Chandigarh, May 9 -- Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Friday launched the Unified Sanction Management System (USMS), a digital platform aimed at streamlining the processing of administrative, technical and financial sanctions while integrating them directly with the state's payment systems. The e-sanction module, developed by the department of treasuries and accounts in coordination with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), will replace the existing paper-based sanction process with a fully digital workflow. The initiative is expected to improve financial management, transparency and accountability across government departments. Launching the module at the Punjab Municipal Bhawan in Sector 35, Cheema said the system would facilitate the online issuance of sanctions and their automatic integration with the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) for bill generation and payment processing. Highlighting the benefits of the platform, the minister said every stage of sanction processing will now be digitally recorded with timestamps, user credentials and approval hierarchies, creating a complete audit trail....