IFS officers to declare assets

Indian Foreign Service officers are set to be the first among civil servants to declare their assets.

The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers are set to be the first among civil servants to declare their assets,top government sources told The Indian Express on Monday. This follows a Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) circular to all Group A officers in the Central government to declare their assets by May-end.

The sources said the IFS officers posted across the world in about 200 missions along with those posted at South Block have been asked to submit details of their immovable assets by May 25.

The immovable assets,which will include land,plots,houses,etc,will be made public on the website of the Ministry of External Affairs (www.mea.gov.in).

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The decision to put the details of their immovable assets in the public domain at the earliest was taken at a recent meeting of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna,Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and other senior officials in the ministry.

The orders are to be first on the block,and to give out a signal that the IFS officers have nothing to hide, a senior official said.

The DoPT circular follows judges and politicians declaring their assets,which triggered demands from RTI activists that the assets of IAS,IPS,Group A Central services and Central Information Commission officers too be made public.

In an earlier circular on April 4,the DoPT had asked the chief secretaries of all states to inform IAS officers to submit their property details by April 20 or risk not being considered for promotion or empanelment to senior posts.