CHANDIGARH: Manpreet Singh Badal, Finance Minister Punjab exhorted the officers of the department of Finance to cope up with the needs of modern system of financial control and account maintenance of government expenditure and receipts.

While addressing the first ever state level Conference of the officers of the department of Finance here Tuesday Badal said that all the 21 district treasuries and 69 sub treasuries located in various districts of the state of Punjab including Chandigarh have been computerized adding a lot of efficiency in monitoring of government revenue and expenditure. He also said that financial frauds and embezzlements have also been checked by utilizing computers and least manpower.

Responding to the long pending issues of the officers of the Finance Department including the filling up of the vacant posts, the Minister has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary Finance which would submit its report within three weeks and posts would be filled within six months, he said. To sort out all the operational difficulties and in order to streamline the functioning of the department, Mr. Badal along with the district level officers took a pledge to wipe out corruption, poverty communalism and anti-national activities to evolve a healthy nation. 

Adding further, Badal said that Internal Audit Wing for conducting audit of major revenue earning departments like Transport, Excise and Taxation, Revenue, Chief Electrical Inspector of government of Punjab would go a long way to plug the loopholes and toning up the quality of assessment and collection of revenue. He also said that internal audit organization has shown a remarkable increase in the revenue and recoveries on account of various audit reports.

Speaking on the occasion Raj Kumar Khurana, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Finance said that the present government when elected to power two and a half years back got empty coffers and it was with the concerted efforts of Punjab Chief Minister S. Parkash Singh Badal and farsighted vision of Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal, State has once again achieved the targets of generating revenue through resource mobilization.

Anirudh Tiwari, Secretary Expenditure and Mr. C.S.Talwar, Special Secretary, Finance also addressed the officers.