The Hindu Business Line : Global meet to find ways to improve results of Govt schemes

New Delhi, Oct. 19 Over a hundred public financial management experts and practitioners from 42 countries are to descend at New Delhi on Monday for a three-day international conference focused at improving delivery in Government-sponsored schemes.

Outlining the agenda for the international conference, the Controller-General of Accounts (CGA), Mr V.N. Kaila, told reporters that the conference would look at strengthening public financial management for improving programme delivery.

Pat for Banks

It would specifically look at leveraging banking and IT for this purpose. The conference will be inaugurated by Minister of State for Finance, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, here on Monday.

“We owe the success of our tax information network (TIN) to our banking system. Many of the inputs to the TIN are coming from the banking system. Banking and advancements in IT can play an effective role in monitoring and evaluation of our schemes,” Mr Kaila pointed out.

Strengthening internal controls for better program delivery is also part of the agenda for the conference. Stating that the internal controls appear to be weak, Mr Kaila said this was one of the reasons why special attention was being given to this area in the conference.

‘Value for Money’

“Looking at the systems at ground level, the internal controls appear to be weak. We need to get value for money through better internal controls,” Mr Kaila said.

He said that the conference deliberations would lead to a set of recommendation and concrete action plan to help establish a system that could streamline fund flows to the last mile — direct payment to beneficiaries.

Besides international experts, the conference would also be attended by State Government officials and members of the auditing fraternity.

“We need to ensure the right amount of funds reach right agencies at right locations at the right time. As you know, funds flow from Central Government to State Government to district in the Indian system,” the CGA said.

In the current fiscal year, the Planning Commission has entrusted the CGA with the implementation of the plan accounting and public finance management system.

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