New Delhi (02.03.2022): In a departure from the past, Haryana mayors and Zila Parishad presidents will have a say in writing annual confidential reports (ACRs) of IAS and HCS officers.
The reporting authorities for the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Zila Parishads (ZPs) and the Commissioners of the Municipal Corporations (MCs) will consult the elected representatives (mayors and ZP chairpersons) for writing the ACRs of the bureaucrats. Junior IAS officers and middle-rung and senior HCS officers are usually appointed commissioners of the municipal corporations and CEOs of the ZPs.
With the budget of the MCs and ZPs going up substantially over the past few years, these officers wield a lot of administrative and financial powers. The Administrative Secretary, Development and Panchayat Department, is the reporting authority for the ZP CEO. Now, he will write ACRs in consultation with the ZP president and the Deputy Commissioner (DC) concerned.
Similarly, for Municipal Corporation Commissioner, the Administrative Secretary, Urban Local Bodies (ULB), will be the reporting authority. He will write the ACR in consultation with the MC mayor and the Director, ULB. The ministers concerned are the reviewing authorities for ZP CEOs and MC Commissioners. The Chief Minister is the accepting authority for both posts.
A senior functionary of the BJP government asserted that the new system of writing the ACRs would lead to accountability in the functioning of the bureaucracy at the grassroots level.
