Online submission of APARs for the year 2023-24 for all Group ‘A’ Officers of Department of Posts

Online submission of Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APARs) for the year 2023-24 for all Group ‘A’ Officers of Department of Posts: OM dated 11.03.2024

F. No. 25-4/2013-SPG (Vol IT)
Government of India
Ministry of Communications
Department of Posts
(Personnel Division)
***

Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg
New Delhi — 110 001
Dated: 11/03/2024

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Online submission of Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APARs) for the year 2023-24 for all Group ‘A’ Officers of Department of Posts – regarding.

The Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR) is an important document as it provides the basic and vital inputs for assessing the performance of an officer and for his/her further promotions/career advancements. It is, therefore, essential that APARs are completed in a time bound manner so that up-to-date APARs are available by due date.

2. It has been observed that there are instances where confirmation, regular promotion, appointment to sensitive posts, deputation etc., could not be considered in time due to non-availability of APARs for the relevant period. Therefore, the process of recording of APAR of IPoS Group ‘A’ and MMS Group ‘A’ officers through SPARROW portal, wherever applicable, following procedure which has been prescribed, is reiterated to be followed by all concerned: –

(i) In SPARROW portal, e-APAR work flow is created by the Custodian based on basic employee information received from the Officer Reported Upon in prescribed format i.e. Annexure-I.

(ii) Any delay/mistake in furnishing basic employee information by the Officer Reported Upon will be his own responsibility. The Officer Reported Upon must furnish information in Annexure’I, period/part wise, well in time with due care. The officer himself will be responsible for correctness of details provided. Wherever necessary, following documents will be appended to the Annexure -I.

1. Copy of relieving order from the previous charge and copy of joining report in the current charge for which the APAR is being written.
2. In case where option ‘NRC’ is chosen by the Officer Reported Upon, the ground for NRC should be clearly specified by the Officer Reported Upon i.e. multiple reporting officers, period of service under a Reporting Officer less than three months, availing of Earned Leave/Maternity Leave/Child Care Leave/Study Leave for more than 15 days.
3. Leave Orders
4. Training Orders.
5. In case Officer Reported Upon is on _ deputation, the name of Department/Organization, designation be clearly mentioned in the Annexure-I along with copy of order and joining report to the post on deputation. This is relevant only for the organization where SPARROW has been implemented and the officers of the organizations are on SPARROW.

(iii) A time schedule for various stages in writing of APAR has been prescribed in DoPT O.M. No. 21011/1/2005-Estt (A) (Pt-ID dated 23.07.2009 which are amended from time to time, if required. This is the responsibility of the Officer Reported Upon to get the APAR initiated from the concerned Custodian, as and when required, by submitting the details as per Annexure-I. The Officer Reported Upon will submit self-appraisal within stipulated time-schedule. If the Officer Reported Upon fails to submit the self-appraisal by the stipulated date, the report will be written without self-appraisal. If no self-appraisal is received by the stip alazed date, the Reporting Officer should proceed to write the report on the basis of his own experience of the work and conduct of the Officer Reported Upon. While doing so, he will also point out the failure of the Officer Reported Upon to submit his self-appraisal within the stipulated time. For changes in the time schedule, all officers will continue to check DoP&T website.

(iii) The SPARROW portal also provides status check so that the officers know where their APARs are pending as well as what are pending with them. In case, APAR of an Officer Reported Upon is not received by the Reporting Officer within prescribed time, he will intimate the same to Custodian so that the APAR of the Officer Reported Upon will be ‘Force Forwarded’ to the Reporting Officer for necessary action as envisaged in para (iii) above.

(v) Reporting Officer and Reviewing Officer are required to complete the APAR as per the time schedule prescribed. In case the APAR is not initiated by the Reporting Officer for any reason within stipulated date, he shall forfeit his right to enter any remarks in the APAR of the Officer to be Reported Upon and shall submit/forward online, all APARs held by him for the further action by Reviewing Officer immediately after the period has expired. Similarly, the Reviewing Officer shall also forfeit his right to enter any remarks in the APAR beyond p:escribed date. At the same time failure on writing/reviewing APAR well within the prescribed date need to be viewed seriously in terms of DoPT O.M. No. 21011/02/2009-Estt. (A) dated 16.02.2009.

(vi) In case the remarks of the Reporting Officer or Reviewing Officer have not been entered in the APAR cue to the concerned officer forfeiting his right to make any entry, a certificate to this effect shall be added in his APAR for the relevant period. In case both the Reporting Officer and Reviewing Officer have forfeited their rights to enter any remarks, the APAR format with the self-appraisal given by the Officer to be Reported Upon will be placed in his APAR dossier. The case will be proceeded for NRC. Action will also be initiated regarding failure of writing/reviewing APAR on part of Reporting/Reviewirg Officer. If it is found that Reporting/Reviewing officer despite lapse of period for his comment: has given comment it would be viewed seriously.

(vii) Whenever tier is a gap in the APAR during a particular reporting period due to the reasons given below, it shall be the responsibility of the Concerned Custodian (Central/State) to generate No Report Certificate (NRC) indicating the reason(s): –

1. Officer Reported Upon has not worked for minimum three months under a Reporting Officer;
2. Officer on Leave/Training during the period;
3. Officer was on unauthorized absence;
4. Officer under suspension;

(viii) If APAR could not be initiated/written due to the reason other than those mentioned in para 2 (vii), it will be the responsibility of CS to Member (P) to examine the cases in detail and take necessary action with the approval of Member (Personnel).

3. Timely writing of APAR is a public duty. Any instances of delay/failure to perform this public duty as per time schedule shall be brought to the notice of the Cadre Controlling Authority for necessary action. The officer concerned shall be personally responsible for the outcome. Hence, time schedule for recording and completion of APAR at all stages should be strictly adhered to by all concerned.

4, Whenever Officer Reported Upon/Reporting Officer is transferred and period of reporting is three months or more, it will be the responsibility of Officer Reporting Upon to submit the details as per Annexure’! to the Custodian for generation of APAR within five days in a manner that it is received by Custodian next day. Custodian will ensure that the APAR is initiated within two days and sent to Officer Reported Upon for submission of self-appraisal. The Reporting Officer will ensure that APAR is written well in time and forwarded to Reviewing Officer, who will take action as per instructions of DoPT on the matter. The entire process will be completed within one month of time of transfer. These timelines are indicative to ensure immediate writing of APAR on transfer of Reporting Officer/Officer Reported Upon.

5. It is requested to bring this to the notice of all concerned for strict compliance of the above instructions/guidelines to ensure that APARs are completed in time bound manner. The APAR of all the IPoS Group ‘A’ (including all HAG and HAG+ level officers) and MMS Group ‘A’ officer will be initiated in SPARROW Portal for the assessment year 2023-24 with exceptions given in para 6.

6. The APAR of the IPoS Group ‘A’ and MMS Group ‘A’ officer who are on deputation to an organization where SPARROW is not available such as State Govt./PSUs/IPPB etc., will continue to be written in manual format. The Confidential Section of Postal Directorate will forward the APAR form to concerned officer in physical format through Registered Post. It will be the responsibility of the Officer Reported Upon to keep watch on obtaining APAR form from Confidential Section well in time. The forms can also be downloaded from the official website of Department of Posts.

7. This issues with the approval of the Competent Authority.

Encl. — As above

(Sunil Kumar)
Director (Staff)
Tel. 23096108