Chief Secretary Anthony DeSa inaugurated a one-day national workshop on the web portal developed for concurrent audit of panchayats by the Panchayats and Rural Development Department here on Wednesday. Representatives of Government of India and six States participated in it.
Panchayat Darpan software will improve fiscal management and accounting system of three-tier panchayats. Chief Secretary DeSa said that this is yet another innovation of Madhya Pradesh known for its various innovations. Panchayat Darpan software will increase relevance of Panchayat raj in democratic set-up. The Chief Secretary said that this portal will prove important in empowering Panchayat raj institutions and transparency in their works. The Chief Secretary congratulated the Panchayats and Rural Development Department for launching the portal.
He hoped that the new software will go a long way in maintaining details of immoveable assets of panchayats, grants received from Government, revenue receipts, panchayats’ own fiscal resources, geographical information and development works being undertaken under various schemes. Welcoming representatives from other States, the Chief Secretary wished for the workshop’s success.
Additional Chief Secretary Panchayats, Rural Development and Social Justice Aruna Sharma informed that the Concurrent Audit System has been launched for panchayats. Before launching Panchayat Darpan, post-audit of panchayats as well as all schemes of Rural Development and Social Justice Department was done for the first time in year 2012-13. Due to first-time initiative for concurrent audit and inspection of accounts at the decentralised level, large number of inactive accounts have also been detected.
The system is enabled to maintain details of budget allocated under 13th Finance Commission, State Finance Commission, stamp duty, imposition and recovery of taxes, MNREGA, various housing schemes, school education and Tribal Welfare Department’s schemes, health schemes and pension distribution.
The task of Concurrent Audit in 10 divisions of the State has been entrusted to suitable institutions by inviting global tenders after preparing proposal in consultation with office of the Accountant General and Chartered Accountants Institute of India.
For simplifying accounting system, software Panchayat Darpan has been made available on the web portal www.mppanchayatdarpan.org. The software is helping chartered accountant firms to maintain accounts of 3-tier panchayat institutions systematically and smoothly.