nirmala sitharaman: Single node account dashboard to make governance more transparent and realize better value from every rupee spent : FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that the Single Nodal Account (SNA) dashboard, which tracks the transfer of funds to states and their use, will make governance more transparent and realize better value for each rupee sent by the Centre. The SNA Dashboard was launched by the minister on Tuesday as part of celebrations for the iconic week of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. The dashboard will provide a platform for Ministries/Departments to monitor their transfer of funds to states, their use by implementing agencies and assist in government cash management.

Speaking at the event, Sitharaman said that around Rs 4.46 lakh crore is transferred to the states through centrally sponsored programs and the SNA would bring greater transparency in spending the amount.

“About Rs 4.46 lakh crore goes through the centrally sponsored programs and it is not a small sum. Today you are able to track this money… It is a huge success in making governance transparent. amount of money is also also sent just in time… What better achievement of value for every rupee sent,” Sitharaman said.

Stating that “just in time” are the three magic words of remittance, she said the SNA would facilitate payments.

“This kind of achievement for a country with complex governance like India, if it’s possible here, it’s also possible in many other countries. Like how it is (for) Aadhaar, the Cowin app , like how we have the UPI system payment. This for governance is the UPI. You facilitated every payment,” the minister said.

Finance Secretary TV Somanathan said the system would help reduce interest expenditure as money would be released when it was needed.

“If the money is stuck somewhere, we would like to minimize what is stuck and keep it where it is held more efficiently. The government would like to pay as little public money as possible in the form of interest.

“So the SNA and TSA (Treasury Single Account) help us to minimize the interest charges borne by the Indian government and it is not a negligible cost. It actually helps us a lot, especially in a difficult year. like the current fiscal year. These are extremely helpful in containing the budget deficit within the limits of what is possible,” Somanathan said.

The government was able to save about Rs 10,000 crore in interest charges in the last financial year through the introduction of TSA.