The Civil Accounts Day was celebrated here today to mark the 47th foundation day of Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) with Shri Pankaj Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Finance, as the Chief Guest on the occasion.
In his address on the occasion, Shri Chaudhary congratulated the service for taking a lead in automation of financial management system and ensuring smooth flow of funds to the last mile beneficiaries. He appreciated the role of service in taking the challenges during the pandemic and its readiness to perform a transformative role in the area of Public Financial Management as the country moves towards Amrit Kaal. He mentioned that the financial accountability would be key to service delivery and inclusive growth during the Amrit Kaal. The transparency and accountability through new initiatives would be required for meeting the aspirations of new India.
Shri Chaudhary emphasised that Public Financial Management System, which is the flagship activity of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) has been a game changer in bringing capabilities of scale never seen before, and has become a system that is truly in the spirit of the ‘the Whole of Government approach’. It is a system being used by Central Government Ministries and Departments, the State Governments, Autonomous Bodies, Implementing Agencies and above all, our citizens.
As such, the Minister stated, to ensure that PFMS is always ahead of the technology curve, constant planning, appropriate resource allocation and result driven activities need to be executed for carrying out necessary enhancements and augmentations. Initiatives like Direct Benefit Transfer, Treasury Single Accounts, Single Nodal Agency & Central Nodal Agency are powerful tools to ensure just in time releases and help Government in having more effective cash management. These initiatives have helped in ensuring better management of Public Debt in the country. Sh. Pankaj Chaudhary gave awards for excellent performance in the area of accounts and Public Financial Management.
The gathering was addressed by Finance Secretary and Secretary Expenditure, Dr T.V. Somanathan, who emphasised the importance of timely payment and appreciated the efficiency brought out by e-bill implementation. The coverage of electronic billing has to be widened to cover all the Payment and Accounting Offices (PAOs). He appreciated the platform given by PFMS for launching the reforms in Public Financial Management. The system has streamlined the flow of funds to the states and has laid to a foundation of a sound public financial administration in the country.
Controller General of Accounts gave details of the achievements of the organisation during the year in the area of accounts, public financial management and capacity building. The revision of Receipt and Payment Rules, extension of roll out of e-bill system with enhanced coverage, implementation of revised fund flow mechanism through Treasury Single Accounts, Central Nodal Account (CAN) and Single Nodal Account (SNA) system have been some of the achievements in the year. He assured that service will work under the guidance of Ministry of Finance to consolidate upon these initiatives and take the reforms in Public Financial Management to next level for ensuring financial accountability to ascertain that the resources are channelised in right direction and are used for intended purposes.
The service took a resolve on this occasion to excel in public service and to ensure that an effective digital ecosystem is established in coordination with various stakeholders such as Reserve Bank of India, Agency Banks, State Government and Central Ministries for a sound Public Financial Management in the country.
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PPG/KMN
