NAHARLAGUN, Sep 26: Finance Secretary YW Ringu has expressed unhappiness over the progress made in the implementation of the National Pension System (NPS), which was introduced by the Centre on 1 January, 2004, and adopted by the Arunachal government on 1 January, 2008.
Addressing the closing ceremony of a three-day training programme on ‘Power and functions of drawing and disbursing officers (DDO)’ at the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) here on Thursday, Ringu said, “Till date, as many as 2,391 state government employees covered under the NPS have not been given their permanent retirement account numbers (PRAN), whereas employees have been contributing to the NPS.”
She advised the finance and account officers and other officers holding the charge of DDO to ensure that no employee is deprived of their right, and that every employee covered under the NPS is issued with PRANs.
“There have been cases of double payment of salary because of total negligence of DDOs, and such DDOs will be held responsible if they don’t contain the lapse,” she said.
Ringu also advised the officers to conduct internal audits from time to time in order to maintain financial discipline, adding that “maintaining financial propriety should be a moral obligation of public servants discharging the power of DDOs.”
Earlier, during the inaugural session on 24 September, ATI Director Pate Marik emphasized the need for the DDOs to know the financial rules and to be updated on all new financial reforms.
He said the DDOs “should not pass any financial transaction bill by assumptions and relying on subordinates, but should insist on relevant papers and rules.”
Thirty senior level officers, including deputy secretaries, directors, college principals, ADCs, and senior finance and accounts officers attended the training in two batches.
