Laws and sections by number or title, due dates, pages, and updates.
The Officer Reported Upon submits the self-appraisal for the Annual Performance Assessment Report for the year 2024-25 through the SPARROW portal starting from the specified date. The competent authority disposes of any representation and forwards it to the APAR custodian by the specified December date. The APAR process ends and the record is finalized by the end of December. The concerned authorities ensure strict adherence to the timelines to avoid delays in holding Departmental Promotion Committees.
What you must do
Key dates
Who is affected
Ask about this circular
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Disposal of representation by the Competent Authority and forwarding it to APAR Custodian 17thDecember, 2025 9 Communication of the decision of the Competent Authority by the APAR Custodian to the officer reported upon Within 10 days from the finalization of decision by the Competent Authority 10 End of APAR process after which the APAR will be finally taken on record 31st December, 2025
It is informed that the submission of Self appraisal by the Officer Reported Upon (ORU) will begin with effect from 1st September, 2025. In this regard it has been observed in the past that there have been lapses in filing of APARs causing delays in holding DPCs. Therefore, it should be ensured by the concerned ACCs that the above timelines for APAR activities are strictly adhered to.
The ACC HQ/ ACC (Zones) are assigned the role of Service Admin and they have to assign the roles of PAR Central Custodian (Primary) and Employee Manager Details (EMD) Administrator to OIC/RPFC (Adm)/APFC (Adm) in the Regional Offices under their jurisdiction, using the “Role Mapping” tab available on their sparrow homepage. Both roles may be assigned either to the same or to different officials. Similarly, ACC-HQ PDUNASS and ACC ZTIs/Sub-ZTIs, shall be assigned the role of Service Admin and they have to further assign the roles of Central PAR Custodian and EMD Administrator to the RPFC (Adm) in the said offices. For Head Office, the role of Service Admin shall be assigned to ACC (ASD) and the roles of Central PAR Custodian and EMD Administrator has to be further assigned to the RPFC ASD, Head Office (Flow chart-1 attached).
PAR Central Custodian (Primary) role is responsible for creation of the APAR workflow i.e. the APAR mapping and also generation of APAR. APAR workflow can be created using the “Workflow” role available on the left-hand side panel of the sparrow homepage of the user having the PAR Central Custodian (Primary) role. Similarly, APAR generation can be done using the “Generation” button under the PAR tab take available on the sparrow homepage of the user having the said role.
EMD administrator role is responsible for making any modifications or adding any missing details in the service data shown on sparrow in respect of any user under that office. ACC HQ/ACC Zones, ACC HQ/ACC, PDNASS & ZTIs, ACC ASD (HO) shall send a list of all officers who are assigned the role of EMD administrator under their jurisdictions, to Head Office mentioning their name, designation, name of office, email id, mobile number and employee ID on email ID rc.hrm8@epfindia.gov.in
The correctness of APAR mapping in respect of all the officials under the jurisdiction of an RO shall be certified by respective OIC of the ROs. The correctness of APAR mapping in respect of OICs of ROs and the officials of Zonal office shall be certified by the concerned ACC Zone. Similarly, the correctness of APAR mapping in respect of all the officials under the jurisdiction of a ZTI shall be certified by the ACC ZTI and that in respect of ACC ZTIs and the officials of PDUNASS, the same shall be certified by the ACC HQ PDUNASS. Further, the correctness of APAR mapping in respect of all the ACC HQ / ACC, Zones, ACC HQ PDNASS and the Officials at HO shall be certified by ACC, ASD (Flow chart-2 attached).
