Annual Confidential Report is not confidential hereafter

Department of Personnel and Training in OM No 21011/1/2005-Estt(A)(Pt-II), dated 14.5.2009 has issued orders to replace the exisiting ACR with Annual Performance Assessment Report (APAR). The important points mentioned in the OM are reproduced below:-

(i) The existing nomenclature of the Annual Confidential Report will be modified as Annual Performance Assessment Report (APAR).

(ii) The full APAR including the overall grade and assessment of the integrity shall be communicated to the concerned officer after the Report is complete with the remarks of the Reviewing Officer and Accepting Authority wherever such system is in vogue. Where Government servant has only one supervisory level above him as in the cse of personal staff attached to officers, such communication shall be made after the reporting officer has completed the performance assessment.

(iii) The section entrusted with the maintenance of APARs after its receipt shall disclose the same to the officer reported upon.

(iv) The concerned officer shall be given the opportunity to make any representation against the entries and the final grading given in the Report within a period of fifteen days from the date of receipt of the entries in the APAR. The representation shall be restricted to the specific factual observations contained in the report leading to assessment of the officer in terms of attributes, work output, etc. While communicating the entries, it shall be made clear that in case no representatin is received within the fifteen days, it shall be deemed that he/she has no representation to make. If the concerned APAR Section does not receive any information from the concerned officer on or before fifteen days from the date of disclosure, the APAR will be treated as final.

(v) The new system of communicating the entries in the APAR shall be made applicable prospectively only with effect from the Reporting Period 2008-09 which is to be initiated after 1st April 2009.

(vi) The competenet authority for considering adverse remarks under the existing instructions may consider the representation, if necessary, in consultatin with the reporting and/or reviewing officer and shall decide the matter objectively based on the material placed before him within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of the representation.

(vii) The competent authority after due consideration may reject the representation or may accept and modify the APAR accordingly. The decision of the Competent Authority and the final grading shall be communicated to the officer reported upon within fifteen days of receipt of the decision of the competent authority by the concerned APAR Section.

Courtesy- AIAIPASP, CHQ