Kochi: The salary disbursal of a section of government employees in Kerala is likely to be affected from September unless the software of SPARK (Service and Payroll Administrative Repository of Kerala) is not changed immediately. As the government is moving ahead with its ambitious digitalization plan to shift the salary disbursal through the repository, technical hassles have come in the way.
If the names of the Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDO) given in the Aadhaar card and in the SPARK are not the same, they wouldn’t be able to access the repository and upload the salary details of their subordinates. Several DDOs, in various government departments face this problem. They have been demanding necessary changes in the SPARK software to rectify this name-mismatch issue, but they were told that it was impossible. Instead, they were directed to change their name in the Aadhaar card in accordance with the name registered in the SPARK.
All the 39 government departments already got the direction to shift the disbursal of salary completely through SPARK from September 1. For this, each DDO should upload the salary details of the employees under him into the repository using a digital signature. The SPARK is using the Aadhaar information of the DDOs for authenticating the access to the repository.
Many DDOs have put their initials before the name in the AAdhaar card. But in the SPARK, the initials have to come after the first name. This has virtually denied many DDOs the access to the SPARK. And they cannot log in to the digital repository because of this. Hence, thousands of employees in various departments are not likely to get their salary from September if the problem persists, say the officials.
It is the duty of the DDOs to upload the details of all the employees who were recruited by the PSC. When the officials pointed out the technical glitch in the software, they were asked to take new digital signature after making alterations in their Aadhaar information. But those officials who have already linked their Aaddhaar with bank accounts and PAN card have some apprehension in changing the name in the Aadhaar card now. Some experts are of the opinion that the issue can easily be solved by making some changes in the SPARK software.
Review meeting on Wednesday
Meanwhile, additional chief secretary, finance, K.M. Abraham said the new system of salary disbursal would only be introduced after addressing all the existing problems. The department will examine how many DDOs are facing the name-mismatch issue. A review meeting will be held on Wednesday in this regard.