Shri Harun Rashid Khan, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, formally launched in Bhubaneswar today, the electronic Fund Management System (e-FMS) for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) beneficiaries, Panchayati Raj Department, Government of Odisha. The objective of the Scheme is to make electronic payment of wages to MGNREGA beneficiaries in the State of Odisha. He also launched a new model of Government receipts to provide safe and efficient mechanism for Government business and timely credit of Government receipts.

Shri J. K. Mohapatra, Principal Secretary Finance, Government of Odisha, Shri P. K. Jena, Commissioner Cum Secretary, Panchayatraj, Government of Odisha, Ms Gargi Kaul, Principal Accountant General Odisha, Shri R L K Rao, General Manager, Officer-In-Charge, Reserve Bank of India, Bhubaneswar and other senior officials of the Reserve Bank and banks were present on the occasion.

The e-FMS went live on June 29, 2012 for the districts of Ganjam, Gajapati and Mayurbhanj and one block viz. Bolagarh of Khurdha district. It will be launched in respect of at least one block each from the remaining 27 districts from July 02, 2012. The remaining blocks of 27 districts would be taken up in the next phase so that the entire State is covered by Gandhi Jayanti, i.e., October 02, 2012. Implementation of e-FMS is expected to drastically cut down the delays in payment of wages to MGNREGA beneficiaries and also bring about transparency in the system apart from resulting in savings in operational costs.

Details of Schemes

The e-FMS scheme involves disbursement of wages of MGNREGA beneficiaries directly to their bank accounts through the Regional Electronic Clearing Service (RECS) provided by the Reserve Bank, Bhubaneswar. Based on the data/information provided by various nodal agencies (Gram Panchayat/block/district level), authorised officials of the Sponsor Bank (State Bank of India in this case) download the files and send to the Reserve Bank for processing on the same day on RECS so that accounts of beneficiaries, maintained with different banks, can be credited the next day.

The new model of Government receipts envisages; a mechanism where agency banks will forward the particulars of electronic receipt transactions on T+1 basis, i.e., the day following the date of transaction, to the Reserve Bank, Bhubaneswar instead of sending to the Cyber Treasury. The Reserve Bank will process the e-receipt files, debit the accounts of banks and credit the account of the State Government instantaneously with the amount of e-receipts. The Reserve Bank will also generate e-scrolls and forward them to the Cyber Treasury. Under the improved model would enable the State Government to closely monitor reporting of e-receipts by banks, receive quick credit to its account, single source (i.e., the Reserve Bank) for receiving e-scrolls, and eliminate reconciliation problems.

The new system is an improvement over the existing one where the Government of Odisha collects various taxes, such as, commercial taxes, vehicle taxes, mining revenue, etc., online. The tax payers pay taxes online through their net banking account maintained with the agency bank. The transaction particulars of these e-receipts are forwarded by the agency banks to the Cyber Treasury of the Government. The e-scrolls in respect of these transactions are also required to be sent by banks to Cyber Treasury. Banks are expected to report the consolidated amount of e-receipts one day after the date of transaction (T+1) to the Reserve Bank, Bhubaneswar. The Reserve Bank, Bhubaneswar debits the accounts of banks maintained with it with the amount of e-receipts and the corresponding credit is given to the account of the State Government. The existing system had a number of issues pertaining to timely credit of funds, reconciliation issues, etc., and was hence considered less efficient.

The Reserve Bank has been encouraging banks, State Government and Central Government departments/agencies to switch over their receipts and payments from physical to electronic mode in view of its advantages, such as, less use of cash, quicker transmission of funds in safe and secured manner, etc.

Ajit Prasad
Assistant General Manager

Press Release : 2011-2012/2109