State initiates process to incorporate IT personnel in Finance Management System

Kolkata: The government initiated the process of incorporating IT personnel in the state's Integrated Finance Management System (IFMS) to give them the recognition of contractual staff of the Bengal government at the earliest.

Chief Minister had announced of turning all IT staff engaged with Webel, Webel Technology Limited (WTL) and concerned agencies as contractual staff with "security of engagement" till 60 years and other benefits.

Different departments of the state government have engaged IT personnel through Webel, WTL or other agencies in the past few years as a series of e-governance projects were taken up by the state government. The e-governance projects enabled computerisation of different services to improve the "ease of doing business" and ensured seamless transfer of welfare benefits to people. At the same time, at the time of Covid the cent percent e-governance has helped in easy implementation of related projects.

According to a state government official, these IT professionals are the backbone of the e-governance reforms that the state has witnessed. "So it has been felt that the present terms and conditions of their engagement need to be improved. As a result, it has been decided to bring them under its direct engagement as IT personnel working in regular establishments under the state government.

Now all the departments have been asked to send particulars of such IT employees, mainly the data entry operators and computer operators, working with them. There would be around 6000 such IT employees. For example, 105 data entry operator and one Software Support personnel at the Backward Classes Welfare department.

They will be brought under the e-IFMS through which all financial functions of the state government get channalised.

Besides "security of engagement" up to the age of 60 years, they will also be getting 30 days usual leave, 10 days medical leave, maternity leave for 180 days, Swasthya Sathi benefits and also retirement benefit of Rs 3 lakh.

The state government employees' associations top welcome the move of the state government. Manoj Chakraborty, the convener of the mentor group of Paschimbanga Rajya Sarkari Karmachari Federataion stated that this is another crucial move of the Mamamta Banerjee government in terms of extending support towards the employees those had been relentlessly working for the state government in the past few years.