The government of West Bengal has commissioned Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and its subsidiary, CMC Limited, to help modernised the state’s treasury management system and grassroots-level cash transfers.
The government of West Bengal has commissioned Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and its subsidiary, CMC Limited, to help modernised the state’s treasury management system and grassroots-level cash transfers.
To help the treasury track every payment it makes, CMS Ltd will implement an integrated financial management system, at a cost of 470m rupees ($7.8m). Meanwhile, TCS will develop an 1.2 billion rupees ($20m) “biometrics” solution for use at the village and small town level. This will use biological data such as fingerprints to confirm identities and validate payments, helping to improve services for the 70% of West Bengalis who live in rural areas. Both initiatives aim to make financial transactions more efficient by streamlining processes and reducing leakages, according to India’s Economic Times.
The project is spearheaded by Amit Mitra, Minister for Finance, Commerce and Industries in the region, whose efforts to modernise VAT registration and corporation tax payments have nearly doubled the government’s revenues. Speaking of plans for the new TMS, Mitra said: “Once this system is in place, there will be more consistency with every department as every payment can be tracked on a real-time basis.”