New Delhi [India]: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed all the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers across the country to submit their Immovable Property Return 2023 by January 31 next year.
The Ministry conveyed the direction in a written note circulated at the beginning of this week to the Chief Secretaries and the Director General of Police (DGP) of all state governments and Union Territories (UTs), stating, "The Immovable Property Return for the year 2023 is required to be filed online latest by January 31, 2024 at https://ips.gov.in or https: / /sparrow-ips.eoffice.gov.in by using existing nic-e-Mail ID and password."
The note with the header "Online filing of Immovable Property Return (IPR)-2023 by IPS officers" was issued on December 11 with a reminder that in terms of Rule 16 (2) of All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, every member of the service shall submit his or her Immovable Property Return (IPR) in the prescribed form by January 31 every year in respect of the previous year ending December 31."
In this connection, the note mentioned a 'User Manual' to facilitate filling up the online Immovable Property Return (IPR), which is available at the welcome page of SPARROW (Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window).
"The Immovable Property Return for the year 2023 online, after filing, is required to be authenticated by using the Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) already issued under SPARROW," said the note.
"Immovable Property Returns filed in any other form shall not be accepted," the note emphasised.
It is clarified that filing of Immovable Property Return under Rule 16 of the All India Services (Conduct) Rule, 1968, by all IPS officers is mandatory, reads the note, adding, "In case the officer fails to submit the IPR (online) within the stipulated time limit, his/her vigilance clearance will be denied in terms of DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training) Office Memorandum No.104/76/2022-AVD.IA dated September 28, 2022."
Furthermore, the MHA note reminded that as per DoPT notification dated December 30, 2021, timely submission of IPR has been made mandatory for appointments at the next level of pay in the pay matrix. "No request for condonation of delay in filing of IPR will be entertained by the Ministry of Home Affairs."
Stating all the pointers, the note further said, "It is requested that these instructions may widely be circulated to all concerned officers for strict compliance."
"In case of any difficulty in accessing IPR module through SPARROW, the grievances may be sent to support-sparrow@nic.inor or sparrow.ips@nic.in," said the note.
—ANI