NEW DELHI: In order to monitor the work performance of government officials, the Modi government had introduced a digital platform for processing their annual performance appraisal reports (APARs). In the current year, however, more than 1,700 APARs are pending at different levels.
Noting the delay, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) has written to the ministries and departments to expedite and complete the APAR process.
The first deadline for the reviewing officer to complete the report and sent it to the administration was July 31, but considering the delay it was further extended to August 31. Now, ministries and departments have been asked to complete the APAR process by the end of this year.
The letter by the DoPT issued on Thursday mentioned that all the ministries and departments may send alerts to all officials to complete the APARs. “The nodal officers are advised to devise a mechanism to monitor the progress of completion of APARs for the financial year 2017-18, including disclosure and consideration of representation, if any, by the date December 31 this year,” mentioned the letter.
As a measure towards good governance, DoPT has made online filing of Performance Appraisal Reports (PAR) mandatory in respect of government officers in Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window (SPARROW), a software developed for this purpose. The online system was introduced from the financial year 2015-16.
The progress made towards generation and completion of online APARs on SPARROW system is being constantly monitored in the DoPT. There are different levels of performance appraisal of officers, including submission of self-appraisal PAR to the reporting officer, submission of report by reporting officer to the reviewing officer and then the report to be completed by the reviewing officer and finally sent to the admin.
“It has been observed that 367 APARs are pending with officers to be reported upon. 404 APARs are pending with reporting officers and 445 APARs are pending with the reviewing officers. Apart from this, a total number of 503 APARs are pending at different stages for disclosure or closure,” said the letter issued by the DoPT.
A senior DoPT official said that online filing of APARs is crucial for good governance as it eliminates the possibility of any manipulation in the physical forms and ensures timely submission and finalisation of APARs which are invaluable tools for assessing the performance of officers with a view to chalk out their career progression and training needs. Further, availability of APARs online makes them readily accessible to the officers concerned thereby making the system transparent and immune to inefficiencies associated with physical transit of APARs.