GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH
ABSTRACT
Norms for Public Finance
Accountability before releases and drawal of funds- Instructions – Issued
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FINANCE(TFR)DEPARTMENT
G.O.Ms.No.507 Dated:10-04-2002.
1) G.O.Ms.No.277, Fin. &
Plg.(Fin.Wing Accts) Dept. Dt. 06.06.1990.
2) G.O.Ms.No.43, Fin. &
Plg.(W&M) Dept.Dt.22.04.2000
3) G.O.Ms.No.59, Fin. & Plg.
(Fin.Wing BG) Dept. Dt.30.3.2001.
4) Memo No.14012-B/305/A2/W&M/2001,dt.
25.04.2001 of Fin.&Plg.
(W&M) