The Hindu Business Line : Social audit of treasuries begins

The initiative, as proposed by the Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission, is aimed at making the Treasury Department more accountable and efficient.

Our Bureau

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug. 27 A social audit programme covering all the branches of the Government Treasury Department has been launched in Kerala. This is for the first time in the country that a government department has been brought under social audit with an independent jury sitting in judgment of the social delivery system.

Launching the programme here on Wednesday, the Finance Minister, Dr Thomas Isaac, said that the ground work for the purpose commenced seven months back when all the treasury branches numbering 207 in the State published a Citizen’s Rights Charter on the customers’ rights and service entitlements.

The Minister said that the first round of the social audit of all the treasury branches would be completed by October-end. More than 20 lakh people, including pensioners, contractors, and tax payers, did their transactions through the treasuries annually.

The new initiative, as proposed by the Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission, will make the Treasury Department more accountable and efficient, he added.

During the programme here, an independent jury chaired by the former Chief Secretary, Mr C.P. Nair, examined whether the Principal Sub Treasury could fulfil the commitments it had made in the Citizen’s Charter.

The officials and complainants sat facing each other with the general public as audience, who had the freedom to join the deliberations.

The jury will prepare a report based on the proceedings and place it before the treasury concerned.

The Government and the treasury officials are bound to act on the report and the Treasury Department will then prepare an ‘action taken report’, which will be placed before the next audit session a year later.

Dr Isaac said that a similar arrangement for the social audit of the development activities at the neighbourhood level was part of the People’s Plan campaign before. But it did not progress as desired for want of continuous monitoring and care.

The Sales Tax Department had taken up a social audit programme at the Walayar check-post some time ago, which had brought down complaints of corruption and increased revenue income for the Government, he said.

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