In a major milestone, Punjab Government’s Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) has been awarded with the CSI Nihilent e-Governance Award 2012-13.
“Winning the award is a major boost to the efforts of Punjab Government in ushering in an era of e-Governance and modern citizen services in the State,” said the state Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa. CSI (Computer Society of India) and Nihilent jointly instituted and managed the CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Awards for recognising the contributions made in the field of e-Governance in the country.
Instituted in 2002, the basic objective of these awards has been to recognise and appreciate the successful efforts by Indian States and Central Government, Departments and Districts in achieving good governance using Information and Communication Technologies.
The award was received by G Ramesh Kumar, Secretary Finance–cum–Director, Treasury and Accounts on the behalf of Punjab Government at 48th Annual Convention of Computer Society, held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The award ceremony was preceded by a panel discussion on e-Governance Project Sustainability with members from Punjab, Gujarat, Goa, Kerala and Delhi and representation from across States and Industry.
Divulging the details, Dhindsa said that IFMS is an ambitious project undertaken by the State Government to modernise financial ecosystem of the state and monitor the finances of the State on real-time basis. IFMS spans across all the finance related processes beginning with the Plan and Budget preparation to release of funds (to the concerned departments), submission of online bills to treasuries, ECS (Electronic Clearing System) payments (direct credit) to the beneficiary’s (Employees, Departments and Vendors etc) accounts operational since April 1, 2013 and the reconciliation of the funds at treasury level.
He said that in addition, more than 80 per cent of the tax receipts are online, 100 per cent scrolls from the banks being received and reconciled by treasuries online with the provision for the rest 20 per cent to be completed in coming few months.
Amongst all changes that IFMS has brought ECS payments to the beneficiaries accounts stands aside as the most significant as not only has it benefited the state government employees and pensioners and others by expediting the process of funds transfer but it is also a big leap towards a paperless environment in the treasuries.