In a bid to ensure transparency, the Narendra Modi government has asked all departments and ministries to put property details 
of officials on their respective websites.
A government circular in this regard was recently received by the Defence Ministry, which says that the new rules for filing property returns are part of the government’s efforts to implement the Lokayukta Act, 2013.
The Lokayukta Act mandates government officials to file details of all their movable and immovable property assets and the statements should be made public on the website of the respective ministry.
As per the new rules for filing property returns, if any government servant fails to declare his assets or gives misleading details, strict action would be taken against the employee by the competent authority.
It says that if any official is found to be in possession of assets not mentioned in his returns, then it shall be “presumed that the assets belong to the public servant and acquired by corrupt means”.
“The government has also asked the Ministries to make sure that these statements are posted on the websites of respective ministries within the specified time frame.
The government has also asked the ministries to ensure that the officials file their property details including the assets of their family members and dependents.
Upload data for processing appointments by ACC: Govt to depts
The government has asked all departments to compulsorily feed all data in an electronic system for processing appointments done by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC).
The ACC Vacancy Monitoring System (AVMS) is designed to facilitate monitoring of all appointments in Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), autonomous organisations, statutory and regulatory bodies as well as to various posts in the ministries and departments.
The AVMS can provide complete detail of all posts in a ministry which require ACC’s approval for appointment, the incumbency and the vacant position of such posts and status regarding filling up of these vacancies.
“Proper implementation of AVMS, however, makes it incumbent on the part of the ministries or departments to fill the necessary data-fields in the system on a real-time basis”.
“It is noticed that in spite of the follow-up by the Establishment Officers’ Division, the requisite data is not being updated or uploaded on regular basis by the user ministries or departments,” said an office memorandum issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
As a result, it becomes impossible for the system to provide any meaningful output which could be used for monitoring purposes, it said.
“All the ministries or departments may, therefore, ensure that uploading of the requisite data in the AVMS is completed. A compliance report, certified by an officer not below the level of a Joint Secretary, be submitted to this office within the next 15 days,” said the order issued to all secretaries in central government departments on Friday.
The ACC is headed by the Prime Minister and has the Home Minister as its member.