister, who has not filed returns since 1994, the year he joined office.
The RTI application was filed by Hisar-based activist Ramesh Verma, who sought details of IAS, HCS and IPS officers whose APRs are pending.
The IAS officers are not far behind in laxity. The list of 17 defaulter officers is led by Praveen Kumar, whose APRs are pending for 23 years (from 1986 to 2009). He is followed by D Suresh Kumar and Dr G Anupama, both of whom have not filed their returns for 17 years (from 1992 to 2009).
About the IPS officers, the general administration branch of the Haryana DGP provides a list of 37 officers who had not filed their returns for 2008 and 2009. Of these, 20 have not filed APRs for both the years, while 17 have not done it for either of the two years.
The RTI reply states that all HCS officers are required to file their property returns as per Rule 13.1 of the Government Employees Conduct Rules. They are required to submit details of immovable and movable property owned, inherited or acquired by them or their spouses or any other family member, besides inform about shares, debentures, cash, debts and other liabilities. A column in the self-appraisal of their ACRs contains a proforma in which they are required to fill in these details.
Interestingly, to a query in the application on what action has been taken against the defaulters, the PIO of the Services-IV Branch says this information cannot be provided as the question is hypothetical in nature. However, the reply mentions that defaulters are issued regular reminders.
Verma, who has also won National RTI Award instituted by Public Cause Research Foundation, had filed the application in June last year and had to knock at the doors of the Haryana State Information Commission to get a satisfactory reply. His case was heard in March this year in the court of CIC Meenaxi Anand Chaudhary, after which he got the complete record.
Asserting that every government servant has to file APRs, Anurag Agarwal, Special Secretary, Personnel, says, “From this year, we have started issuing notices to defaulter officers, and disciplinary action will also be taken against them. Besides, an entry will be made in their annual confidential reports that will have details of the missing APRs,” he says. Claiming that the problem was not grave in case of IAS officers, he says there may be instances of delay by a few months. “But we will ensure that they are also regular in future. In fact, the government of India has clarified that non-filing of returns will impact their promotions,” he says.
About the IPS officers, Principal Secretary, Home, Samir Mathur, says, “We will review the cases of officers who have been irregular with APRs and then take action as per service rules.”
KEY DEFAULTERS:
HCS officers;
Narender Singh, Anita Yadav, SS Ghoswal, VS Hooda, AS Mann, Arvind Malhan, Pushpender Singh, BR Beri, JP Thaman, Roop Singh, Monica Malik, Shiv Parshad, Aurbind Sharma, Munish Nagpal, Mahabir Prasad, Vatsal Vashisht, Satbir Singh Jangu, Narinder Singh Yadav, Ashwani Kumar, Bir Singh Kalirawana, Subhash Sheoran, Sushil Kumar, Anurag Dhalia, Manjit Singh, Subhash Chander Gaba, Sant Lal Pachar, Subhash Chander Sihag, Yogesh Kumar Mehta. Other defaulters in the HCS category include Mahender Singh Yadav, Dharam Pal Singh, RS Verma, Surjit Singh, Virender Lather, Rajesh Jogpal and PD Verma.
IAS officers;
Praveen Kumar, Dr G Anupama, D Suresh Kumar, Balraj Singh, Madhu Sudan, Surina Rajan, Mokhitan, RK Khullar, Saroj Siwatch, SK Joshi, RK Rao, RP Bhardwaj, Chander Prakash, Risal Singh Khara, Vijayender Kumar, Rakesh Gupta, Pradeep Kashni.
IPS officers;
Brijinder Rai, Alok Joshi, Rajeev Sagar Sharma, PK Mehta, Mohinder Singh Mann, Sheel Madhur, RC Jowel, Dr BK Sinha, Manoj Yadav, Manjit Singh Ahlawat, Balbir Singh, Raghbir Singh, Sat Prakash, Rajinder Singh (1996 batch), Rajinder Singh (2000 batch), Sanjay Kumar, Vikas Kumar Arora, Saurabh Singh, Naazneen Bhasin and Hamid Akhtar.
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