This office memorandum from the Department of Personnel and Training emphasizes the importance of accurate and detailed Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) for fair officer assessments and promotions. It highlights that Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs) heavily rely on ACRs, and discrepancies between ACR assessments and an officer’s actual qualities can occur. Therefore, all administrative Ministries and Departments are instructed to ensure ACRs accurately reflect the work, character, qualities, and capabilities of the officers being evaluated. The memorandum acknowledges that achieving objectivity in ACR writing remains a challenge despite previous instructions and stresses the need for careful report writing to support informed promotion decisions.
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No. 21011/5/2002-Estt(A)
Government of India
Department of Personnel and Training
(Establishment (A) Desk-1)
Dated: 26.7.2002
OFFICE-MEMORANDUM
Subject: Issue of fresh instructions in order to ensure that the ACRs reflect the true profile of the officers reported upon.
The undersigned is directed to refer to the subject mentioned above and to say that at present the Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs) have only the ACRs, to rely upon while making assessment of an officer for his promotion. The assessments made by the DPCs on the basis of ACRs alone, are at times at variance with real qualities of the person assessed. Therefore, the ACRs so initiated, are required to be written with the greatest care, so that the work, character, qualities and capabilities of the officers reported upon, can be accurately judged from these reports.
2. The above objective is yet to be fully achieved. As the objectivity in writing the ACRs, is still wanting in spite of issuing various Government instructions on the subject from time to time. Therefore, all the administrative Ministries/Department are requested to take adequate measures to ensure that the ACRs being written in the Ministries/Departments, reflect the true profile of the officers reported upon.
(SAHADEO RAM)
DEPUTY SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF INDIA
Tel: 3092338
To,
All Ministries/Departments of Govt. of India