It is really unfortunate that it has become an annual affair that government employees in large numbers fail to comply with the orders regarding the filing of their Annual Property Returns (APRs) through the Property Return System (PRS) portal, leading to extension of deadlines along with stern warnings by the people sitting at helm.
In this context, this year also the Jammu and Kashmir Government has given a final opportunity to its employees to file their Annual Property Returns (APRs) through the Property Return System (PRS) portal. As the earlier deadline of January 31, 2025 has been passed, the government has now given its employees some more days to comply with the order as it has set February 15, 2025 as the final date for filing the aforesaid return.
The government work force is accountable and cannot simply refuse to divulge the aforesaid information therefore the government should take steps to have complete knowledge about the property owned by the government staff and if any wrong thing comes to fore strict action should be taken to give a lesson to others not to indulge in delinquency. It is good that the government has decided to give the last and final opportunity to the defaulting workforce as employees can now submit details through online mode on the Property Returns System (PRS Portal) on or before February 15, 2025.
It is pertinent to mention that the government has issued detailed instructions to all the employees to register themselves on the PRS Portal and subsequently file their Annual Property Returns before January 31, 2025 but reportedly many employees have failed to comply with this order due to different reasons thus making the government to take a lenient stance by giving another chance to do the needful.
The defaulter employees should take this final call as very seriously because the Government has made it very clear that the failure to submit the property returns within the extended deadline may result in punitive actions under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Men and Public Servants Declaration of Assets Act, 1983, and penalties under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Not only this, the order issued in this regard has also made it clear that defaulting employees may also face denial of vigilance clearance.
The government should set an example by taking action on ground against willful defaulters so that employees take such orders very seriously in future.
