[Photo: FILE]

The Ministry of Women has acknowledged Auditor-General findings of gaps in record-keeping and reconciliation across some social protection programs, while assuring no funds are missing.

Minister Sashi Kiran says the issues are longstanding and recurring.

She stresses that these issues stem from incomplete documentation and manual systems and not financial misappropriation.

“At the moment, everything is manual. These are manual files, manual documentation. Since this government came into place and saw that this is a problem, we have, since 2023, started to digitize this. This report is for 2024. So it has been a recurring issue, and it can’t be fixed overnight. So we have started digitizing the records.”

Kiran says the digitization project is expected to be completed by the end of the current financial year.

“And then after that, we’re developing a mechanism for an end-to-end process. That will not allow double-dipping, and that will allow reconciliation to happen immediately. At the moment, what happens is, for example, when the cash vouchers go to the post office, if people are not cashing it on that site. So people who know accounts know you cannot reconcile this, depending on when the document comes in.”

National Coordinator for Social Protection Reform, Rozia Bi also highlighted that the new system will play a key role in addressing audit concerns.

We are all looking forward to the Integrated Beneficiary Management Information Systems, the IBMS, which is going to address a lot of audit issues that have been raised and also digitize all records, ensuring this integration as well with the relevant agencies.

The Ministry has introduced stronger standard operating procedures and is training staff nationwide to use the new system.

Minister Kiran assures beneficiaries that services will not be disrupted during the transition, with improvements in reporting expected from next year.