QUES . “Parliamentary financial control is done to ensure proper execution and control of budget.” Comment
HINTS:
The changing role of governments globally brings out their increasing responsibility for various activities, resulting in increasing expenditure and need for effective parliamentary financial control over the executive.
Financial control by the Parliament is extremely important for the fixing the accountability of the executive. The budget is prepared by the executive. It is the Parliament/Legislature that is responsible for passing of budget and to see that the expenditure is for purposes voted for and within the appropriated grants of money. In a way it controls the ‘purse’ of the government.
The exercise of oversight by the Parliament requires monitoring through certain mechanisms. Any government requires public funds appropriated and allocated to it to carry out various activities. The expansion of activities has been matched by an increase in the appropriations in terms of money which
necessitates control and oversight. This is possible only if there is reliable and accessible information and data based on which the public agencies can be held responsible.
Any lapses in financial control have serious repercussions on the soundness of public delivery system and development in all sectors. Besides the instruments of question hour, zero hour, etc., another effective way of financial control over public finance by the executive is through classification of transactions in which the concerned departmental officer is subjected to a periodic review. It will clarify
whether the money has been spent for the purposes for which it was allocated.
In India, the following four principles of financial control are followed:
i) The executive, acting through the ministers, cannot raise money by taxation, borrowing or otherwise without the authority of Parliament; proposals for expenditure requiring additional funds must emanate from the cabinet.
ii) The second principle is the control that vests in the Lok Sabha which has the exclusive control of the money bills. These must originate in the Lok Sabha which has the sole power to grant money by way of taxes or loans and to authorise expenditure.
iii) The demands for grants must come from the government. Neither Lok Sabha nor a state assembly may vote a grant except on a demand for grant from the government.
iv) Likewise, the proposal for a new tax or for an increase in the rate of an existing tax must come from the government.
The Parliamentary control is exercised through various instruments such as question hour, debates, and discussions, passing of various types of motions, etc. Since the work of parliament/legislature becomes too unwieldy, the parliamentary committees too play an important role in exercising control and supervision.
