CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY
1. ‘Budget’—What it means.—The word, ‘budget’ is derived from the French word ‘bougette’, which a small leather bag or wallet, and is reminiscent of the case in which Finance Ministers of the United Kingdom used to carry their financial proposals for presentation to Parliament. The word, in the sense in which it is used today, has, however, come to mean not the bag, but the document which is contains—the Annual Financial Statement—which the Finance Minister presents to the Legislature every year.
2 Annual Financial Statement.—Under Article 202 of the Constitution of India, a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the State for each financial year has to be laid before the Legislature.
This statement is known as the Annual Financial Statement and is commonly referred to as the ‘Budget’.
(1) Every year, during the month of July, the Budget Wing of the Finance Department issues a circular to all Heads of Departments and other Estimating Officers, requesting them to take steps for the preparation and submission of the Departmental Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the ensuing financial year.
This heralds the start of preparation of the budget, the first of the four budgetary stages.
4 Passing of the budget:-
The budget is presented to the Legislature by the Finance Minister towards the end of February or the beginning of March.
First, there is a general discussion on the budget, at the end of which the Finance Minister may choose to reply. This is followed by detailed consideration and voting of the Demands for Grants. A Demand for Grant ധനാഭ്യര്ത്ഥന is, in effect, a request from the Executive to the Legislature for a specified sum of money to finance a particular service during the year. The appropriation Bill ധനവിനിയോഗബില് is then introduced, discussed, and passed.
ആദ്യം, ബജറ്റിനെക്കുറിച്ച് ഒരു പൊതുചർച്ചയുണ്ട്, അതിന്റെ അവസാനം ധനമന്ത്രിക്ക് മറുപടി നൽകാൻ തിരഞ്ഞെടുക്കാം. ഇതിനെ തുടർന്ന് വിശദമായ പരിഗണനയും ഗ്രാന്റുകൾക്കായുള്ള ആവശ്യങ്ങളുടെ വോട്ടിംഗും. ഫലത്തിൽ, ഒരു പ്രത്യേക സേവനത്തിന് വർഷത്തിൽ ധനസഹായം നൽകുന്നതിന് ഒരു നിശ്ചിത തുക ആവശ്യപ്പെട്ട് എക്സിക്യൂട്ടീവിൽ നിന്ന് നിയമസഭയിലേക്കുള്ള അഭ്യർത്ഥനയാണ് ഗ്രാന്റിനായുള്ള ആവശ്യം. വിനിയോഗ ബിൽ പിന്നീട് അവതരിപ്പിക്കുകയും ചർച്ച ചെയ്യുകയും പാസാക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു.
സംസ്ഥാനത്തിന്റെ സഞ്ചിതനിധി നിന്ന് പണം പിൻവലിക്കാനുള്ള നിയമപരമായ അധികാരമാണ് അപ്രോപ്രിയേഷൻ ആക്റ്റ്, കൂടാതെ സാമ്പത്തിക വർഷത്തിൽ ഓരോ സേവനത്തിനും വേണ്ടി ചെലവഴിക്കാവുന്ന പരമാവധി തുക ഇത് വ്യക്തമാക്കുന്നു.
5 Execution of the budget:-
(1) As soon as the budget is passed and the Appropriation Act is published in the Government Gazette the Budget Wing of the Finance Department issues a circular to all Heads of Departments and others, informing them that the publication of the Act in the Gazette is sufficient authority for the payment and appropriation of the sums included therein. The stage is now set for the execution of the budget.
The work of distribution of the appropriation is first taken up.
The chief Controlling Officers distribute the appropriation among the officers next below them (Sub-controlling Officers/Disbursing Officers). The Sub-controlling Officers divide the appropriation among the Disbursing Officers. In certain cases, the Chief Controlling Officers/Sub-controlling Officers may themselves retain the appropriation.
The Disbursing Officers are required to submit their accounts monthly to their superior controlling authority (Sub-controlling Officer I or Sub-controlling Officer II, as the case may be, vide diagram). Each Sub-controlling Officers consolidates his own accounts and the accounts rendered by the Disbursing Officers below ……………… and submits the consolidated return to the Chief controlling Officer. The Chief controlling Officers, likewise, consolidates the ………………received from the Sub-controlling Officers and his own accounts, and thus gets a complete picture of the flow of expenditure against the budget grant as a whole.
