The annual accounts of the Government, comprising the Union Government Finance Accounts and the Appropriation Accounts, are also prepared by the Controller General of Accounts. These documents are presented before the Parliament after their statutory audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Preparation and submission of Appropriation Accounts to the parliament completes the cycle of budgetary process. Through Appropriation Accounts, parliament is informed about the expenditure incurred against the appropriations made by the parliament in the previous financial year.

All the expenditures are duly audited and excesses or savings in the expenditure are explained.

The Finance Accounts show the details of receipts and expenditure for all the three funds in the form of various statements including liabilities of the government such as guarantees etc. and loans given to states, union territories and public sector undertakings.

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Under the parliamentary system of democracy followed in this country, there is complete control of legislature over the finances of the government. The constitution has divided the moneys of the Government of India into three parts, namely:

Consolidated Fund: All revenues collected, loans raised and their repayment go into this fund. All the expenditure of the Government is also met from this fund. Money can be spent through this fund only if it is appropriated by Parliament.

Public Account: All other moneys received by or on behalf of Government are credited to Public Account.

Contingency Fund: The unforeseen expenditure which cannot wait approval of Parliament is met from this fund. The government can incur expenditure from this fund and seek the approval of Parliament later.

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Based on the above scheme of division of government purse, the accounts are kept separately for each part (fund).

There are certain kinds of expenditure which are exempted from vote in the Parliament, there are termed as “Charged” which include salary of President, Judges, Comptroller and Auditor General Etc. All the other expenditures are put to vote and are called “Voted”. Sovereign debt and releases to state governments are also “charged” on the Consolidated Fund of India.

Apart from the above broad division, in order to serve information needs, the accounts are maintained on the basis of functional classification after dividing them into revenue and capital. There is a six tier classification of transactions which is being followed in government of India at present, as laid down in the list of Major and Minor Heads.

The expenditure of the Government is further divided into Plan and non-Plan. Plan expenditure is directly related to expenditure on schemes and programmes as envisaged in the five year plans and the non-Plan expenditure is incurred on administrative and maintenance activities.

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The accounts are compiled every month by the PAOs broadly as per the classification mentioned above. Since the whole payment and accounting setup is highly decentralised, the information needs of various levels of organisations which the PAOs are serving are met directly from the accounting reports produced by these PAOs.

At the level of Government of India as a whole, monthly accounts are compiled by the CGA and are presented to Ministry of Finance and this serves as an important aid in planning of expenditure and deficit control.

After formal presentation of the Appropriation Accounts and Finance Accounts to the Parliament, ‘Accounts at a Glance’ are brought out which contain summary of these accounts presented in an easily understandable format?

Reserve Bank of India is the banker of the Government of India and Public Sector Banks and Other Nominated Banks (Axis Bank, ICICI, and HDFC) function as agent of RBI. The collection of revenue and expenditure is routed through RBI and agency banks. The collections and payment are made by the bank first and the amount is settled with RBI later.

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The banking system for Government transactions is explained in the diagram above. Dealing Branches sends the Receipt and Payment Scrolls daily along with paid cheques/challans to the Focal Point Branch (FPB) and copy of scroll is sent to CDDO.

The FPB consolidates the scrolls received from all dealing branches including its own and prepares a Daily main scroll and sends it to the PAO concerned along with relevant instruments. The PAO after verification will certify and return the second copy of the Main Scrol to the FPB within 24 hours of its receipt.

FPB will report the transaction as per daily Main Scroll to Link Cell of the Bank (or GAD in case of SBI). The Link Cell/GAD settles the transactions reported by various FPBs with the RBI, Nagpur. The PAO, on the basis of the scrolls and relevant instruments also make entries in the accounts.

At the close of the month, on the basis of daily Main Scrolls, the FPB prepares and send four copies of Date-wise Monthly Statement (DMS) to PAO for verification by 3rd of succeeding month. The DMS is verified by the PAO and two copy of VDMS sent to FPB and one copy to PrAO.

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In case of other than SBI, the RBI (CAS) Nagpur will generate PAO-wise and Date-wise monthly Settlement (DMA-1) and three copies of the statement will be sent to Link Cell of agency bank out of which one copy of each will be sent by the latter to the PrAO and the PAO concerned by 5th of the following month.

In case of SBI, Date-wise monthly settlements (DMA1) will generate by GAD Mumbai and will be sent to Pr.AO, PAO and FPB. RBI (CAS) will also generate Ministry-wise and PAO-wise (DMA2) and Ministry-wise closing balance (CAS-122) and submitted to CGA Office for onward transmission to concerned Ministries/Departments.

The PrAO should check these statements to ensure that total of all DMA-1 agree with the total of amount shown in DMA2. Correctness of DMA2 may also be verified with CAS-122 by Pr.AO. Presently put through statement (DMA-1) is required to reconciled with DMS and prepare a Monthly Reconciliation Analysis in the form CAM-68 by PAO concerned as well as Pr.AO. PAO/PrAO should immediately contact to FPB/Link Cell//GAD and ensure that rectifications of discrepancies reflected in CAM- 68 are carried out through GAD/Link cell in the second month positively.

