Jammu,May 24 – J & K Minister for Finance and Planning Abdul Rahim Rather while speaking at a meeting to review the performance of different treasuries of Jammu division in Jammu on Sunday, Mr. Rather said, “I envisage making J&K a model state in treasury management, the distinction which it held till 2003 when performance review meetings was a regular feature of the government.” He said that Jammu and Kashmir with limited financial recourses needs better financial management and state’s treasuries are the implements to enforce fiscal discipline on ground.
Minister said that for ensuring better treasury management and transparency in financial transactions, quarterly review meetings of all the treasuries across the state would be convened. Besides, monthly administrative inspections of the treasuries would be conducted by the Director, Accounts and Treasuries to monitor their functioning, he added.
Asking the Treasury officers to overcome the shortcomings and lacunas in performance which surfaced during the meeting, the Minister asked them to keep their records updated and come fully prepared in the future review meetings. This, he said would bring in more accountability in the ground-level functioning of the department. “Treasuries are the department’s face at the ground-level and if they fail to deliver in a transparent manner, the image of the department suffers a beating”, he said and added that performance will be the sole criterion for gauging the merit of the officers.
Stressing on honesty and dedication to duty, Mr. Rather said that the present dispensation is all for those officers who perform their duties honestly as per the rules and guidelines laid down for them, adding that good performance will be rewarded suitably. He said that every effort will be made to provide the employees of the department congenial work atmosphere, but the onus of delivering on ground lies completely on their shoulders. He said that such review meetings will not only serve as brainstorming sessions but will also provide an opportunity to the officers to showcase their performance on ground.
Deliberating on the financial position of the state, Mr. Rather said that the present government has inherited some financial constraints and depleted resource base, adding that at the very onset it had to announce the implementation of the recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission conceding to the demands of its employees. This, he said had made it all the more important to bring greater vigil in monetary transactions and judicious utilization of the available financial resources.
Commissioner/ Secretary, Finance, Sudhanshu Pandey, Director, Accounts & Treasuries, M. I. Khanday, Deputy Accountant General, Joint Director, Accounts & Treasuries, Jammu, all Treasury Officers of Jammu division and other senior officers of the Finance department participated in the meeting.
During the meeting, performance indicators of different treasuries up to March end this year were reviewed in detail. The Minister sought details regarding maintenance of accounts, audit inspections, budget control register and checks and balances being followed by treasuries in their normal functioning. He called for strict adherence to the budgetary allocations as well as ensure timely maintenance of accounts.
Speaking on the occasion, Commissioner/Secretary, Finance said that the department has decided to do regular performance review of treasuries so as to improve their functioning in maintaining fiscal discipline.
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