From

Department of Personnel & Training has prescribed a time schedule for furnishing the ACR forms to the members of the Service reported upon, completion of self-assessment and writing of report by the reporting / reviewing and accepting authorities vide letter No.11059/3/88-AIS(III) dated the 26^th May, 1988. The ACRs, however, are frequently received considerably late.

2. The Standing Committee for grievances of officers of the level of Joint Secretary and above has received a number of representations regarding delays in the promotion / empanelment of officers primarily because their ACRs were not completed in the prescribed time schedule. Such delays also frequently deprive the reviewing and accepting authorities from recording their observations as many of them demit office by the time the ACRs are ready to be forwarded to them.

3. The need for timely completion of Annual Confidential Reports(ACRs) of members of All India Services cannot be overemphasized. In order to streamline the process of recording of the ACRs, the existing instructions have suitably been revised. I am enclosing a copy of the revised instructions with the request that these should be strictly followed at all levels to ensure the timely completion of ACRs.

CR form to be given to the officer reported upon	Time schedule for officer reported upon for completing part-II	Time Schedule for Reporting Authority to complete CR	Time Schedule for Reviewing Authority to complete CR	Time Schedule for Accepting Authority to complete CR
By 1^st April	30^th April	31^st May	Within one month of receipt	Within one month of receipt

2. The Completed ACR should reach the Cadre Controlling Authorities by 31^st August. The Cadre Controlling Authority will prepare a list of ACRs not received and follow up with the Secretaries of the concerned Ministries and Chief Secretaries of the respective States.

3. Nodal officers should be appointed to ensure that the ACRs of the members of Service, duly completed, are sent to the Cadre Controlling Authority within the stipulated time, i.e. 31^st August every year. The State Governments are requested to designate Principal Secretary/Secretary in charge of Personnel/General Administration Department as nodal officers. They shall send a list each of the members of Service whose ACRs are to be written/reviewed and accepted to the concerned Reporting/Reviewing/Accepting Authorities by 15^th April every year to enable them to ensure completion of ACRs within the time-schedule. Nodal officers should also ensure that ACRs of the earlier years, which are presently pending with the Reporting/Reviewing/Accepting Authorities are completed and sent to the Cadre Controlling Authorities by 30^th June 2005 positively.

4. If an ACR relating to a financial year is not recorded by 31^st December of the following year, no remarks shall be recorded thereafter. The member of service will be assessed based on the overall record and self-assessment of the year concerned, if he had given his self-assessment in time.

5. The member of Service reported upon shall, while forwarding his self-appraisal to the Reporting Authority, endorse a copy of the self-appraisal, to the nodal officer and keep a record of the same as evidence that he had submitted the same in time.

6. The Reporting Officer shall record his comments in the ACR of the officer reported upon within the stipulated time and send it to the Reviewing Officer, along with a copy thereof to the nodal officer.

7. In case the Reporting Officer fails to submit the ACR to the Reviewing Officer within the stipulated period under intimation to the nodal officer, the nodal officer shall send a copy of self-appraisal direct to the Reviewing Officer and authorize him to initiate the ACR. The nodal officer shall also keep a note of the failure of the Reporting Officer to submit the ACR of his subordinate in time for an appropriate entry in the ACR of such Reporting Officers.

8. If the Reviewing Officer fails to submit the ACR to the next higher authority within the stipulated period under intimation to the nodal officer, the nodal officer shall send a copy of self-appraisal alone or the self-appraisal along with the assessment by the Reporting Officer, as the case may be, to the Accepting Authority and also keep a note of the failure of the Reviewing Officer to record his entries in time for the purpose of recording the same in the ACR of the Reviewing Officer.