CB BureauImagine: Every time money is withdrawn from the home ministry’s or the railway department’s bank account, you will get an alert on your mobile. You can even check the purpose of the withdrawal and have a right to object to that.
All that you will have to do is subscribe to the free alert on the soon-to-be-launched ‘transparency portal’. This is just one part of many other accesses (as opposed to excesses) that the citizens of India will have after the launch of the first-of-its-kind web portal that aims to bring hundred-per-cent transparency as far as utilization of public money is concerned.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that the government would soon launch a web portal allowing every citizen of the country to check ‘how much is being spent where and why by every ministry and government department as also the bodies directly funded by the government.’
‘Every citizen has a right to know about the whereabouts of the money that he gives us as tax. I want to bring 100-per-cent transparency in the system. I am not one who will run away from accepting facts. I hereby accept that many government officials are corrupt, and this is so at all levels of hierarchy. Every now and then, from all parts of the country, I keep hearing about some scam involving public money. There had to be a tracking system in place – a system to check where the national income is going. Hence, we will introduce this comprehensive portal. Login and see where your money is being spent,’ said Singh.
‘Now on, every government official who has authority to spend public money will be directly answerable to the public. Before handing over any project to any company or procuring any product, it will be mandatory for the department to make an announcement on the site and seek inputs from the general public on costs of the same.
‘There are lessons to be learnt from the Commonwealth Games scam that is unfolding. Had there been a citizens’ forum monitoring the use of allocated funds, we could have averted a theft that happened on such a large scale,’ Singh admitted.
From monthly bank statements to salaries and even funds allocated for all categories of projects, as well as minute details including expense receipts and cash vouchers, previously out-of-bounds information will be made available online. One can even see the names of the officials who allowed the transactions and those who signed the cheques. The process will be foolproof as the site will be directly integrated with the concerned bank’s server and no manual input will be required. Hence, the transaction part will be updated automatically. The accountants’ computers will have integrated software, so that whenever he issues a cash receipt, an invoice, or a voucher, it automatically shows on the site along with the corresponding details of the project.
To sum it up, all one will have to do is log in to the website, select the name of the ministry or the department, and check all the financial transactions done by the same at any one point. The site will also provide the expenditure plan for the coming month. The details of all the tenders passed by the concerned departments, along with the reasons for passing the same and rejecting other contenders, will be made available online.
Additionally, the work progress – updates on the meeting of deadlines and reaching milestones – primarily of infrastructure development projects will be accessible on the portal.
The comments section under detail of every ‘done’ or ‘proposed’ financial transaction will allow citizens to object, suggest and commend. The consolidated report on the remarks will automatically go into the comptroller and auditor general’s (CAG) unique inbox for the purpose. A special officer will be appointed to keep a check on these mails and update the CAG.
One can also opt for weekly email updates on all or select departments. The option to subscribe to an SMS alert whenever a transaction is done in the chosen account is also available.
The portal is a pilot project that will encompass the central ministries and all central government departments. The prime minister has requested all the state governments to initiate similar projects, assuring then of logistical and technical support.
NOTE: The text
written above is entirely fictitious and a product of this writer’s
imagination. This is not a true story and was never carried by any newspaper or
online publication.