Odisha agriculture dept warns employees of stopping salary if they fail to submit annual property statements

“This is hereby directed that every government servant of this (agriculture and farmers’ empowerment) department must submit the property statement in the given format online in the HRMS portal by end of January, 2023, failing which their salaries for February, 2023 onwards would not be drawn till they file the statement,” says an order issued by agriculture secretary Arabinda Kumar Padhee.

The directive is applicable to the all-India service (AIS) officers of the department including the secretary himself.

The officers concerned will submit the list of defaulting employees for appropriate action after the completion of the deadline.

Earlier on December 31, the state general administration and public grievances department had asked government employees from Group-A to Group-D to make a “true and complete declaration” of all their assets, movable and immovable, and the value every year. The statements are submitted online in the human resources management system (HRMS) portal. Up-to-date filing of property statements is a prerequisite for promotion.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, in December 2020, announced that all government employees from the entry level to the rank of chief secretary and peoples’ representatives from ward members to chief minister will disclose their property details. The move was aimed to ensure transparency in governance.

The chief minister had also announced that the property details of government officials and public representatives would also be submitted to the Lokayukta, Odisha every year.

Earlier, state government employees used to submit property statements every three years in a “sealed cover” which now has been done away with.

While state government employees earlier had to obtain prior permission for the purchase of movable assets whose value is more than two months’ basic pay, now the employees have been asked to intimate any such transaction immediately to the head of the office besides mentioning such transaction in the annual property return.