Government initiates anticorruption drive in state institutions
The Government is moving to strengthen accountability in state institutions especially in revenue collection agencies by launching an anticorruption and fraud prevention drive.
These functions will be initiated by the Finance Ministry to prevent conflict of interest; assets declaration by public officials, verification of submitted information and public access to declarations.
The aim is to combat corruption through public financial control, ant money laundering measures, and public procurement procedures and licensing/permits/certificates systems, ministry sources said.
Further it will promote transparency of public service and public access to information and ensure effective control of financial transactions as well as project financing and spending. .
Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa has appointed a 10-member parliamentary committee to conduct a comprehensive study and submit a report on measures that should be taken to tackle corruption in several state institutions especially in revenue collection agencies.
These institutions are Sri Lanka Customs, Inland Revenue Department, Excise Department, Motor Traffic Department, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, Samurdhi Department and Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation.
The recommendations and findings of this committee will be used to get a basic idea in allocating finances for these institutions from the forthcoming budget.
This was the first time that the Finance Ministry is reviving functions and contemplating measures to enhance revenue collection in state agencies for a national budget, a top official of the ministry said.
Attention will be paid to streamline tax collection process which has been marred by corruption and irregularities, he disclosed.
The government is also contemplating to establish a revenue collection authority with the recent decision to set up a separate unit to handle special Goods and Services Tax (GST) amidst protests of Inland Revenue Department (IRD) executives and other staff officials.
The takeover by the Treasury of some of the functions of the IRD along with the introduction of an online managed single Special GST in place of the various goods and service taxes and levies, has sparked protests from IRD staff.
The necessary amendments to the Finance Act will be made by enacting a Special GST bill in Parliament, he said adding that the draft bill has been submitted to the Attorney General’s Department to finalise it.
He added that several serious incidents of corruption and fraud reported at IRD in VAT and GST collection in the past and such corrupt practices could be eliminated by establishing a separate unit at the Treasury.