CAG lauds Bengal for 99.62% expenditure & 100% receipt reconciliation
Kolkata: The office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has appreciated the Mamata Banerjee government for the achievement of 99.62 percent expenditure reconciliation and 100 percent receipt reconciliation of the departmental transaction for the year 2019-20.
They have also acknowledged that this has become possible due to the active involvement of the state government in the entire process of reconciliation with proper coordination with the CAG.
In a letter dated September 21 to the Additional Chief Secretary of the state Finance Department, Deputy Accountant General (Administration) and ITSM Rahul Kumar stated: "I am pleased to inform that for the first time, this office has achieved 99.62 percent expenditure reconciliation and 100 percent receipt reconciliation of the departmental transaction for the year 2019-20 through the login facility available in this office website. This was possible due to your active involvement in the entire process, which has also been appreciated by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India."
It has been further stated in the letter: "This will definitely ensure correct and complete depiction of the receipts and expenditure figures in the Finance Accounts of the Government of West Bengal".
According to a senior official of the state Finance department, it is not an easy task to maintain the same as both expenditure and receipt take place under several heads. "But now achievement of 99.62 percent expenditure reconciliation and 100 percent receipt reconciliation has become possible with implementation of the e-governance that had been the endeavour of the present government since it came to power," the official added. This comes when the state government has ensured 100 percent implementation of e-governance in its functioning.
It has also been proposed in the letter to initiate a quarterly reconciliation process of the current fiscal. Besides urging to instruct all the departmental office to complete the reconciliation process at the earliest for the first quarter of the current fiscal, it has been further stated in the letter that "the receipts and expenditure figures for the first quarter of 2020-21 fiscal has already been uploaded in the website under the departmental login".
The appreciation of the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year 2019-20 and the matter related to the completion of figures of receipts and expenditure of the current fiscal's first quarter comes when Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had raised the allegation of irregularities in the procurement of medical equipment to fight against Covid.
Kumar has further stated in the letter that the Finance Accounts disclose two sets of information – one for "loans and advance given by the government" and the second for "investment made by the government" — in two separate statements. At present, both the statements are limited in "true and fair" depiction to the extent of information that is awaited from the departmental offices. At the same time, the state government has been informed about the development of two "separate modules in departmental login" where officers from different departments can upload the terms and conditions of loan and investment details. It has also been directed to upload the same for fiscal 2019-20 by September 30.
