All govt. employees asked to submit property returns statement

Dimapur, Sep. 14 (EMN): The government of Nagaland has directed all its employees to file and submit their Annual Property Returns Statement, both in hard and soft copies, before October 22.

According to an office memorandum of the department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (dated September 13), Rule 13 (1) of the Nagaland Government Servants (Conduct) Rules 1968 and Section 31 of the Nagaland Lokayukta Act, 2017, requires all public servants to file Annual Property Returns Statement before June 30 every year.

“The Annual Property Returns Statement in respect of all gazetted officers including the members of the All India Service ending March 31, 2019 be filled and submitted to the respective administrative heads both in hard and soft copies within Oct. 22, 2019.

“All heads of department to ensure that submission of Annual property Returns Statement ending 3151 March, 2019 by all employees under their Department including grade-IV employees to be submitted both in hard and soft copies within October 22, 2019,” it read.

Submission of records concerning gazetted officers should be maintained by the administrative head and all other non-gazetted employees’ records by the head of department, it stated.  “In case of all elected representatives who are public servants, their Annual Property Returns be submitted to the Secretary, Parliamentary Affairs for onwards submission in soft copy to Secretary, Nagaland Lokayukta.

“However, the department as mentioned in Section 34 of the said Act shall be exempted from submission of such returns as they are expected to submit the same to their controlling authorities who are not amenable to the jurisdiction of the Nagaland Lokayukta Act. Furthermore, the spouses of those public servants whose disclosures have been already made to their respective authorities need not be reflected in the statement to avoid duplication,” it added.

The statements should be forwarded to the Secretary, Nagaland Lokayukta by the respective authorities (AHODs/HODs) in soft copies before October 31, it informed.

“Those departments who fail to submit within the stipulated time shall be published in the newspapers as defaulters as per the provisions of the Lokayukta Act. For filing of the Annual Property Returns Statement from March 2020 onwards, the public servants are required to file on or before June 30 every year,” it added.