Finance ministry to hire 120 IT professionals for big data architecture

New Delhi: The finance ministry has decided to hire 120 senior IT professionals to develop big data architecture for monitoring public expenditure and plugging leakages.

The professionals will be hired for providing leadership role in the areas of advanced data techniques, develop BizTalk (to facilitate interface between numerous platforms), web designing, technical support to end users, and updating technical documentation, among others.

The move aims at strengthening the government's flagship Public Financial Management System (PFMS), a web based application for online financial management information. It tracks released funds and real time reporting of expenditure through treasury and bank interface.

The hiring, on contractual basis, seeks to bring transparency in public expenditure, speed up implementation of welfare schemes and plug leakages. In Budget 2017-18, government has earmarked Rs 300 crore for revamp of the PFMS with the overall objective of tracking the usage of funds till it reaches the last beneficiary.

The PFMS will link financial networks of the central and state governments and give real time reporting of expenditure at all levels of programme implementation. The Department of Expenditure in the ministry has invited bids from agencies for recruitment of the professionals, initially for two years.

It is said that at least 90 per cent of all Pension Accounting office (PAOs) and 20 per cent of all Drawing & Disbursing Officers (DDOs) are to be covered for receipt and payment functions under PFMS by the end of next fiscal. Under PFMS, there is a plan to develop a mobile app for wider dissemination of information to citizens.