Minister admits to financial indiscipline in department

JAMMU - The Jammu and Kashmir finance minister Saturday admitted there was violation of financial discipline” in the state.

Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather told a meeting of officers of his department here Saturday that several instances of financial indiscipline have come to light and warned the officers against such practices.

He said the officers of the finance department, especially financial advisors and chief accounts officers, were “watchdogs of state exchequer” but regretted that “some gross violations of financial discipline and codal formalities have surfaced in some cases”.

Rather said this was “most unfortunate and unacceptable”.

“The state’s fragile economy cannot afford financial indiscipline or irregularity of any kind of public money,” he said, adding that “time has now come to remove the deadwood from the department”.

According to records, Jammu and Kashmir’s total income from all its resources is Rs.3,200 crore, while its wage bill alone runs to Rs.14,700 crore.