Parliamentary panel asks Defence Ministry to ensure foolproof system to evaluate ACRs of employees

A parliamentary panel has recommended the Ministry of Defence to put in place a foolproof and transparent system to evaluate annual confidential reports (ACRs) of employees.

The Committee on Petitions, in its report, was referring to the case of D Shivamurti, who held the post of Director (Finance) in the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Shivamurti had joined the company in February 1991 as Chief Manager (Finance). He was appointed Director (Finance) in October 2005 for five years.

Shivamurti was not granted an extension "in spite of his being the only eligible candidate for the post of Chairman of the HAL, rather adverse remarks were made in his Annual Confidential Report (ACR)", the panel observed.

It also said that the as per the guidelines, the adverse comments made in ACR should have been communicated to Shivamurti by the HAL administrative authorities.

However, the Ministry of Defence/Public Enterprises Selection Board recommended non-extension of his tenure beyond five years and forwarded the proposal to the Department of Personnel and Training after conducting a joint appraisal.

The Ministry of Defence submitted that normally ACRs are evaluated on yearly basis. However, if there are any adverse remarks in the ACR, there is a provision of joint appraisal.

"In the case of D Shivamurti, the committee is surprised to find that the ACR evaluation was done at the end of the tenure of his post as Director (Finance) due to which his extension was not considered," the panel said.

Shivamurti's tenure was also not extended and he was relieved from the services of HAL from March 3, 2011 citing adverse joint appraisal against him.

"Since no convincing evidence in support of their averments was given by the Ministry/HAL authorities, the committee has no option but to believe that the entire adverse scenario against Shivamurti, who had successfully completed his tenure of five years, was to curtail the prospects of his selection for the post of Chairman, HAL," the panel said.

The panel said that a well-crafted, universal and transparent procedure should be devised by the Defence Ministry/HAL for considering ACRs or joint appraisals in all cases so that the appraisal mechanism should not be selectively applied as it was invoked in the case of Shivamurti.

"The committee, therefore, recommend that the ministry should initiate concrete measures to devise a foolproof and transparent system to evaluate one's ACR periodically or conduct joint appraisals to avoid recurrence of such cases in future," the panel said.