Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation - Afforestation, Reforestation and Forest Restoration in Arid and Semi-arid Tropics - page 230

Audit reports are another important financial record. These are evaluation reports
on the state of records and practice of recordkeeping, as well as on observance of
financial rules and procedures. While financial procedures to be adopted in different
situations cannot be the same, it will suffice to say the procedures prescribed should
be the simplest possible and be easy to grasp, and should provide for adequate
delegation at the lower levels of staff.

9.4.2 Recordkeeping of Physical Assets

Apart from financial records it is necessary to maintain records of physical achieve-
ments and assets. One can organise records in many ways, and depending upon the
statutory stipulations, or requirements imposed by the funding agency, the actual
recordkeeping practice and details may vary a great deal. The system presented here
is a simple and minimal framework.
Measurement topics are the original record of all physical work done at a plantation
site or a nursery. Each site or nursery must have a separate measurement topic. All
the bills are entered into the respective measurement topic, and the measurements
so entered are attested by the supervisor and the unit manager. Taken together, a
measurement topic will represent a bill-by-bill history of the work done at that site
in chronological order. Progress reports of works are prepared on the basis of the
measurement topics.
Stock ledgers and logbooks are meant for recordkeeping of purchase and use of
materials and running of vehicles and machinery. These are original records and
should be entrusted to a person not below the rank of a supervisor. Nurseries have
a large variety of materials to be used, and therefore separate kinds of ledgers, like
ledgers of plants and of seeds, are required to be maintained.
Work control register is similar to measurement topic but the bills are entered here
in classified manner so that bills of one item of work, such as excavation, are entered
in one column. By running through these, one can quickly arrive at the total quantity
of a particular item of work executed at a site. This is a combined register containing
folios for all the works with an index, and is maintained at the divisional headquarters,
though the Unit Managers also can maintain one if they think it necessary. A similar
register recording monthly expenditures incurred on different works is maintained
to watch progress against allocation of budget (the budget control register).

9.4.3 Works Documentation

Systematic and presentable documentation of afforestation works helps one under-
stand and evaluate the project work in a quick and easy manner. These documents are
based on the original records that have been discussed in the previous paragraphs.