New Delhi: The Central Information Commission has directed the Education Department of Delhi Government to change the way Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) are prepared so that it does not become "a tool of harassment and corruption".
The Commission asked the department "to make necessary changes to the practice of ACR preparation, in view of the fact that power to write ACR in the hands of superiors has become a tool of harassment and denial of crucial information like ACR" to one for personal vendetta.
This "will compel the sub-ordinates to please the superiors at the cost of good governance practices for reasons of promotion, which is nothing but a form of corruption", Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said.
The case relates to Sunanda, who sought under the RTI Act her ACR for the year 2007-08 from the principal of a school in Sultanpuri area in the national capital.
The principal of the school claimed, during the hearing, that unless Sunanda fills in the Annual Performance Assessment Report (APAR), it was not possible to furnish ACR to her.
It also came to light that there were hostilities between Sunanda and the officials of the Education Department who had allegedly threatened her with negative ACR.
The Commission sought to know from the Education Department what alternative in the absence of ACR for the relevant period was made available to her.
