MINUTES OF THE 13th REVIEW MEETING (ON WORKING OF TREASURIES OF KASHMIR DIVISION) HELD UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE HON’BLE MINISTER FOR FINANCE & LADAKH AFFAIRS ON 21.06.2014. Present :Government Side Accountant General (A&E)’s side J&K Bank side National Informatics Centre Mrs. Pushpa Devi Sumbli, Director General, J&K Funds Organization. Mr. Farooq Ahmad Deputy Accountant General (A&E) Mr. Farooq Ahmad, Scientist D, NIC, J&K. Mr. Altaf Hassan Mirza , Director General, Accounts & Treasuries . Mr. Abdul Rashid Malik, Accounts officer. Mr. Mohd. Amin, President, Government Business & Financial Inclusion, J&K Bank. Mr. Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, Director, Local Fund Audit & Pensions, J&K. Mr. Lochan Dass, Director, Audit & Inspections, J&K. Mr. Mohd. Yousuf Pandith, Director, Accounts & Treasuries, Kashmir. T.Ravinder Project Manager, National Informatics Centre, J&K Unit. Mr. Reyaz Ahmad, Joint Director, Funds Organization, Kashmir. Mr. Mushtaq Ahmad Mir, Treasury Officer, Additional Treasury , Tankipora. Mr. Gh. Nabi Bhat, District Treasury officer, Kupwara. Ms. Naila Zahoor , Treasury Officer , Saddar Treasury Srinagar. Mr. Amit Mahajan, District Treasury Officer, Leh. Mr. Chand Ji Bhat, Treasury Officer, Civil Secretariat, Srinagar. Mr. M. Y. Sarafraz, District Treasury Officer, Budgam. 1 Mr. Mohd. Maqbool War, District Treasury Officer, Shopian. Mr. Syed Farooq Ahmad, District Treasury Officer, Ganderbal. Mr. Syed Altaf Hussain, Deputy Director (Central), Accounts & Treasuries. Mr. Mohd. Yousuf Lone, District Treasury Officer , Kulgam. Mr. Abdul Rashid Khan, District Treasury Officer, Baramulla. Mr. Gh. Nabi Dar, District Treasury Officer, Anantnag. Mr. Gh. Rasool Najar, District Treasury Officer, Bandipora. Mr. Mohd. Yousf, District Treasury Officer , Pulwama Mr. Ali Mohd. Sofi, Treasury Officer, Additional Treasury Khanyar. Mr. Jaswinder Paul Singh, ATO, District Treasury Kargil. Mr. Shoiab Ahmad , ATO, Additional Treasury , Lal Mandi Srinagar. 1. Treasury Officer , Treasury Achabal did not attend the meeting as his son was ill. All other Treasury Officers of Kashmir Province were present in the meeting. (A) Director General , Accounts & Treasuries 2. While welcoming the participants, the Director General, Accounts & Treasuries informed that the present meeting is the 26th review meeting of the treasuries of Jammu and Kashmir and 13th review meeting of the treasuries of Kashmir division being chaired by the Hon’ble Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs. The Director General, Accounts & Treasuries stated that these meetings provide a platform where various important decisions are taken on spot in which all stakeholders viz. Principal Accountant General (Audit), Accountant General (A&E), DG, Funds , Local Fund Audit & Pension, Audit & Inspections and J&K Bank , Deputy Commissioner Stamps participate and the Hon’ble Minister reviews the functioning of the treasuries across the table for better management of the financial affairs of the State. He added that the Treasury officers at the same time get a chance to interact directly with the senior functionaries of the Finance Department and the Hon’ble Finance Minister. 3. The Director General, Accounts & Treasuries said that under the able guidance of the Hon’ble Minister and by holding of these review meetings, the working and functioning of the treasuries has improved to a great extent particularly in respect of rendition of accounts to various 2 quarters, clearance of audit paras, OB items etc. but there is always scope for improvement. 4. The Director General, Accounts & Treasuries further informed that there are 130 treasuries in the State, out of which 69 treasuries are functional in Kashmir province, out of these there are 15 District Treasuries , three Additional Treasuries in Srinagar, 34 Muffasil Treasuries and 20 sub treasuries. He further informed the quorum that during the current financial year two new treasuries , one in Ramkote Jammu province and the other in Bagat-e-Kanipora in Kashmir province have been created. 5. He stated that 5790 DDOs operate upon these 130 treasuries, out of which 3005 DDOs operate upon 69 treasuries of Kashmir province alone. He added that at present there are 1,66,065 pensioners drawing their pension from the treasuries as well as Business Units of J&K Bank in J&K State, out of which 84,469 pensioners are drawing their pension from Kashmir province. 6. He explained that the computerization of treasuries is in full swing and almost 90 % hardware items have been received in the treasuries. He added that the targets in this regard could not be achieved primarily because of non-availability of some hardware which , despite best efforts, was not supplied by the suppliers nominated by DGS&D, however, the supply orders placed with the DGS&D in this regard has now been cancelled and Director, Accounts & Treasuries Jammu/ Kashmir have been asked to make the purchases at their own level through Provincial Level Purchase cum Contract Committee constituted vide Government order No. 70-F of 2014 dated 19.03.2014. 