Any default will lead to withholding of funds
Make directives of PM, HM, LG part of deliverables
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU. Apr 9: Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has directed all the Corporations and Authorities to start holding Board meetings immediately so as to chalk out strategies for financial year 2023-24 with the warning that any default in this regard will lead to withholding of funds.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that Boards of Directors of several Corporations and Authorities under the administrative control of several Government departments don’t hold regular meetings although they are supposed to meet once in a quarter to discuss the bottlenecks in the functioning of the Corporations and Authorities and take decision on important matters.
This has repeatedly been pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in its numerous reports including the one tabled in the Parliament recently. The supreme audit institution of the country has even reported that non-holding of timely Board meetings leads to non-finalization of the accounts of the Corporations and Authorities for years together, which is nothing less than grave financial irregularity.
Few days back, the issue came up for hearing in a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta and after detailed discussion the Chief Secretary directed all the departments to ensure that the Board meetings of the Corporations and Authorities start in the first quarter itself. He has also made it clear that any default in this regard may lead to withholding of funds by the Government, sources informed.
“The Government has also directed the Managing Directors of the Corporations and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the Authorities for making their respective units more vibrant and financially viable”, sources said, adding “Government wants every Corporation and Authority to be profit making by initiating all efforts in this regard”.
The Corporations and Authorities have already been told to come up with a clear plan within a month for Government’s consideration which should specify how they are going to be profit oriented, sources further said, adding “Corporations have also been told to hold quarterly meetings on regular basis and submit their accounts till 2021-22 financial year by 15th of this month”.
The directions have also been issued for updating the names of Board members on the respective websites of Corporations and Authorities. Moreover, all the Corporations and Autonomous Bodies have been asked to move on to BEAMS for releases from Government without fail, sources said.
It is pertinent to mention here that BEAMS (Budget, Estimation, Allocation & Monitoring System) is an online computerized web based application for preparation and authorization of budget. It enables online flow of resources and the departments can allocate funds to their field offices through this system. Moreover, it is an initiative for paper less budgeting process with objective of facilitating easy coordination among DDOs, HoDs, Administrative Departments and Finance Department.
Meanwhile, reiterating the earlier directions with regard to formulation of departmental deliverables, the Chief Secretary has directed all the Administrative Secretaries to ensure that the directions given by Prime Minister in the conferences of Chief Secretaries and directions given by Home Minister and Lieutenant Governor from time to time are made part of their respective departmental deliverables.
“The deliverables should also aid in employment generation and that the priorities decided to be part of the deliverables by the departments be objective driven”, sources said quoting the directions of the Chief Secretary.
Moreover, the Chief Secretary has directed all the Administrative Secretaries to ensure switching over to scheme-based budgeting system for this financial year 2023-24 taking into account Centrally Sponsored Schemes, UT Schemes and NABARD/united schemes in accordance with the detailed guidelines issued on the subject from time to time.
“It will be a historic step, a complete departure from the earlier practice and a plan, first of its kind”, sources said quoting the observations of the Chief Secretary.
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