Finance Deptt notices violation of codal formalities by DDOs
*Prior sanction of competent authority made mandatory
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Feb 19: No arrear claim of Government servants and persons not in Government service which is more than two years old will be presented by the Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) before the Treasuries without the proper sanction of competent authority and prior concurrence of the Finance Department.
A direction in this regard has been issued by Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Financial Commissioner Finance Department after noticing blatant violation of the rule position provided in the General Financial Rules, 2017.
For settling time barred claims, a detailed rule position has been provided in the General Financial Rules—2017 and every Drawing and Disbursing Officer is supposed to act strictly according to these Rules.
Rule 295 states: “Any arrear claim of a Government servant which is preferred within two years of its becoming due shall be settled by the Drawing and Disbursing Officer or Account Officers as the case may be after usual checks. For the purpose of this provision, the date on which the claim is presented at the office of disbursement should be considered to be the date on which it is preferred”.
“A claim of a Government servant which has been allowed to remain in abeyance for a period exceeding two years should be investigated by the Head of the Department concerned and if the Head of the Department is satisfied about the genuineness of the claim on the basis of the supporting documents and there are valid reasons for the delay in preferring the claims, the same should be paid by the Drawing and Disbursing Officer or Accounts Officer as the case may be after usual checks”, the Rule further states.
As per Rule 295, a Head of the Department may delegate the powers conferred by him to the subordinate authority competent to appoint the Government servant by whom the claim is made.
Rule 296 reads: “Even a time barred claim of a Government servant shall be entertained by the concerned authority provided that the concerned authority is satisfied that the claimant was prevented from submitting his claim within the prescribed time limit on account of causes and circumstances beyond his control”.
“A time barred claim shall be paid with the express sanction of the Government issued with the previous consent of the Internal Financial Wing of the Ministry or Department concerned”, the Rule 296 further states.
As far as time barred claims of persons not in Government service are concerned, the Rule 297 states: “The provisions of Rule 289 to Rule 296 shall apply mutatis mutandis to arrear claims preferred against Government by the persons not in Government service”.
Despite these explicit provisions, it has come to the notice of the Finance Department that Drawing and Disbursing Officers are presenting the time barred arrear claims of Government servants/persons not in Government service at the Treasuries without following codal formalities.
Taking serious note of this, the Financial Commissioner Finance Department has impressed upon all the Administrative Secretaries to direct Drawing and Disbursing Officers that no arrear claim which is more than two years old is presented before Treasuries without proper sanction of competent authority and prior concurrence of Finance Department.
“Further all Treasury Officers are directed not to entertain any arrear claim which is two years or more old without proper sanction of competent authority and prior concurrence of the Finance Department”, reads the order of Financial Commissioner, Finance Department.
It is pertinent to mention here that the General Financial Rules-2017 aim to provide a framework within which an organization manages its business in a financially prudent manner without compromising its flexibility to deal with varied situations. Moreover, the GFR enables an improved, efficient and effective framework of fiscal management while providing the necessary flexibility to facilitate timely delivery of services.
From time to time, the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has issued directions for strict compliance of General Financial Rules but latest circular of the Financial Commissioner Finance Department clearly indicates that Drawing and Disbursing Officers are not paying serious attention towards the same.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