For the purpose of bank reconciliation, the PrAOs/PAOs should maintain various registers/ broadsheet/ statement in prescribed format i.e. CAM-26, CAM-17, CAM-68, CAM-69, CAM-70, CAM-72, CAM-73, CAM-74 CAM-75 etc. The record of bank reconciliation maintain debit and credit separately and not on net basis.

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The PrAO is also maintaining a broadsheet for reconciliation of differences under MH-8675-Deposits with Reserve Banks. It shows PAO-wise opening balance, account figure and bank figure, difference between account figure and bank figure and closing balance.

Flow of Accounting Information

Consolidating monthly accounts of the Government of India and reporting on the fiscal deficit is the primary responsibility of the CGA. The monthly accounts are compiled in the CGA office and a monthly review indicating flow of expenditure, revenue collection, internal and external borrowing and fiscal deficit is prepared for Minister of Finance. A summary of the monthly accounts is also placed on the web.

Internal Audit

Internal Audit has been recognized as an aid to the higher management for monitoring the financial performance and effectiveness of various programs, schemes and activities. Internal audit is conducted through the Internal Audit Wings in the Principal Accounts Offices of various Ministries/Departments.

Pension

The central (Civil) pensions are authorized and disbursed through Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) functioning under the Controller General of Accounts. The payment of pension is made through Public Sector Banks. The CPAO maintains a databank of pensioners. The working of CPAO is fully computerized.

The CPAO was created with the primary objective to simplify the procedure and reduce the number of agencies for pension payment and to speed up the process of authorization, revision and transfer of pension through Public Sector Banks.

Though there is scope for further expediting the whole process, the initial objectives have been broadly achieved. As a result, over 5 lakhs pensioners are provided pension related services by the CPAO through more than 32,500 paying bank branches all over the country.

Technical Advice

Ministries /Departments approach the Controller General of Accounts for advice on accounting procedures for new schemes, programmes or activities undertaken by them.

The advice rendered by the CGA generally covers aspects related to maintenance of accounts, collection of receipts and it’s crediting into Government account, release of payment and its accounting, creation and operation of funds within Government accounts.

The instructions of the Controller General of Accounts on accounting matter are binding on the Ministries / Department. This Section is also responsible for administration and maintenance of Civil Accounts Manual.

Capital Restructuring

The Controller General of Accounts is responsible for evaluating and processing the proposals relating to the capital restructuring of various public sector undertakings (PSUs) of the Union Government and its submission to the Ministry of Finance for obtaining approval of Government of India. Generally the proposals involve appraisal of the strategy proposed for reviewing the unit. Each proposal is evaluated on the basis of company-specific options available. In evaluating these proposals a clear distinction is made between the Government’s role as a regulator and its commercial interests as owner of an industry participant.

The appraisal of these proposals is a comprehensive one involving the following:

· Detailed analysis of the financials of the PSU, especially its operating costs.

· Audit of the financial model prepared by the PSU

· Preparation of a detailed financial model containing projections and sensitivities

· Benchmarking the performance of the company vis-a-vis its peers from the private sector and public sector

· Appraisal of the Rehabilitation scheme prepared by the Operating Agency appointed by the Board ol

· Industrial and Financial Restructuring

· Analysis of the stock returns – PE ratios, PB ratios and PCF ratios for the PSUs vis-a-vis private sector competitors, where the proposal is for conversion of equity into debit in order to improve returns to private stockholders.

Administrative Structure

The cadre management of Group ‘A’ officers of the Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) vests with the Controller General of Accounts. It covers the entire gamut of personnel management of ICAS officers including their recruitment, transfers, promotions, training, both within the country as well as abroad and periodical reviews of cadre strength and distribution.

The respective Chief Controller/ Controller of Accounts controls the Group ‘C’ & ‘D’ staff of various Civil Accounts Units. However, a combined seniority list of all the employees within these grades is maintained by the Controller General of Accounts for effecting promotions.

Examinations Conducted

The Controller General of Accounts conducts various examinations for the purpose of promotion and assessment of suitability of an employee for retention in posts. The examinations conducted are:

» Junior Accounts Officer (Civil) examination for assessing suitability for promotion as Junior Accounts Officer (JAO)

» Junior Accounts Officer (common) examination for the staff of Delhi Administration, Cabinet Secretariat and Andaman & Nicobar Islands

» Departmental Confirmatory examination for Accountants to adjudge suitability for retention in the post

» Limited competitive examination for promotion of Lower Division Clerks as Accountants

» Limited competitive examination for promotion of Group D (Matriculate) as Lower Division Clerks

» Departmental Qualifying examination for promotion of Group ‘D’ (Non matriculate) as Lower Division Clerks