SSA to make use of CPSMS

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state office and district offices of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in Kerala have begun steps to move its accounts online by shifting to the Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System (CPSMS). By the beginning of 2012, the first phase of its shift to the Central-sponsored software would be completed, enabling transparency in money matters. The CPSMS is a scheme by the Planning Commission of India being implemented by the Office of the Controller General of Accounts to capture real time-based expenditure and reduce idle funds.  It was to monitor the CSS (Centrally-sponsored Schemes) that CPSMS had been introduced. The Central Government had piloted the software in schemes such as SSA, NREGS and NRHM in some states.  “In the first level, our district offices would shift to the online financial review software. Once it gets rolling, the BRCs and other panchayat-level offices would take up the new software. The good thing about it is that we would be able to know the amount that had arrived in the scheme, the amount spent, that which was unspent, the amount withdrawn and every possible detail one would want to know regarding it. The software would strengthen our fund utilisation in the coming days,” said K M Ramanandan, SSA State Project Director.  According to him, the transfer of funds to the lower-level blocks and panchayats and allocation in every level would be transparent once the financial status comes on a public  domain. The training for the operation of the new software would be given to officials in a phased manner. After this, the entry of accounts would be done, creating a centralised data base of the expenditure. That the money could be traced to the last recipient would make the new online system a better pill for SSA too, which during the last many years, had been ailing from mismanagement of accounts. As soon as it came to power, the UDF Government had announced a vigilance inquiry into its fund misappropriation. It is a common allegation that SSA funds are being mishandled by the governments themselves by diverting it for other purposes. The online software would hopefully bring an end to the allegations. The same is true with other Centrally-sponsored schemes such as the NREGS and the PMGSY, where huge amounts are allocated to states and nothing ever comes out of it.