Finance Department to Withhold Pension Payments to Six Departments
oncerned about irregularities uncovered in the processing of pension payments for ineligible cases across various treasuries in the Jammu Division, the Office of the Principal Accountant General in Jammu and Kashmir has urgently called upon the Finance Department to suspend pension revision payments associated with six government departments.
These departments include Irrigation and Flood Control, Jal Shakti (PHE) Department, Power Development Department (PDD), PDC, R&B, Agriculture, as well as Headmasters and Zonal Education Officers (ZEOs) within the Education Department.
The Principal Accountant General’s Office has also requested Treasury Officers to recover payments that have already been disbursed to unauthorized beneficiaries.
In a communication dated September 26, 2023, addressed to the Principal Secretary (Finance) of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, the Principal Accountant General (A&E), Jammu and Kashmir, requested, “You are kindly requested to issue instructions to the treasuries to halt pension revision payments for Irrigation and Flood Control, Jal Shakti (PHE) Department, Power Development Department (PDD), PDC, R&B, Agriculture, and Headmasters/Zonal Education Officers (ZEOs) with print dates up to and including September 22, 2023.”
Surprisingly, the Principal Accountant General has identified 32 unauthorized or irregular pension revision documents across various treasuries within the Jammu Division, including Bhaderwah, Akhnoor, Ramsoo, Talab Tillo, New Plot, Samba, Assar (Doda), Banihal, Ramban, Gandhi Nagar, Saddar Jammu, and Additional Treasury New Plot.
The internal investigation conducted by the Principal Accountant General’s Office, based on treasury information and its own records, has revealed that payments have already been disbursed in at least 13 cases by various treasuries, including Additional Treasury Talab Tillo at Muthi, Sub Treasury Akhnoor, Sub Treasury Bhaderwah, Sub Treasury Banihal, and Additional Treasury New Plot, Jammu.
In response to these findings, following the discovery of discrepancies in the pension case processing by Senior Accounts Officer Raja Jee Saproo, the Principal Accountant General J&K office has called upon the relevant Treasury Officers to cease payments on all fraudulent authorities.
Furthermore, for cases where payments have already been made, efforts have been requested to recover the funds from the beneficiaries’ bank accounts and revert to the pre-revised pension payments.
The Finance Department has been accordingly asked to instruct the treasuries to halt payments on pension revision authorities pertaining to the six departments, with print dates up to and including September 22, 2023.
“However, payments for authorities issued up to this date can only proceed after authentication and verification by the Principal Accountant General’s Office, which will involve sending an email to the office’s pension group officer,” the communication addressed to the Finance Secretary by the Principal Accountant General’s Office states.
Additionally, the Principal Accountant General J&K office has urged the Secretary Finance to direct Treasury Officers to process revision or regular pension authorities from other departments only after comparing the specimen signatures of Principal Accountant General Office officers with those on the pension/revision authorities.
The Principal Accountant General’s Office has shared these signatures with the Secretary Finance for further distribution to Treasury Officers, emphasizing that these signatures had already been provided to the treasuries in the past.
