The provision of online facility to the accounts offices in North, South Waziristan and Kurram agencies is subject to the security clearance as the facility is already operating in Khyber, Mohmand, Aurakzai and Bajaur agencies, Accountant General NWFP Ahmed Rasool Bangesh said on Friday.
The government is taking keen interest to provide online facility in the tribal agency's accounts offices in North, South Waziristan and Kurram agencies, however, it could only be made possible when there was peace. He was talking to APP after a welcome party arranged in his honour by the Auditors NWFP Association to thank him for giving selection grade to 169 employees of the Accountant General NWFP.
Bangash claimed that the targets set by the World Bank under PIFRA (Project to Improve Financial Reporting and Auditing) for the NWFP have been achieved. Resolving genuine problems of the employees of the AG NWFP was top priority of his office, he maintained. The account office at Bajaur agency, he said has been provided online facility under the World Bank Pilot 'Project to Improve Financial Reporting and Auditing (PIFRA).
It was the longstanding demand of people of Bajaur Agency that was fulfilled by government, he explained. The performance of Agency's account offices is now being monitored from Peshawar and problems of the tribal government employees would be addressed at grass-root level, he added.
The main objectives of PIFRA project is to enhance the capacity building of workers, introduction of IT and make online the district accounts, agencies accounts, AG office and other financial related organisations online. The NWFP Accountant General said that he held a detailed meeting with NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti in order to bring major pubic sector hospitals in the province on the penal for medical treatment of the AG office employees.
The Chief Minister has ensured to bring the same on the penal of AG Office, he added. Regional Director PIFRA Muhammad Fahim said that capacity building, IT skills development of staff and connecting AG office NWFP with districts accounts offices have been successfully achieved. He said that efforts are underway to connect North and South Waziristan Agencies account offices with AG Office NWFP by making it online.
As result of PIFRA project, he said finance and control system and budgetary performance of Finance related departments have considerably improved. Efforts are underway to make TMAs office also online, he added.
The PIFRA head said that the World Bank, main sponsor of the project has highly lauded the performance of the project in the NWFP. President Auditors NWFP Association in his welcome address said that selection grade to 169 employees of AG office was a great achievement which was made possible due to keen interests of Ahmed Rasool Bangash.
The selection grade case of these employees was pending since 1983 and about Rs 25 million arrears have been paid to the beneficiaries. Faheem claimed that NWFP had created history while presenting the development budget on the new format prescribed by the Auditor General under PIFRA. It is a major development project to reform the financial management systems in the federal and provincial governments, he explained.
NWFP had volunteered to be the pilot province for implementation of PIFRA, he maintained. The on line system based developmental budget is facilitating the Accountant General's organisation in maintaining proper and detailed accounting records of all the development projects executed by various government agencies, he added.
He said the project enabled the provincial and district governments to trace and trail the expenditure on development projects and programmes, he added. Transparency in expenditure, accountability of the spending agencies and accurate and timely reporting was the hallmark of this gigantic project, Faheem concluded.