The money the government collects is income from direct taxes, indirect taxes, non-tax revenues, and external funding. This public fund is only spent according to the law.
The use of public funds to provide public services, grants and aid to businesses and the disadvantaged, to provide social benefits such as social benefits and pensions to eligible citizens fair and equitable, and purchasing goods and services legally or ethically, the government is forced to consolidate financial activities, take into account the specificity of expenditures, determine the relationship production between spending and benefits, revealing immediate or future budgetary impact, implementing effective and efficient spending at all levels, adhering to performance-based budgets, and defining” public spending code”.
Public funds are best used if expenditures are in accordance with the law, in accordance with generally accepted standards, considered worthy of the money spent on something, and uphold responsibility. Financial accountability and control values the most efficient use of operational resources and inputs.
The accounts of Government are retained in three parts:-
- Consolidated Funds of India
- Contingency Funds of India
- Public Account
Consolidated Funds of India
Government of India has received all revenue in the form of taxes like income tax, central excise tax, customs and other revenues paid to government in government business i.e. is the non-tax revenue credited to the Consolidated Fund. was established under Section 266(1) of the Constitution of India. Likewise, all government-contracted loans through the issuance of public notices, treasury bills (domestic debt) and loans from foreign governments and international organizations (foreign debt) are credited to this fund. All government expenditures are derived from this fund and no amount may be withdrawn from the fund without the permission of Parliament.
Contingency Funds of India
The Contingency Fund of India records the transactions related to the Provident Fund established by the Government of India under Article 267 of the Constitution of India. The figure of this fund is Rs. 50 crores. Advances from the fund made to meet unforeseen expenses will be fully deducted from the fund as soon as the National Assembly authorizes additional expenditure. Thus, this fund acts more or less like an imprest account of the Government of India and is held by the Secretary of the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs in the name of the President.
Public Account
In Public Accounts under Section 266(2) of the Constitution, transactions involving debts other than those included in the Consolidation Fund of India. Transactions under Accounts Payable, Deposits and Advances in this section are transactions for which the government is obligated to repay the amount received or to seek recovery of the amounts paid. Transactions related to “Money Transfer” and “Thrill” include all payment procedures. The initial debits or credits of these heads will eventually be offset by corresponding receipts or payments. Revenue from public accounts is not ordinary government revenue. Therefore, Congressional authorization for payments from public accounts is not required.
Factors constraining utilization of plan
Under- Utilization by States on the Plan can be attributed to institutional and procedural bottlenecks in the implementation of the Plan outlines and to deficiencies in the planning process at the district level. . These factors must be taken into account in order to strengthen States’ capacity to make more efficient use of the larger allocations to the social sectors. Decentralized planning is implemented in the periphery, due to lack of personnel to carry out planning activities, not enough attention has been paid to enhancing their capacity and participation role of the community in the planning process is small. The bottlenecks in the budget process in the programs, such as delays in capital turnover, the issuance of sanctions on expenditures, and decision-making in the states is centralized, not sufficient fiscal decentralization for district/county governments and uniform standards of centrally funded plans for all states. Furthermore, the absence of need-based budgeting in plans, which is often done without a proper unit cost analysis on the basis, means that allocations for some plans are decided upon. determined in a top-down and impractical manner. Systemic weakness, manifested in the lack of trained and regular staff in various key roles such as program manager, finance/accounting and frontline service delivery; this has contributed to weakening the capacity of the state government apparatus in implementing the mechanisms of the Plan. Regarding the systemic weaknesses in the state government system, it can be argued that unplanned state spending plays an important role in strengthening the overall capacity of the government apparatus. This affects the capacity of the state government apparatus in terms of the availability of qualified permanent staff and the adequacy of the government infrastructure to implement the Plan’s programmes. However, over the past decade, unplanned spending in the social sectors has been controlled by many states because of the current fiscal policy’s emphasis on reducing deficits by limiting public spending. As a result, the capacity of the government apparatus to implement the Plan’s programs/programs was controlled.
