Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 21: Underscoring the pivotal role of Treasury Officers (TOs) in enforcing fiscal discipline and budget management, the Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs, Abdul Rahim Rather today enjoined upon the Treasury Officers (TOs) to strictly adhere to the Treasury Code for safeguarding the State exchequer.
Speaking at the 13th review meeting of the Treasuries of Kashmir province (26th meeting in the State) convened at Banquet Hall here, Mr. Rather said that safeguarding state exchequer was the prime duty of TOs, adding that they should in no case exceed Budget allocations. “Proper maintenance of Budget Control Registers in each Treasury will go a long way in this regard”, the Finance Minister added. He warned concerned officers against violation of Treasury Code, adding that directions and guidelines from the Finance Department should be followed in letter and spirit.
The Director General Accounts and Treasuries, Altaf Hussain Mirza, Director General, J&K Funds organization, Pushpa Ji, Deputy Accountant General (A&E) Farooq Ahmad, Director, Local Fund Audit and pension, Zahoor Ahmad, Director Audit and Inspections Lochan Dass, Director Accounts and Treasury Kashmir, Mohammad Yousuf Pandith, President J&K Bank, Mohammad Amin and Treasury Officers from across the Kashmir province were present in the meeting.
While asking the TOs to cooperate fully with the office of Accountant General in the interest of State financial affairs, Mr. Rather cautioned against rendition of incomplete accounts to AGs Office as the incorrect and incomplete classification of the Bills affect the accuracy of State Finances. He urged for settlement of audit paras vigorously, adding that it should be an endeavor to clear audit enquires at the early stage of half margins.
Mr. Rather also called for curbing chances of excess pension payments, adding that TOs should immediately bring into the notice of the Govt. any such incident. He asked the J&K Bank to recover the remaining excess pension payment made by its different branches as early as possible.
He also enjoined up on the TOs not to entertain WDC Bills for advance drawls unless certificate is recorded by the Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDO) that Red DC Accounts in respect of the previous drawls have been submitted to the AG (A&E). He emphasized that the Red DC Accounts are rendered to AG’s Office without any delay, adding that TOs should not release any payment unless drawls for the previous months are got verified by the concern DDOs which, he said was imperative for the financial discipline and averting the chances of fraudulent drawls.
The Finance Minister also urged for conducting regular administrative inspections of all the 130 Treasuries in the State to bring in more efficiency and accountability in their working. He also asked the Treasury Officers to fulfill the trend values and targets under Result Frame work Document (RFD) which is a new concept about performance monitoring.
Reiterating that a treasury is the face of Government, Mr. Rather asked the TOs to deal with the public in a very polite manner and do not deviate authorization from one object to another.
In his welcome address, the DG Accounts and Treasuries said that there are 130 treasuries functioning in the State, out of which 69 treasuries are in Kashmir province. He said 5790 DDOs are operating upon these 130 Treasuries. He said at present 1,66,065 pensioners are drawing their pension from the treasuries in the State, out of which 84,469 pensioners belong to Kashmir province. He said the computerization of Treasuries is in full swing and about 90% hardware items have been received in the treasuries.
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