Union Finance Secretary reviews roll out of PFMS

Chandigarh, Aug 18 (PTI) Union Finance Secretary AshokLavasa today reviewed the progress of the proposed roll out ofthe Public Financial Management System (PFMS), administered bythe Controller General of Accounts, with Chief Secretaries ofthe States of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradeshand Uttarakhand. M J Joseph, Controller General of Accounts (CGA) andother senior officials attended the meeting, said an officialrelease. PFMS provides an end-to-end solution for processingpayments, tracking, monitoring, accounting, reconciliation andreporting of transactions. The system provides scheme managersa unified platform for tracking releases of fundsto implementing agencies and monitoring their last mileutilization. The objective of Government of India is to promotefiscal discipline in both the Union and State Governments andgreater transparency in the fund flow management of variousschemes implemented by States. "Efficient utilization of resources and establishing atransparent mechanism to transfer resources and track thetransactions till the benefits reach the target recipients isthe objective of the PFMS", the Finance Secretary said. At various review meetings, Prime Minister Narendra Modihas emphasized on the need for better utilization of centralfunds transferred to the state governments and theirimplementing agencies. In this context, it has been decided that PFMS will betasked to develop and implement a system that facilitates’Just in Time’ (JIT) release of funds and complete monitoringof end usage of funds up to the last beneficiary, a releasesaid. The state governments play an important role inattaining these objectives through integration of their statetreasuries with PFMS. During the review meeting, States indicated the levelof preparedness of treasury integration with PFMS. Gaps in implementation were also identified andnecessary support mechanisms for full roll out in a time boundmanner were discussed, it said. Central Government would provide financial assistancefor computerisation of State treasuries and training ofpersonnel. The State Governments would set up the StateProject Management Units (SPMU), District Project ManagementUnits (DPMU) etc, the release said PIT CHSRG