—The appropriation Bill passed by the Legislature, after considering of the budget, specifies the maximum amount that may be spent during the year on each service. The actual spending is, however, done by the Executive. As such, after the close of the financial year, the Legislature has to be satisfied that the budget grant has been spent by the Executive for the purposes for which it was intended and in amounts intended.
Review of the budgetalso involves detailed examination of the Estimates presented to the Legislature, to see how best the plans and programmes embodied therein could be executed efficiently and economically. This work is entrusted to another Legislature Committee, specially constituted for the purpose—the Estimates Committee.
STRUCTURE OF THE BUDGET AND ACCOUNTS
Part I | The Consolidated Fund |
Part II | The Contingency Fund |
Part III | The Public Account. |
കടമോ ബോണ്ടോ അടയ്ക്കാൻ നീക്കിവച്ചിരിക്കുന്ന പണം അടങ്ങിയ അക്കൗണ്ടാണ് സിങ്കിംഗ് ഫണ്ട്. സിങ്കിംഗ് ഫണ്ടുകൾ കാലാവധി പൂർത്തിയാകുമ്പോൾ കടം വീട്ടാൻ സഹായിക്കും അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ഓപ്പൺ മാർക്കറ്റിൽ ബോണ്ടുകൾ തിരികെ വാങ്ങാൻ സഹായിക്കും.
(1) Revenue and
(2) Capital, Public debt, loans etc.
(1) Revenue and
(2) Capital, Public debt, loans etc.
9. Five-tier system of classification of transactions
- A. Tax Revenue,
- B. Non-tax Revenue, and
- C. Grants-in-aid and Contributions.
Expenditure Heads (Revenue Account) there are four sectors
- A. General Services,
- B. Social and Community Services,
- C. Economic Services, and
- D. grant-in¬aid and Contributions.
Expenditure Heads (Revenue Account) there are four sectors
- A. General Services,
- B. Social and Community Services,
- C. Economic Services, and
- D. grant-in¬aid and Contributions.
I. Small Savings, Provident Funds, etc.,J. Reserve Funds,K. Deposits and Advances,L. Suspense and Miscellaneous,M. Remittances, andN. Cash Balance.
Each sector has been assigned a distinguishing prefix—a CAPITAL LETTER of the alphabet.
Thus, the three sectors in the section
have been assigned the letters A to C,
the four sectors in the section
“Expenditure Heads (Revenue Account)”, otherwise referred to as the ‘Revenue Expenditure Section’, the letters A to D,
and the sectors comprising the remaining sections/divisions the letters A to N.
(a) Organs of State,(b) Fiscal Services,(c) Interest payments and servicing of debt,(d) Administrative Services,(e) Pensions and Miscellaneous General Services, and(f) Defence Services, and
(a) General Economic Services,(b) Agriculture and Allied Services,(c ) Industry and Minerals,(d) Water and Power Development.(e) Transport and Communications,(f) Railways and(g) Posts and Telegraphs.
Thus taking the function ‘Housing’ as an example,
the corresponding major heads in the four sections
“Revenue Receipts”,
“Revenue Expenditure”,
“Capital Expenditure”, and
“Public Debt, Loans and Advances, etc.”,
HOUSING | |
0083 | Revenue Receipts |
2083 | Revenue Expenditure |
4083 | Capital Expenditure |
6083 | Public Debt, Loans and Advances etc. |
(4) Each major head is divided into minor heads, which constitute the third tier of classification in Government accounts. In certain cases, the major heads are first divided into sub-major heads, before further division into minor heads.
For example, under the major head “2080. Medical”, there are two sub-major heads—
A, Allopathy andB. Other Systems of Medicine—
For example,
the objectives of Public Health are achieved through programmes for the prevention and control of diseases, prevention of food adulteration, drugs control, etc. Accordingly, “Prevention and control of diseases”, “Prevention of food adulteration”, and “Drug Control of diseases”, “Prevention of food adulteration”, and “Drug control of diseases”, of the major heads below the functional major head “2082. Public Health, Sanitation and Water Supply”.