Assets of APS Officers To Be In Public Domain!

GUWAHATI: The recent office memorandum on the mandatory submission of annual property returns online, both movable and immovable ones, for APS officers has landed a section of them in troubled waters.

The office memorandum issued by the Home and Political Department has asked all APS officers to submit their annual property returns online by December 31, 2018, for the year 2017. Around 90 percent ACS officers, on the other hand, have the reputation of submitting their annual property returns regularly.

Even as only one working day is left for the deadline set by the government, over 50 police officers have not submitted their property returns as yet. This is despite the fact that the service conduct rule containing a provision to treat officers not submitting their annual property returns regularly as defaulters – a tag that may even hinder their promotion.

Some police officers, who habitually dodge submission of their annual property returns to the government, may be in troubled waters if they are to comply with the office memorandum. They will have to submit their property returns online – making their assets available in the public domain. If any of them own any landed property or flats, they need to mention everything (daag number, patta number, location, market value, etc) in detail. Such a move has been taken to make the assets of such officers transparent so that none of them can amass assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. Even if any of them hides anything, people in the know of this may lodge complaints to the competent authority against them.

Over the years, the government had been lenient on the issue of a large section of police officers, especially APS officers, not mandatorily submitting their annual property returns to the government. The outcome of such leniency is those police officers – including officers who are in-charges of police stations – owning property disproportionately to their known sources of income is glaringly visible in the State. Even their luxurious way of life bespeaks the fat amounts of money they earn, no matter how.

According to service conduct rules, it is also mandatory for all employees – from third-grade officials to gazetted officers – to inform the government if they are to purchase anything costing over Rs 10,000, giving details of the source of the money etc. However, who bothers! Rules are really made to the broken.