Flowchart - 1
Role Assignment in SPARROW ACC HQ/ACC Zones (Role: Service Admin) Assign roles to OIC/RPFC (Adm)/ APFC (Adm):
Assign roles to RPFC ASD:
Flowchart - 2
APAR Mapping Correctness Certification Officials under RO certified by OIC of RO OICs of ROs & Zonal Office Officials certified by ACC Zone Officials under ZTI certified by ACC ZTI
ACC ZTIs & PDNASS Officials certified by ACC HQ PDUNASS ACC HQ/ACC Zone/ACC HQ PDNASS & HO Officials certified by ACC, ASD Certification Completed
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Amendment History Date Version Description Author Aug 2016
User Manual eOfice Project Division 10 Jan 2019 3.2 User Manual eOfice Project Division
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Table of Contents
Objective ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Key Features- SPARROW ................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Roles- SPARROW ............................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Roles & Responsibilities- SPARROW ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Workflow Oriented Movement of PAR ................................................................................................................................... 12
Modules-SPARROW ........................................................................................................................................................................ 13
ADMINISTRATOR (Primary Custodian/ Super Custodian)- Standard Menu .................................................................
User or Officer - Standard Menu ................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Movement of PAR –Custodian (First Steps) .................................................................................................
Create Workflow/Update .................................................................................................................................................................
Update/ Delete Workflow ............................................................................................................................................................................. 19
Generation of PAR .................................................................................................................................................................................
Movement of PAR-Standard Flow ............................................................................................................................................. 25
Movement of PAR- Representation Flow ............................................................................................................................... 39
Home .................................................................................................................................................................................................
Dashboard .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 55
Common Functionalities of PAR ................................................................................................................................................ 58
Inbox/ Sent .................................................................................................................................................................................................
My PAR (Inbox/Sent) .................................................................................................................................................................................... 58
Assess PAR (Inbox/ Sent) ............................................................................................................................................................................. 58
Manual Process (Inbox/ Sent).................................................................................................................................................................
Process (Inbox/Sent) .................................................................................................................................................................................
Force Forward (Sent) .................................................................................................................................................................................
User Assistance ................................................................................................................................................................................ 62
Track Your PAR ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 62
Role Detail .................................................................................................................................................................................
Workflow ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 65
Create/ Update .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 65
PAR .................................................................................................................................................................................................
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Generation ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 66
Update Section I ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 66
Tracking ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 67
Force Forward ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 69
Dossier ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 72
Officers Completed PAR ................................................................................................................................................................................. 72
My Completed PAR .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 73
My ACR Status .................................................................................................................................................................................................
DSC .................................................................................................................................................................................................
Support@ServiceDesk .................................................................................................................................................................
Migration .................................................................................................................................................................................
PAR Migration .................................................................................................................................................................................................
Grading (Manually Section Upload) .......................................................................................................................................................... 77
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Abbreviation SPARROW Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window PAR Performance Appraisal Report MaA Memorial against Assessment CR Central Repository EMD Employee Manager Details SPOC Single Point of Contact CCA Cadre Controlling Authority DSC Digital Signing Certificate
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Objective The electronic Annual Performance Appraisal Report (SPARROW) is an online system based on the comprehensive performance appraisal dossier that is maintained for each member of the Service by the State Government/Central Government. The aim of this system is to facilitate the electronic filling of PAR by officers in a way that is not only user friendly but also allows to fill from anywhere anytime as per their convenience. Similar convenience will be available to the officers at different Stages in the workflow hierarchy of filling and submission process. The system is also expected to reduce delays in submission of completely filled PARs.
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Introduction PAR filling process starts at the beginning of the financial year. The Custodian of the respective Ministry/department sends the blank PAR forms to the Individual officer. The officer fills the PAR for further submission to his/her Reporting Officer. The PAR moves from Reporting officer to Reviewing officer and to Accepting Authority mandatorily marking CR Section a slip. With the electronic system in place, the recording and movement of PAR forms becomes seamless, quick and convenient due to inbuilt alert mechanisms through different modes at appropriate Stages. The system provides status check so that the officers’ know where their PARs pending as well as what are pending with them.
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Key Features- SPARROW PAR ID: Unique ID for PAR. Search Criteria: To search on various parameters like name, date etc. Draft: To save the PAR as Draft and work later. Flows of PAR
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Roles- SPARROW Primary
