Keeping in sync with the green e-payment initiative launched by the Government of India for electronic fund transfer to the beneficiary accounts, the Orissa government has started the process in its own humble way.
The electronic fund transfer which covers 32 schemes funded by the GoI and the state government is expected to be fully implemented in a few months.
“The system of electronic fund transfer has already begun in the state in case of post matric scholarships for students belonging to Other Backward cl-asses (OBCs) where funds are being directly transferred to the beneficiary's accounts. In case of pre-matric scholarships, we are transferring the fund to the school's account,” said Santosh Sarangi, secretary, SC & ST Development, minorities and backward cl-asses welfare development.
Says an official of state finance department, “The electronic fund transfer initiative is catching up. The panchayati raj department is very keen on implementing the system for flagship schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and they are working on a software for facilitating the process. We hope that the e-payment facility is implemented for all identified Central and state government schemes within a few months.”
“The electronic fund transfer will also be applicable to all salary payments up to the level of district offices. It will be extended for all vendor payments and third-party payments above Rs 5,000 to be made by district level and other offices. We are going to achieve this by January 2012,” he added.
The schemes identified for electronic fund transfer to the beneficiary account are MHNREGA, Swarna Jayant Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Indira Awas Yojana and National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) under panchayati raj department while for SC & ST Development department, the scheme covers post and pre-matric scholarships and merit-cum-means scholarships for professional and technical courses at the under-graduate as well as graduate level.
The total sanitation campaign under rural development department and Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana being implemented by department of housing & urban development department are also covered under electronic fund transfer.