By In the wake of the ₹661 crore bank scam in Haryana, the state government is tightening its monitoring of public money kept with banks. Government companies, boards and corporations, cooperative institutions and autonomous bodies will now have to verify their bank balances every three months to identify discrepancies and prevent financial irregularities.
The Finance Department has directed managing directors and chief executive officers of these institutions to introduce a formal system for checking and reconciling funds held in different types of bank accounts. The exercise will cover savings accounts, current accounts, term deposits and flexi accounts, with institutions required to submit a certificate after every quarterly verification.
MDs and CEOs to submit quarterly certificates
The Finance Department has issued a prescribed proforma for the exercise. The concerned MD or CEO will have to fill in the details, sign the certificate and confirm that the money shown in the institution’s bank accounts has been verified against its financial records.
The certificate will have to be submitted every quarter to the director of the institution designated by the Finance Department.
As part of the process, officials will have to confirm that balances maintained in various bank accounts have been checked against the relevant quarterly accounting records. They will also have to certify that no discrepancy has been found in the accounts up to the date of certification.
Interest earned on bank deposits also under scrutiny
The new monitoring mechanism will not be limited to the principal amount deposited with banks. Institutions will also have to verify whether the interest earned on bank accounts and fixed deposits has been correctly credited to the respective accounts.
The quarterly review will also include preparation of a Bank Reconciliation Statement (BRS). The balance reflected in the BRS will have to be matched with the institution’s books of accounts, balance sheet and the balance shown by the concerned banks.
Institutions will additionally be required to provide details about the status of their latest statutory audit, AG audit and internal audit.
Audit status must be clearly certified
The MD or CEO will have to state in the certificate whether the relevant audits were satisfactory and whether they pointed to any discrepancy, irregularity or other financial concern.
The certificate will have to carry the official’s signature, name, designation, date and official seal before being submitted to the officer nominated by the Finance Department.
The institutions will also have to confirm that their bank accounts are being opened and operated in accordance with the instructions and guidelines issued by the Finance Department.
The move marks a shift towards more frequent oversight of government funds, rather than relying only on periodic audits. By making quarterly verification and reconciliation mandatory, the Haryana government aims to ensure that balances recorded in institutional accounts match the money actually held with banks and that issues such as missing funds, accounting mismatches or uncredited interest are identified at an early stage.
