Haryana chief minister (CM) Nayab Singh Saini on Monday announced that in case of any unnecessary delay from a government department in releasing payments due from the state government , the affected companies and contractors will be paid the amount along with interest for the delayed period.

The CM directed that if a payment is delayed due to unnecessary delay at the level of any officer or employee, the “Interest amount should be recovered from the responsible officer or employee”.

Saini directed the finance department to formulate an appropriate scheme in this regard and said that the government engages companies, firms and contractors for services and execution of works under various development projects.

“Therefore, it is the responsibility of the departments to ensure timely payment of the due amount as per the prescribed procedure,” Saini said, reiterating that if there is any “unnecessary delay in the payment process” at the departmental level, the resulting financial burden should not fall on the concerned firm or contractor.

The chief minister issued these directions while reviewing the ‘Good Practices’ being adopted by various departments. He said that Haryana must develop systems benchmarked not only against the standards prevailing in India but also against those of developed countries, and create world-class infrastructure so that the Haryana can emerge as a developed state ahead of other states.

“Firms and contractors working for various departments often complain of delays in payment of bills. Such delays not only affect the quality of development projects but also lead to delays in their completion,” Saini said and issued directions to prepare a scheme clearly defining the procedure, responsibility and provisions for payment of interest in cases of delayed payments.

At the same time, he said, it should be ensured that payment-related matters are disposed of within the stipulated timeframe at the departmental level.

The chief minister said that it is also essential to prevent the misuse of digital signatures and dongles in the payment process. He said that if a dongle is misused, the officer to whom it was issued will be held responsible, and the loss caused to the government will also be recovered from the officer’s salary.