Grants Requests
Estimates of Consolidated Fund expenditures are submitted to the Lok Sabha as Demand for Grants in accordance with Article 113 of the Constitution. It is generally understood in modern democracies that no money may be taken from the national treasuries without the government’s approval.
Grants Requests Meaning
- The grant demand includes provisions for revenue spending, capital spending, grants to state governments and union territories, loans and advances, and grant requests. Every proposal or estimate that asks for money from the Consolidated Fund of India must be submitted to the Lok Sabha in the form of a demand for grants in accordance with Article 113 of the Constitution. Charges and voted expenditures are included in the grant demand.
- Charged expenses, such as interest payments, are seen as the liabilities of the Indian government and are not subject to Lok Sabha vote. On the other hand, voted expenditures are budgeted government plans for revenue and capital expenditures that will be made in the upcoming fiscal year. Typically, one Demand for Grant is submitted by each Ministry or Department.
- Nevertheless, a Ministry or Department may submit more than one Demand, depending on the nature of expenditure. Finance and Defense are two significant departments with a lot of grant requests. A distinct Demand is made for each Union Territory without a legislature. Each Demand begins with the total amount of expenditure it is asking for.
Grants Requests Demand for Grants, Article 113 of the Constitution
Estimates of expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India are required for the Annual Financial Statement. It needs to be laid up as Grant Demands and placed to the Lok Sabha’s vote. According to Article 113(iii), no demand for funding may be presented in the Lok Sabha without the prior approval of the President of India.
Article 112, Budget and Annual Financial Statement
It depicts the anticipated inflows and outflows of the Indian government. Spending on the revenue account is distinguished from spending on other accounts in the annual financial statement. The Union Budget is created by combining the Revenue and Capital components. Consolidated Fund of India, Contingency Fund of India, and Public Account of India are the three divisions of receipts and outgoings.
Budget bill, Article 114
The Appropriations Bill, which contains a vote on all grant requests and charges for their expenses, is presented to the Lok Sabha. The only way to access the Consolidated Fund of India is through an Appropriation Bill that has been passed by Parliament.
Money bill, Article 110
Article 110 deals with the levying, removing, forgiving, modifying, or restricting of any tax. The Union government‘s capacity to borrow money is constrained by Article 110. A Finance Bill specifying the imposition, repeal, remission, modification, or regulation of taxes proposed in the Budget is submitted to Parliament concurrently with the Annual Financial Statement in accordance with Article 110 (1)(a) of the Constitution.
The articles 117 and 274
Before a money bill is introduced, the president must also make a recommendation to the Lok Sabha. The annual financial statement and a certificate signed by the president are attached to the finance bill.
Requests for Grants: The Preparation Process
- Each ministry submits a grant application for costs that will be incurred in the forthcoming fiscal year. Each grant application is written in a manner that: Clearly distinguishes between charged and voted expenditures; Capital and revenue expenses are split into two categories. operational in nature are revenue expenses; Capital investments result in the creation of a government asset of some kind.
- Each ministry submits a grant application for costs that will be incurred in the forthcoming fiscal year. Each grant application is written in such a way that: It clearly distinguishes between charged and voted expenses; It splits expenses into capital and revenue categories; While capital expenditures create some form of asset for the government, revenue expenditures are operational in nature.
- A claim for grants includes the breakdown of revenue, charged and voted spending, capital expenditure, and the total amount to be spent. A request for money is submitted with a breakdown of expenses by account category, a list of recoveries made under the plan, and the net cost remaining after removing recoveries.
- The total required to provide a service or scheme—including income and capital expenses, loans, and advances to the service or programme that must be provided to states and UTs—is also included in the request for funding.
Types of Grant Demands
A handful of additional Grants are also made by the Parliament under unusual or one-of-a-kind circumstances.
- Supplementary Grants: The appropriation act, passed by Parliament, is used when it is judged that the financing for a certain service for the current fiscal year is insufficient. Before the fiscal year concludes, the prize is presented to Parliament and approved. Grants that are supplemental, extra, or surplus are covered by Article 115.
- Additional Grants: It is supplied when a current fiscal year requirement for additional spending on a new service that wasn’t anticipated in the budget for that year arises.
- Excess Grants: It is given out when the overall cost of a service for a fiscal year exceeds the amount allocated to it in the budget for that year. The Lok Sabha votes on it at the end of the financial year. Prior to being put up for vote in the Lok Sabha, requests for excess grants must be approved by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.
- Credit Vote: It is provided when an unexpected demand on Indian resources occurs as a result of the scope or endurance of the service. A budget’s frequently given details prevent the requirement from being stated.
- Outstanding Grants: It does not count toward continuous service for any given fiscal year. It is delivered with a specific goal in mind.
- Grant tokens: It is given out when it can be used to cover the estimated costs of a new service. Reappropriation is the process of moving money from one head to another. There is no need for additional expenditures.