Alappuzha: The government has initiated a slew of measures to ensure the smooth functioning of the Treasuries and to advance the disbursement of social security pension.
The working hours of Treasuries have been extended till 9pm, Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac told a news conference here on Wednesday.
The minister said Kerala has been going through a rare financial year. Unlike previous years, the State has enough money, and no restrictions have been imposed on the Treasuries.
Isaac said a glitch in the National Informatics Centre (NIC)’s software has affected the smooth functioning of the Treasuries. He was referring to media reports on the difficulties in drawing salary from the Treasuries.
The issue is yet to be solved, he said. Two meetings of NIC and State government officials have been convened, and a NIC team is in the State trying to fix the problem.
A panel of experts from IBM and Technopark has also been formed to work parallel with the NIC team, Isaac said. He requested all not to be misled by rumours.
A few instructions have been issued to ensure the services of the Treasury:
1. Treasuries to function till 9pm.
2. Efforts to disburse this month’s social security pension and the one for Vishu early—considering the holidays--are in the final stage.
3. Cash transactions have been restricted to 2 pm from the morning. Only the software for disbursing money will function during these hours. Software for submitting bills will be functional only between 2pm and 9pm. These arrangements are to decrease the load.
4. Treasuries will be open on holidays in March.
5. Measures have been put in place to allow the submission of salary bills this month, in the light of long holidays during the first week of April. The revised salary and pension will be disbursed as usual on the first working day of next month.
6. Steps have been taken to avoid the financial year-end rush to submit bills. All Treasuries have enough money and all bills will be honoured this month itself.
