Processing of APRs on SPARROW platform
Govt gives last opportunity of 2 days for submitting info
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Mar 18: Several Administrative Secretaries, Directors, Managing Directors, District Development Commissioners, Chief Executive Officers of Tourism Development Authorities and members of Services Selection Board are among 980 officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service, who have failed to submit the necessary details for processing of their Annual Performance Reports (APRs) on Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window (SPARROW) Platform.
Taking serious note of dilly-dallying approach, the Government has now given last opportunity of two days to all these officers for furnishing the necessary details to the General Administration Department (GAD).
Vide Circular No.02-JK(GAD) of 2019 dated November 18, 2019, all the officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service including the Junior Scale Officers were directed to submit their self-assessment of the Annual Performance Report (APR) for the year 2019-20 online on the SPARROW Platform.
This was reiterated vide Circular No.07-JK(GAD) of 2020 dated February 24, 2020 and all the officers were conveyed that the software application for this purpose has been developed and is expected to go-live shortly.
“In order to enable the process go online, the data of officers is required to be customized with the Personal Information Management System (PIMS). Since various mandatory fields required for the purpose are not available with the General Administration Department, all the members of the J&K Administrative Service are directed to submit the information on the prescribed proforma within a period of seven days”, the Government stated in the circular dated February 24, 2020.
It was also mentioned that the compilation of the data is an essential pre-requisite for putting in place the mechanism of online filing of APRs and the officers are expected to furnish their details without fail.
However, instructions of the Government have not been taken seriously by hundreds of officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service and this has come to the fore from the notification issued by the General Administration Department today.
“The requisite information has been received only in respect of 292 officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service while as information in respect of 980 officers is still awaited, which has resulted into delay of the processing of Annual Performance Reports on the SPARROW Platform”, read the notification dated March 18, 2020.
Stating that compilation of the data is an essential pre-requisite for putting in place the mechanism of online filing of APRs, the Government has extended the timeline for submitting the information by the officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service up to March 20, 2020. “The officers should furnish details within this period without any fail”, the notification further read.
In the list of officers who have failed to meet the timeline fixed by the Government for submission of necessary details to facilitate the General Administration Department for processing of APRs on SPARROW Platform are Administrative Secretaries of some key departments, officers posted on important positions in several departments at the Civil Secretariat, District Development Commissioners, Managing Directors of some Corporations, Heads of the Departments under the administrative control of Housing and Urban Development Department, Transport Department, Social Welfare Department, Health and Medical Education Department, Tourism Department and School Education and Higher Education Departments.
Heads of the Departments under the administrative control of Home Department, Estates Department, Finance Department, Chief Executive Officers of Tourism Development Authorities, Joint Directors of several departments, General Managers of Tourism Development Corporations, officers posted in Raj Bhawan, General Managers of District Industries Centres (DICs), Sub-Divisional Magistrates, Project Directors of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and Tehsildars are also in the list of defaulting officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service, who have paid non-serious approach towards repeated directives of the General Administration Department.
It is pertinent to mention here that SPARROW (Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window) was developed by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India to make entire appraisal system online and accessible for review by the Ministries concerned. Later, the system was extended from IAS cadre to 13 other cadres including the Central Secretariat Services.
However, this system is yet to be implemented in Jammu and Kashmir for want of necessary information from the officers of J&K Administrative Service popularly known as KAS.
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