7. He informed that as of now 29 District treasuries are using this software and as soon as the UPSs are purchased this software will be rolled out in other treasuries of the state. He added that a Working Group has been formed to look into any issue relating to treasuryNet and computerization of treasuries and this core group is to resolve issues relating to the treauryNet and the Core group which comprises of Treasury officers and experts from IT Department acts as Liaison between NIC and Finance Department. He said with satisfaction that since the formation of this group, the results have been encouraging. The core group is meeting fortnightly and update/amend treasuryNet application and make it compatible to the treasury requirement. 8. He pointed out that as s per information made available by Treasury Officers, an amount of Rs. 1.20 Crore have been recovered out of Rs. 2.30 crore excess pension paid by the J&K Bank to the pensioners as on ending 04/2014, leaving a balance of Rs. 1.10 crore. Instructions have now been issued to recover the amount of excess pension from the pensioners immediately in one instalment only as per the advice of Reserve Bank of India. 3 9. The Director General, Accounts & Treasuries informed that there were 237 outstanding audit paras as on ending 09/2013 and 184 new audit paras were added from 09/2013 to April, 2014, Out of which 228 audit paras have been dropped leaving a balance of 193 outstanding audit paras at the close of April, 2014. 10. He further informed that as reported by the Treasury Officers across the State, 49,460 PRANs have been sent to NSDL by the Treasury Officers in respect of the new entrants, out of which 47,244 PRANs have been received by them ending April, 2014 and an amount of 339.80 crore has been uploaded/ transferred by the Treasury Officers of the J&K State to the concerned Bank ending April, 2014. He added that specific to Kashmir Division, the Treasury Officers of Kashmir Division have submitted 28,629 PRANs to NSDL, out of which 27,286 PRANs have been received and an amount of 198.30 crore has been uploaded/ transferred by the Treasury Officers of the Kashmir Division to the concerned Bank w.e.f. 01.01.2010 to ending April, 2014. 11. The Director General, Accounts & Treasuries said that during the last five years, the Finance Department is pursuing an ambitious plan of construction of buildings for treasuries and the new buildings have been constructed for District Treasury Bandipora., District Treasury Kupwara, District Treasury Shopian, Treasury sogam, Treasury Handwara, Treasury Khansahib., Treasury Shangus, Treasury Dooru, Treasury Devsar, and Treasury Chiktan in Kashmir province. He added that during the current year we expect to complte construction of building for the treasuries like Additional Treasury Lal mandi Srinagar, treasury Qazigund, Chadura, Shadimarg , Pattan and Sopore for which funds have already been earmarked. Land has been identified for construction of treasuries like Khanyar,D.H. Pora, Kralpora, Pulwama, Khag, Kreeri, Mattan, Achabal and Gurez. 12. He informed that various meetings were also held regarding Results Framework Document during the current year and targets to be achieved by the Treasury Officers have been identified and communicated to the Treasury Officers concerned as also the trend values and targets under RFD for the financial year 2014-15 have also been worked out and submitted to the Finance Department for approval. (B) Hon’ble Minister for Finance & Ladakh Affairs 13. The Hon’ble Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs while welcoming the participants mentioned that the treasuries are the face of the Government, and the Treasury Officers are required to deal politely and humbly with the public. He said that cleaner the functioning of Treasuries, the better will be the image of Government among the general public. The Hon’ble Minister asked the Treasury Officers to strictly follow the Treasury Code and guidelines / instructions/ orders issued by the Finance Department from time to time. He urged the Treasury Officers to maintain Budget 4 Control Registers in each and every treasury and ensure that expenditure in no case exceeds the allotted funds, as no other authority can allow expenditure in excess of the funds authorized by the State Legislature. 