Kolkata, Nov 11 : The West Bengal Finance Department has tightened its vigilance noose around the ongoing and upcoming development projects of the state government to prevent misuse of funds and ensure speedy progress of work.

The state Finance Department has issued a notification making Geo-Tagging compulsory for all ongoing and upcoming projects.

As per the notification, all ongoing as well as upcoming projects will have to be linked with the geographical locations of their respective sites (Geo-Tagging) available at the state's Unified Project Management System (UPMS) portal.

"Of late, a Geo-Tagging facility has been made available in the UPMS Portal for all projects. Henceforth, all stakeholders of the portal are requested to ensure that both existing and upcoming projects are linked with the geographical location of their respective sites (Geo-tagging)," read the notification, a copy of which is available with IANS.

"This new system will enable direct and transparent monitoring of each stage of project implementation. This initiative aims to increase transparency in the state's development projects, and if necessary, seek answers from those responsible for implementing the projects concerned," a state Finance Department official said.

According to him, this system will also ensure that no department leaves the project money without doing anything.

"If the work does not progress within the specified time and as per schedule, the Finance Department will take back the allocated money," the state Finance Department official added.

The Geo-Tagging application is especially effective in real-time checking of the project's progress, and also whether it is in line with the prescribed quality and standards. The main purpose of this application is to ensure complete transparency in relation to the progress of projects and eliminate the scope of corruption or misuse.

"The West Bengal government had been, for quite some time, focusing on this transparency factor, following complaints of unnecessary delays in project implementation as well as misuse of funds. Earlier, several steps have been taken, with Geo-Tagging being the latest," the state Finance Department official said.

/IANS