‘PFMS to boost monitoring of funds via govt welfare schemes’

Arun Jaitley was speaking at a function to launch the mandatory use of PFMS for all Central Sector Schemes (CSS).

Arun Jaitley, PFMS, welfare schemes, Public Finance Management System, indian express news

Arun Jaitley (Source: Reuters)

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the use of Public Finance Management System (PFMS) will help in effective monitoring of the flow of funds to beneficiaries of different government welfare schemes. With the capability of providing real-time information, the web-based software app PFMS has potential to improve financial management, reduce the float in the financial systems by enabling “just in time” releases and also the government borrowings with direct impact on interest cost, Jaitley said.

“PFMS … would help in tracking and monitoring the flow of funds to the implementing agencies,” Jaitley said, adding that due to the monitoring of funds, “one can know the actual status of utilisation of funds by the multiple implementing agencies of the Central and state governments”.

Jaitley was speaking at a function to launch the mandatory use of PFMS for all Central Sector Schemes (CSS). “These Central Sector Schemes with a budgetary outlay of Rs 6,66,644 crore covers over 31 per cent of the total central government expenditure during the current fiscal,” the finance ministry said.

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The ultimate purpose of implementing any scheme is to ensure that the benefits reach to the last mile, he added. In his address to senior officers of the finance and other ministries, Jaitley said that soon PFMS will progress towards a government wide Integrated Financial Management System as a comprehensive Payment, Receipt and Accounting System.

Finance secretary Ashok Lavasa said 13 Central Sector Schemes are under PFMS had picked up great momentum in the last two years. “There is an integration of all state government treasuries except that of West Bengal, which is also under process,” Lavasa said.

Over 300 Central and state government schemes, he said, are now riding on PFMS and payment of more than Rs 2.91 lakh crore relating to various schemes under DBT has been made through PFMS since 2013. He said that PFMS has enabled the government in taking forward the DBT initiative with benefits of plugging leakages and eliminating ghost beneficiaries.