Further deviation to invite disciplinary proceedings
Slackness despite extension in timelines several times
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Mar 11: Even after repeated instructions from the Government, the Annual Performance Reports (APRs) of 342 officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) are pending for processing at various levels and taking serious note of this, the General Administration Department has made it clear that further deviation will invite disciplinary proceedings this time.
The General Administration Department vide Order No.581 dated July 6, 2021 notified different timelines for Initiating, Reviewing and Accepting Authorities for processing of Annual Performance Reports (APRs) in respect of the members of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service on J&K SPARROW (Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window) Platform for the Assessment Year 2020-21.
For the Initiating Authority the timeline was September 30, 2021 while as for the Reviewing Authority the same was November 15, 2021 and for Accepting Authority the timeline was December 31, 2021. However, there was no strict adherence to these timelines for processing of Annual Performance Reports by the Initiating and Reviewing Authorities.
This can be gauged from the fact that as on November 27, 2021, 94 APRs were pending for processing at Initiating Level, 387 at the Reviewing Level and 218 at the Accepting Level. Accordingly, all the concerned authorities at the Initiating and Reviewing Level were directed to complete the required action on the pending APRs within a week’s time—December 5, 2021 positively.
Again there was no strict compliance and this compelled the Government to issue fresh instructions vide Government Order No.9 dated January 4, 2022. “The pending APRs at the Initiating and Reviewing level shall be cleared by the concerned authorities within one week positively enabling the respective Accepting Authorities to record their remarks on the APRs within the extended timelines”, the Government mentioned in the order of January 4, 2022.
However, despite the lapse of extended timelines, an appreciable number of APRs are still pending at the level of Initiating, Reviewing and Accepting Authorities and this can be gauged from the official figures. A total of 32 APRs are pending for processing at Initiating Authority level, 76 at Reviewing Authority level and 234 at the Accepting Authority level.
Taking serious note of repeated non-compliance, the Principal Secretary to the Government, General Administration Department Manoj Kumar Dwivedi has enjoined upon these authorities to clear the pendency at their level within three days failing which the APRs shall be “Force Forwarded” to the next authority and deviation in this regard will be considered dereliction of duties for which disciplinary proceedings will follow.
“Earlier, there was delay on the part of the officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service in submitting the necessary details for processing of their Annual Performance Reports (APRs) on SPARROW Platform and now the Initiating, Reviewing and Accepting Authorities are dilly-dallying”, official sources said.
Stating that there was no justification for delay at these levels, sources said that for the purpose of facilitating processing of the APRs on the SPARROW Portal, even Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was prepared by the General Administration Department and shared with all the concerned.
Moreover, a helpdesk was created in the General Administration Department /Information Technology Department which can be consulted in case of any difficulty while recording or processing APRs on the SPARROW portal.
It is pertinent to mention here that SPARROW 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. The portal was made live for filing of Annual Performance Reports in respect of members of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service with effect from September 4, 2020. The main objective of such portal is to speed up the appraisal process.
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