IAS officers reluctant to make public information on property

Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers are reluctant to provide information related to their immovable properties, though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pushing for transparency in government.

Sources, however, said that the Prime Minister is keeping a close watch on the officers trying to hide information about their properties. They will not be spared and the PM will act at the right moment.

Though the total sanctioned strength of IAS officers is 6,500, there are 5,004 IAS officers working in different parts of the country in different positions. Out of this, 1,856 IAS officers did not submit details of their immovable properties this year.

As per rules, all IAS officers are supposed to submit their immovable property returns (IPRs) of a year by January-end of the following year. If they fail to do so, they can be denied empanelment and promotion. As per information provided by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on its website, 1,856 IAS officers did not submit their returns for 2016.

The maximum cases of non-declaration of assets have been reported from Uttar Pradesh (255), Rajasthan (153), MP (118) and West Bengal (109) cadres and from 104 officers of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre.

As per norms, officers are supposed to give details of their assets and liabilities. They are also required to take prior permission from the Central government before accepting gifts worth more than Rs 5,000. They are, according to rules, supposed to inform the government if they accept gifts of over Rs 25,000 from their relatives or friends.

The DoPT, under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, had notified that under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, every public servant shall file declaration, information and annual returns of his assets and liabilities.

The government had introduced the facility of filing returns online. In this regard, an application named Property Related Information System (PRISM) has been designed for information about IPR.