VISAKHAPATNAM: From next month, the social security pensions in Andhra Pradesh are likely to be paid a few days earlier than their usual date of payment.
The Treasury Department has decided to cut down unnecessary delay in payment of salaries, pensions including social security pensions and bills by opting for speedy online transactions. The new system will come into force from September 1 and is expected to reduce the role of banks.
Instead of the bank staff handling the transactions, the government has decided to authorise the Treasury Department employees to credit the amounts directly to the beneficiaries’ accounts thereby saving two to seven days - the processing time usually taken by the bank staff to credit the salaries and pensions.
As per the existing procedure, a list of beneficiaries/employees is prepared by the heads of the departments (HODs) concerned before the 23rd of every month and the same is forwarded to the higher authorities for approval. Later, the final copy of beneficiaries, as approved by the higher-ups, is sent to the banks for disbursal of salaries and pensions.
“It has, however, been observed that there is an unnecessary delay in payments at the banks, particularly in the case of social security pensions. Sometimes, the banks release the funds at their will citing work pressure at each branch even days after the government has released the funds,” K Kanakavalli, director of Treasuries and Accounts Department told Express.
The government decided to cut down on the processing time at the bank level and successfully implemented the scheme as a pilot project in Guntur district apart from select areas like Narsipatnam in Visakhapatnam district. “We have successfully reduced the window period between preparation of the beneficiaries’ list and payments. From the next month, the authorised staff of the Treasury Department will make online transactions directly instead of involving bank staff,” said Kanakavalli.
About 150 Treasury Department staff in the districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam were recently given training as part of the state-wide implementation of the new procedure.