29 November,2010 06:47 AM IST | | Sanjeev Devasia
RTI application reveals that only a small fraction of the 350 IAS officers in the state have been submitting property returns regularly since 2008; government officials disagree
State bureaucrats do not seem too keen on coming clean with the money they make on the property they own, or so says information sought under the RTI Act.
If an RTI reply received by activist Vihar Durve in August this year is to be believed, then out of the 350-odd state bureaucrats, only few have filed their property returns.
The records of the Immovable Property Return of IAS officers right from 2000 to 2008 available with the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT), Government of India, have huge gaps.
Compounding the matter, state Public Information Officer (PIO) and Under Secretary of the state General Administration Department, RS Bhalekar, informed Durve that information about the officers' property returns filed before 2006 was not available in a tabulated form with the GAD.
"Bhalekar claimed in the RTI reply that the state government had sent the property returns of the IAS officials from 2007 to 2009 to the DOPT.
Even here she claimed that she had not received any acknowledgement of the same.
However, the RTI reply from the DOPT presents a different picture its officials claimed that they have not received property returns of a number of IAS officials from 2000 to 2008," said Durve.
Contradiction
Further complicating matters, CPIO and Under Secretary in the DOPT, Deepak Israni, claimed in an RTI reply in October 2010 that there is not a single IAS official who has not submitted or filed their property returns in the last five years.
Why so?
But Durve is certain. "We really don't know whether the IAS officers had filed their property returns or not or even if the state government has any information on the properties acquired by the officers recently or even earlier.
We don't know whether there is an attempt to ensure that the property returns are not filed regularly " said Durve. The Deputy Secretary in the DOPT, Chanan Ram, may havean answer as to why the discrepancy.
"The returns are not sent directly to us. The IAS officers send it to their superiors who in turn send it to the department responsible for matters relating to the personnel in the state government.
u00a0
It is compiled there and sent to DOPT. There may be a communication gap because of this chain in the submission of returns. Some returns may not have reached us in time," he said.
Despite several attempts, Maharashtra Chief Secretary JP Dange was not available for comment.
The figures say
The RTI reply says that, since 2000, only few of the 350 IAS officers from the Maharashtra cadre have been filing property returns regularly with the DoPT:
Yearu00a0u00a0u00a0 u00a0Returns filed
2001u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a024
2002u00a0u00a0u00a0 34
2003u00a0u00a0u00a0 12
2004u00a0u00a0u00a0 11
2005u00a0u00a0u00a0 31
2006u00a0u00a0 19
2007u00a0u00a0 19
2008u00a0u00a0u00a026
The Other Side
Considering the confusion in the matter of submission of returns, MiD DAY decided to ask some of the top state bureaucrats if they had filed their property returns for 2009 and 2010.
Sitaram Kunte, principal secretary revenue:u00a0We don't submit our property returns directly to the DOPT. We submit it to the state government and I think I have filed my returns quite regularly.
I think I have also filed my property details for 2009-2010 along with my annual performance reports. Besides, I have not got any reminders.
Anna Dani, additional chief secretary, employment and self employment: As far as I am concerned I have filed it, but I will have to check whether I have filed my returns for the last two years.
Ramesh Kumar, former additional chief secretary, revenue: Last year I had filed my returns. I may not have filed them for one or two years, but my property and assets have not changed in the last few years.
Sanjay Kumar, principal secretary, school education: I have filed all my property returns along with the annual performance report.
Debashish Chakrabarthy, chief electoral officer: I won't be able to recollect, but I have filed all my returns as it goes along with our annual performance reports.
AK Jain, principal secretary in CM's office: All my returns have been filed till the year 2010.
RA Rajeev, Thane municipal commissioner: We have filed it every year and I have a copy of all the receipts till this year. It is the responsibility of the GAD to send the returns to the DOPT.
