Author: ForumIAS

Public Account committee It examines the report of the CAG to see that public expenditure must not exceed the appropriation granted by parliament without its prior approval and the grant is utilised for the purpose for which it was sanctioned by parliament. PAC satisfy itself about the wisdom, faithfulness and economy of the expenditure incurred.… Continue reading What are the functions of Public Account committee?

It is a part of parliamentary control over administration as finance is the focus of accountability. Parliament exercises this control over public finance in three ways: Budget itself, Parliamentary Committees such as Public Account committee, Estimates Committee, Committee on Public Undertaking and Auditing through CAG.

The Constitution authorised the Parliament to establish a ‘Contingency Fund of India’, into which amounts determined by law are paid from time to time to meet any unforeseen expenditures. The fund is held by the finance secretary on behalf of the President. In an emergency situations President can meet the expenditure and get the approval… Continue reading What is Contingency Fund of India?

All other public money (other than those which are credited to the Consolidated Fund of India) received by or on behalf of the Government of India shall be credited to the Public Account of India. This includes provident fund deposits, judicial deposits, savings bank deposits, departmental deposits, remittances and so on. Government of India is… Continue reading What is Public Account of India?

It is a fund to which all receipts are credited and all payments are debited. All the legally authorised payments on behalf of the Government of India are made out of this fund. This includes all the revenues received by government, all the loans raised by Government of India by the issue of treasury bills,… Continue reading What is Consolidated Fund of India?

The Finance Bill is introduced to give effect to the financial proposals of the Government of India for the following year. The Finance Bill must be passed by the Parliament and assented to by the president within 75 days. The Finance Act legalises the income side of the budget and completes the process of the… Continue reading What is Finance bill in budget?

An appropriation bill is introduced to provide for the appropriation, out of the Consolidated Fund of India, all money required to meet: (a) The grants voted by the Lok Sabha. (b) The expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India. The Appropriation Bill becomes the Appropriation Act after it is assented to by the President.… Continue reading What is Appropriation bill?

Vote on Account is a grant in advance to enable the government to carry on its business ceaselessly until the voting of demands for grants and the passing of the Appropriation Bill and Finance Bill. In general it means, funds provided to run the government until budget bills(Finance and Appropriation Bills) are passed in Parliament.

Members can also move motions to reduce any demand for grant. Such motions are called as ‘cut motion’, which are of three kinds: (a) Policy Cut Motion It represents the disapproval of the policy underlying the demand. It states that the amount of the demand be reduced to Re 1. The members can also advocate… Continue reading What are various Cut motions ? [policy cut, token cut, economy cut]

In the light of the reports of the departmental standing committees, the Lok Sabha takes up voting of demands for grants. The demands are presented ministry wise. A demand becomes a grant after it has been duly voted. Two points should be noted in this context. The voting of demands for grants is the exclusive… Continue reading Voting on Demand for Grant