14. The Hon’ble Finance Minister, said that though it was a matter of satisfaction that all the Treasuries have rendered their accounts on time to the office of the Accountant General, yet instances of misclassification/ variations have been noticed in respect of some of the treasuries with the result a correct picture of the state finances is not reflected in the State Accounts compiled by the Accountant General. The Hon’ble Finance Minister went on to add that submission of inaccurate, incomplete, illegible, misclassified monthly accounts does not serve the desired purpose. He pointed out that the Joint Director, Funds Organization Kashmir has pin-pointed some treasuries who have rendered accounts belatedly and the delay ranged from 02 to 44 days which is a matter of serious concern. He directed the Treasury Officers to refrain from rendering the accounts late and adhere to the time lines / dates fixed for the purpose, in future. 15. The Hon’ble Finance Minister said that as many as 193 audit paras were outstanding against the treasuries of Kashmir Province ending April, 2014. He added that the paras mostly pertain to the excess pension recovery (Excess pension paid by the J&K Bank), non recording of pension entries in the PPO halves etc. The Hon’ble Finance Minister directed the Treasury Officers to make strenuous efforts so that the audit paras are dropped and satisfy the audit on spot so that new audit paras do not get generated. He added that the Accountant General , (A&E) was previously requested to drop the audit paras on account of excess pension recovery against the treasury officers where the recovery has been started and the requestof the Finance Department was agreed by the then Accountant General. But unfortunately , the instructions of Accountant General were not carried out by Audit partieis. He advised Deputy Accountant General to have a re-look on this proposal. 16. The Hon’ble Minister directed the Treasury Officers not to allow the accumulations of Red D.C Accounts which had gone upto to 3000 Crore . He also directed the Treasury Officers not to entertain WDC bills for advance drawals unless a certificate is recorded by the Drawing and Disbursing officer that the Red DC accounts against the previous advance drawals have been submitted to the office of the Accountant General. He said that it appears that the instructions of the Finance Department are not being carried out by the Treasury Officers. The Director General, Accounts & Treasuries intervened in the matter and nformed the Hon’ble Minister that it appears to be quite impossible that there should be OB worth more than 3000 crore for want of Red DC bills. He said that it appears that the office of Accountant General is clubbing the OBs for want of Utilsiation certificates for want of Red DC accounts. The Deputy Accountant General agreed with this probability and assured the chair that reconciliation shall be conducted in this regar and factual position brought to the notice of the Finance Department. 5 17. The Hon’ble Minister also instructed the Treasury Officers not to release any payment unless drawals for the previous month are got verified by the concerned DDOs. He added that this was necessary for enforcement of the financial discipline and to avert chances of fraudulent drawals. 18. The Hon’ble Minister said under the Results Framework Document (RFD) started by the Government of India , the State of Jammu & Kashmir has also been asked to identify the targets to be achieved by the Government Departments. He said it is a matter of satisfaction that the in the Results Framework Document the Finance Department has been moving ahead with excellent pace. 19. The Hon’ble Finance Minister noted with concern that there are still Rs. 1.10 crore recoverable from J&K Bank on account excess pension. He reminded that the RBI authorities had clearly advised that the J&K Bank is legally bound to refund the amount of excess pension in one instalment ony once any instance of excess pension comes to their notice. 20. The Hon’ble Minister stated that a good number of administrative inspections have been conducted by the Director, Accounts & Treasuries Kashmir and District Treasury Officers. He directed the Director , Accounts & Treasuries Kashmir to conduct the administrative inspection of the left over treasuries starting from the inspection of the treasury leftover last year. He directed that the administrative inspection of the treasuries is an important responsibility of Director General, Accounts & Treasuries, DAT , Kashmir and DTOs so as to check and streamline the day to day functioning of the treasuries for better financial management. (C) Discussion on Performance Indicators submitted by the Treasury officer for the month of April , 2014. 