New next gen IFMS was designed to bring efficiency in financial planning and expenditure control in the state. This has brought various stakeholders such as Department of Finance, Treasuries, Administrative Departments, Accountant General, RBI and Banks on a single platform with role based Smart Dashboards. These Smart Dashboards have provided a better Decision Support System. Salient Features of 5 modules of new IFMS eBudget [https://ifms.punjab.gov.in] eBudget module facilitates planning, budgeting and allocation of Budget from Department of Finance to Administrative Department and to DDOs thereafter. Salient Features are given below: • Online receipt of Budget/ Supplementary Proposals from DDOs onwards • Workflow based preparation of online Budget by Finance Department • Budget documents are generated through the system • Online SOE Based Distribution/ Allocation/ Revision/ Release/ Re-appropriation of Budget • Implementation of FR Management instructions, including online issue of Budget for Deposit Works • Budget is checked vis-a-vis allocations • Generation of Final Re-Appropriation to be submitted to AG • Accounts from AG posted digitally eTreasury [https://ifms.punjab.gov.in] This module facilitates DDOs for creation of bills and Treasuries for passing of bills and payments thereafter. It also facilitates management of Stamps, PLA and EMD accounts at treasuries. Salient Features are given below: • Preparation of 40 types of bills: Salary, TA, Contingency, Medical, DA Arrear, LTC, General refunds, Court Refunds & Allowances etc. • Creation of Unique Payee Code for each employee (mapped with HRMS Employee Codes) or other payees for electronic payment through Treasuries • Details of GPF/ PRAN and DDO NPS registration are captured (with reference to Payee Code) in Employee and DDO’s profile • OTP based real time authentication for submission of bills • Online Tracking of ECS Orders and DDO Receipt • Checks on bill preparation vis-a-vis FR management instructions • Online bill processing at Treasuries • Integrated with eKuber (RBI System) for making payments to the Payee • Integration with NSDL for verification of NPS Employees • Maintenance of Online PD/ PLA/ RD/ CCD accounts & its linkage with e-Receipt • Preparation of Accounts related to Receipts and Expenditures • Interface for AG Office for downloading of monthly accounts data • Linkage of Refund bill directly with receipts deposited at e-Receipts portal The Government of Punjab, in November 2019, decided to transition to a new IFMS w.e.f. 01/04/2020. Not only the entire activity of planning, development, testing and launch of various modules was time-bound but the expectation of achieving the service levels of existing IFMS, from day one, was itself challenging. The challenges were further compounded by the unforeseen lockdowns imposed by the Government due to COVID-19 Pandemic. The State not only successfully transitioned seamlessly but the new system has additional, new features to address the lacunas of the earlier IFMS. I must congratulate the entire NIC team who worked tirelessly to ensure an uneventful, smooth and seamless transition.

  • Dr. ABHINAV TRIKHA, IAS Director, Treasuries & Accounts Government of Punjab

eReceipt [https://ifms.punjab.gov.in] This module facilitates collection of Tax/ Non-Tax revenues in both Online [via NetBanking, Debit/ Credit Card, Airtel Payment Bank, UPI Payments (Google Pay, PhonePe, Bhim App, PayTM and Amazon Pay)] as well as Offline mode (via Challans). Salient Features are: • Online 24*7 preparation of Challan • Depositor can deposit Govt. receipt PAN INDIA in any branch of SBI, PNB, IDBI and PNB (For VAT only) • Debit Card/ Credit Card/ NetBanking/ NEFT/ RTGS/ UPI based payments through payment aggregator of PNB (PayU) and SBI (MOPS) • Auto bifurcation of VAT deposits (11% in Dept A/C and 89% in Government Treasury) • Integrated with portals of Agriculture, Legal Metrology, Excise & Taxation, PSP & eSEWA, Health & Family Welfare, Director General of Police, Rural & Panchayat Development, Labour & Employment, Revenue, Chief Electrical Inspector, Transport and Industries for online submission of fee • Stamp Vendors can deposit Stamp Fee through Online Mode and can avail discount of 1% or 2% as per applicability • Online verification of fee through GRN (Government Receipt Number) • Cyber Treasury for reconciliation and preparation of State receipt account with the authorized banks at a central location • Integrated with GSTN for SGST Receipts Vehicle Management System (VMS) and Govt. Property Management System (GPMS) Vehicle Management System (VMS) facilitates a check on POL Bills of State Government vehicles. Every Govt. official (Earmarked) or Vehicle (Pooled) has a POL Limit (on Fuel & Maintenance) assigned by Department of Finance, Government of Punjab. VMS is keeping track of each limit. In first year of its launch VMS has saved more than 17 Crore Rupees for State Government. Salient Features: • Availability of vehicles and POL Expenditure at a particular Office, Tehsil, District and State Head Quarters etc. • Each earmarked vehicle mapped with HRMS Code • Intimation regarding No. of Vehicle with an Official • Intimation of excess use of vehicle to Seniors • Helping state government in crisis by providing information like vehicle available at particular region/ institute/ offices of the state Govt. Property Management System (GPMS) facilitates keeping track of immovable properties (Land/ Buildings) of Govt. of Punjab. Once a Property is verified by authority, the designated officials can search for un-utilized Properties and allocate the same to needed offices/ departments. Technologies Used All the modules were developed using Micro-Service Level Architecture where one backend can serve many frontends like WebApp and Mobile App. The portal was developed using following technologies: • Frontend: Angular 11 with Material Design • Backend: NodeJS 14 with Express 4 & NET Core 3.1 • Database: SQL Server 2019, PostgreSQL 11 Benefits • Using new eBudget module, State Govt. can assign District Wise Receipt Targets to any Department • Using Vehicle Management System (VMS), State Government has saved more than 17 Crore Rupees for State Government • Using GPMS, State Government can check availability of vacant office space at a particular location • Using Smart Dashboards of eReceipt, State Govt. has recovered more than Rs. 13.50 Crore from banks • With introduction of Unique Payee Code, State Govt. has reduced 98% of RNs (Return Note) returned by eKuber (RBI) while making payments • Hence facilitated seamless payments • Linkage between Receipt & Refund, AC & DC Bills, EMD & PD/ PLA Bills has reduced leakage of funds Way Forward The team has designed an excellent application architecture which can be extended further for heavy loads in future. Some of the In-Process activities are: • New Debt Management System in integration with eReceipt • Implementation of e-Vouchers in the Treasuries • Integration with e-Kuber (RBI) for Receipts, so that Receipts can be monitored in real time without any manual intervention of banks