PATNA, March 25 -- In a bid to check the parking of funds ahead of the closure of accounts of this fiscal year 2025-26, all treasuries will stop making advance withdrawals for departments from Wednesday onwards unless approved by the finance department, official sources said. In a recent letter to all departments, divisional commissioners, DMs, treasury officers and drawing and disbursing officers, the finance department has issued guidelines to check parking of funds and keep control over expenditure in the last few weeks of March and has directed departmental heads to follow the guidelines strictly. "We are going to stop all advance withdrawals for various departmental expenses from tomorrow onwards as per the guidelines. Incase, there is need for money, approvals have to taken for any expenses above Rs.1 crore," said a senior agriculture official, in know of the matter. The financial accounts of the state government will close on March 31st for the fiscal year 2025-26. In the letter issued by the finance department, it has been clearly mentioned that any funds would not be withdrawn from treasuries after March 20 and parked in bank accounts except for earmarked funds related to central schemes like SNA/SNA SPARH, special assistance to states for capital investment, scholarship schemes, etc, which require payments through bank accounts or require direct benefit transfer (DBT). The finance department has also directed officials to ensure that funds meant for maintenance and repair should not be put in personal ledger (PL) accounts at any cost and other related guidelines have to be followed with regard to expenses of funds kept in PL accounts, the letter states. The parking of funds in PL accounts of departments in banks has been flagged by the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) on many occasions in the past few years with the central auditor observing that 'such parking of funds of departments mainly in the month of March leaves scope of misappropriation and misuse of funds'. The CAG also has red flagged the pendency of reconciliation of abstract continent bills( ACs) with detailed contingent (DC) bills as well as non -submission of utilisation certificates against use of central schemes and grants. Meanwhile, the finance department in a letter issued on March 23rd has directed all departmental secretaries and other senior officers to make assessment of the funds likely to remain unutilised and surrendered and send a proposal in this regard by March 31. The finance department has said that the proposals are required from all departments by March 31st as any proposal sent afterwards is not accepted by the office of the accountant general. The finance department had earlier asked all departments the send the proposals of likely savings of funds till December 31st, 2025 so that the revised budget , supplementary budget could be prepared by taking the status of funds likely to be saved. The additional chief secretary, finance Anand Kishore could not be reached for comments....