Government asks public servants to file revised property returns

The Centre has asked all its staff to file their revised property returns by September 15 as part of a mandatory obligation under the Lokpal Act.

As per Lokpal rules, public servants who have filed declarations, information and annual returns of property, shall file the revised details of their movable and immovable assets as on August 1, 2014, to the competent authority on or before September 15 this year, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in a directive.

The directive asked all Ministries and Departments of the Centre to bring the provisions of Public Servants (Furnishing of Information and Annual Return of Assets and Liabilities and the Limits of Exemption of Assets in Filing Returns) Rules, 2014, to the notice of all concerned for compliance.

The directive covers all central government servants which comes to a total of about 50 lakh and includes IAS, IFS and IPS officers, and employees of Groups A, B and C.

The DoPT has developed an online system named PRISM for IAS officers to file their property returns under the Lokpal Act, and asked IAS officers to file information related to assets and liabilities online. "An application, namely, Property Related Information System (PRISM) has been designed and would become operational w.e.f. August 1, 2014 to enable the officer to file the information and declaration online," the DoPT said.