CONSOLIDATED FUND OF INDIA (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Polity)
Context: The Lok Sabha passed the Appropriation (No. 2) Bill, 2024 by a voice vote, authorising the Centre to draw money from the Consolidated Fund of India to meet expenditure estimated for the financial year 2024-25.
Consolidated Fund of India
- Constitutional Basis: It was constituted under Article 266 (1) of the Constitution of India.
- Composition: It is made up of all revenues received by the Centre from taxes (e.g., Income Tax, Central Excise, Customs) and non-tax revenues, as well as all loans raised by the Centre (internal and external).
- Utilization: All government expenditures are incurred from this fund, with withdrawals requiring Parliamentary authorization. Exceptional items are met from the Contingency Fund or the Public Account.
- Audit: The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG) audits the fund and reports to the relevant legislatures on its management.
Other Types of Fund in India
- Contingency Fund of India
oPurpose: It is used for urgent unforeseen expenditures as authorized by the President of India in case of any contingency.
oCorpus: It has a fixed corpus of 500 crores, with subsequent authorization required from Parliament.
oConstitutional Provision: Article 267 provides for the Contingency Fund of India.
oState Contingency Funds: Article 267(1) provides for contingency funds for each state.
- Public Account of India
oNature of Account: It contains all public money (other than those in the Consolidated Fund of India) received by or on behalf of the Indian government.
oUsage: The government does not need Parliamentary permission to make advances from this account, which primarily handles banking transactions.
oConstitutional Provision: Article 266(2) provides for the Public Account of India.
