An end-to-end system for Financial Management in the Government of Kerala NIC Kerala has developed and implemented various application modules in the IFMS Project. As part of the IFMS project, smooth and successful integration has been achieved with various stakeholder applications such as SPARK (HR Management System) and EMLI (Effective Management of Letter of Credit Issuances). Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) is one of the prestigious projects of the Government of Kerala, undertaken by the Finance Department and the Treasury Department. The project has been designed in line with the Modernization of Treasury Systems, one of the Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) of the Government of India. IFMS platform envisages end-to-end integration of systems and IT services among various stakeholders such as Finance Department, Treasury Department, Administrative and Line Departments, Accountant General, RBI and Banks.
Objectives IFMS systems have been integrated with the Accountant General Office for rendering monthly accounts from treasury, sharing e-PPO (Electronic Pension Payment Order), sharing pay slip details of gazetted officers. The State Government systems also share details of GPF and leave details. IFMS Expenditure System has been sharing expenditure, budget and release details to the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) of the Government of India.
“I express my appreciation on behalf of the Government of Kerala in recognition of the work of NIC Kerala team, in connection with the implementation of Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS). It is expected that your team would continue to show the same passion, commitment and dedication in all your future endeavors, duties and assignments. We wish you and your team leaders/ members the very best in NIC Kerala’s professional development.” MANOJ KUMAR JOSHI, IAS Addl. Chief Secretary (Finance) Government of Kerala
Following are the major application modules in the IFMS project: ••e-Treasury - Receipt/ Payment Gateway for Government Departments and Public ••Core Treasury Savings Bank (TSB) ••State Budget Management System ••Draft Plan Budget Management ••Budget Allocation and Monitoring System (BAMS) ••Bill Information and Management System (BiMS) ••Pensioner’s Information and Management System (PIMS) ••CoreTIS – Core Treasury Information System ••CRA for e-Stamping and Stamp Management System ••Integrated Accounts Management System (iAMS) ••User Management and Administration System (UMAS). ••E-Ledger – Ledger Management System ••WaMS – Ways and Means System
e-Treasury e-Treasury is the e-Payment platform for any remittance to the Government of Kerala. Citizens can avail the e-Treasury facility for remittance using the Internet Bank Account for getting any service from the Government Department. e-Treasury has been integrated with banks. At present, 11 banks are directly integrated. Other 54 banks are integrated with Federal Bank Gateway. Payment modes such as Debit Card, Credit Card and UPI are also available. Besides, cash collection has also been enabled using electronic Point of Sale (ePOS) in e-Treasury platform.
Integration with eKuber IFMS Payment System has been integrated with eKuber system of RBI. All payments to beneficiaries will be routed to RBI for crediting to any banks in India. Following are the types of payments handled through the integrated system. ••Disbursement of salary of government employees ••Disbursement of pension to pensioners ••Any payment to vendors or contractors ••Payment to beneficiaries in the case of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) ••Welfare pensions and other schemes such as scholarship payments as part of DBT
Advantages ••Uniform model for crediting amount to accounts in any banks in India ••Amount credits to accounts in same time in any of the banks in India ••Works on NEFT Cycle - Twelve settlements from 8 am to 7 pm on working days ••Single point of contact for any doubtful transactions, which may be returned due to any issue ••Settlement of accounts with the government on T+0 day (same day) as RBI maintains accounts for the government
Integration with Stakeholders IFMS covers all the operations in an electronic mode in the finance sector by integration with various stakeholder systems. ••e-Treasury acts as the government receipts gateway for all types of receipts to the government through Treasury. ••SPARK – HR Management System for Government of Kerala ••EMLI – System for management of Letter of Credits and bills of contractors in the Works Department ••BMS – Budget Management System for capturing estimate for the budget preparation ••Budget – Budget processing system for the preparation of budget for the financial year ••eAnumathi - Administrative sanctions for all Government Departments ••Pension portal ••Gazetted Entitlement Management System (GEMS) ••Audit Management System ••Integration with e-Kuber of RBI ••ePOS machine integration ••11 Banks directly integrated and 54 banks integrated with Payment Gateway ••Planspace – Expenditure data to Planning Board ••PFMS – Budget and Expenditure data to PFMS ••Electronic data sharing with Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), State Insurance Department (SLI/GIS) ••Saankhya – Software for preparation of bills for Local Self Government Institutions ••Integration of e-Treasury with various service rendering department portals such as Registration, Motor Vehicle, Mining and Geology ••E-Grantz – Scholarship management system for SC & ST ••Government Departments extend eServices by integrating e-Treasury with their respective e-Gov applications ••Online verification and defacement of e-Challan ••Online reconciliation ••e-Scroll from all banks and RBI ••Generalized Integration Model with bank portals and department portals ••Full integration of budget and budget execution cycle ••Effective and efficient monitoring and control of state finances ••Online remittance facility with respect to all taxes and dues to the State Government ••Timely monitoring of government’s cash position ••Effective online integration and co-ordination with all stakeholders ••MIS for effective decision-making
Awards and Accolades ••President's Award 2019 for 'Architecture enabled Government Transformation – International Award in Innovation & Excellence' by The Open Group ••Skoch Order of Merit Award 2016 ••CSI Valiant Runner-up Award for Best Project in 2015
Way Forward The realization of Enterprise Architecture (EA) based IFMS for the Government of Kerala is on the roadmap. This would ensure all citizen-centric services with various stakeholders participating in the financial management of the Government of Kerala. All services to citizens, employees and pensioners will be available online from anywhere digitally.