RBI lauds Bengal for being the first Indian State to start full e-Treasury

West Bengal government got a pat in the back on the economic front from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The deputy governor of the apex bank, Harun R Khan, has lauded the state government for becoming the first state to integrate its treasuries with the core business solution (CBS) of RBI, called e-Kuber for making e-payments.

It may be noted that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had recently dubbed it as a first in India in her Facebook page. “Henceforth, all employees, pensioners, beneficiaries of government schemes, recipients of scholarships, suppliers to the government, contractors, and service providers will receive their payments directly in their bank accounts electronically from the 88 treasuries spread across the state using massive IT network.

A dedicated team of about 7,000 officers are engaged to ensure that the project runs smoothly. An SMS alert automatically goes to the recipient the moment treasury clears the bill and instructs RBI for payment,” she had said.

State finance minister Amit Mitra said once again West Bengal has taken the number one position among states in the e-governance domain. “It has already received the highest award from the Centre on e-taxation this year. West Bengal has become the first state to take the advantage of e-Kuber,” he added.

State Government employees now brought under e-payment

The West Bengal Government has brought all payments to its employees under e-payment.

Earlier only salary used to be transferred through e-payment whereas all other adhoc payments like tour allowance, medical bill, and various types of loans used to be done by cheques.

Now, the State Finance Department has issued instruction to all its departments to update their data bank with employees’ bank details and from April onward all payment related to employee benefits will be done through e-payment.

Benefits derived from the scheme:

  • It will reduce the risk of bringing the cash from the bank and hazards of handling the cash such as cash shortage
  • It will reduce the cost of security arrangement
  • It will reduce the loss of man-hour for disbursing and receiving salary on pay-day

To align with the system it is requested that data be collected and updated within 31 March 2015 for a hassle free performance of the new system for the convenience of all employees.