21. The Hon’ble Minister took up the Performance Indicators submitted by the Treasury Officers of Kashmir Province for the month of April, 2014, for discussion. Discussion at length was held with all the Treasury Officers, the nature/ position of audit paras (dropped/pending) against their treasuries, identification of land for construction of treasury buildings, conduct of administrative inspections as also the position of Permanent Retirement Accounts Numbers (PRANs) and the amounts uploaded to the Axis Bank on account of subscribers’/employer’s matching share. Most of the Treasury Officers stated that a good number of audit paras had been dropped against them. 22. As a result of the discussions/deliberations by the Hon’ble Minister on the Performance Indicators for the month of April, 2014, the following important directions were issued on the spot :- 6 I. The Treasury Officers will give focused attention to the issue of audit paras and get these dropped at the earliest without waiting for the next visit of audit party to their treasuries. II. The Treasury Officers will report the cases of the pension recovery where the recovery has been started by the J&K Business Units / concerned Treasuries to the Accountant General. III. The office of the Accountant General (A&E) , without waiting for the recovery of the entire amounts will drop the audit paras against the treasuries in respect of excess pension paid by the Business Units of the J&K Bank / Treasuries and agreed by the then Accountant General. IV. The Treasury officers shall furnish all the pending vouchers in respect of AIS pensioners to the Accountant General (A&E) for its onward transmission to the Controller General of Accounts, Government of India. V. The Treasury Officers shall reconcile the cash balances with J&K Bank and report the position to Accountant General (A&E). VI. The J&K Bank shall credit the whole amount of pension paid in excess to the State pensioners to the Government Account. VII. The J&K Bank shall explore the possibility of opening of extension counters at Kulgam , Bandipora and Leh. As a short term measure , a working arrangement be made in these treasuries on the analogy of the District Treasury Budgam. VIII. The J&K Bank shall reiterate instructions to the business units not to charge “service charges” on account of uploading of amounts in respect of New Pension Scheme. IX. The National Informatics Center , J&K State Unit will sort out the issue of connectivity within 15 days positively and complete the project of computerization of treasuries within the timelines already fixed for the 7 purpose. The NIC, J&K State Unit shall be responsible for any further delay in the completion of the project.of computerization of treasuries . X. The absence of the Director / SIO, National Informatics Centre and Principal Systems Analyst , NIC was viewed very seriously by the Hon’ble Minister and he directed that in future meetings they should not send their juniors in such meetings. XI. The Director, Accounts & Treasuries, Kashmir shall visit the area to explore the possibility of finding suitable accommodation for housing the Additional Treasury Khanyar. XII. The District Treasury Officers / Treasury Officers will personaly monitor and ensure that the treasury buildings wherever under construction are constructed strictly as per norms/ plan. XIII. The Treasury Officers must adhere to the rendition of accounts to the fund offices on the prescribed date and adhere to the instructions given , in this behalf, previously by the Hon’ble Minister in letter and spirit and any deviation of the instructions shall make the concerned personally responsible for disciplinary action as warranted under rules. XIV. The concerned Treasury Officers shall submit the cases of un-serviceable articles to the Directorate General of Accounts & Treasuries through Director, Accounts & Treasuries Kashmir/ Jammu for issuance of sanction of write off of the unserviceable articles in which cases the auction is not possible in view of the meager amount likely to be received on auction and the impracticability of going for the auction through government auctioner. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the Chair. NO: DGA&T/PS/DR/ Dated :.06.2014. Sd/(Altaf Hassan Mirza) Director General Accounts & Treasuries Finance Department. 8 Copy to the :1. Accountant General (A&E), Jammu/ Srinagar. 2. Chairman / Chief Executive, J&K Bank , Corporate Headquarters, Srinagar. 3. Director General , J&K Funds Organization. 4. Director, Accounts & Treasuries Kashmir/Jammu for immediate necessary action as directed. 5. Director , Local Fund Audit & Pensions, J&K, Srinagar. 6. Director Audit & Inspections , J&K. 7. Joint Director Funds Organization J&K Jammu / Kashmir for necessary action. 8. Deputy Commissioner, Stamps , Srinagar. 9. OSD with Minister for Finance & Ladakh Affairs for kind information of the Hon’ble Minister. 10. Pr. Private Secretary to Principal Secretary to Government, Finance Department for kind information of the Principal Secretary. 11. All Treasury officers of Kashmir Province / Civil Secretariat Treasury for information and further necessary action. 9 10 11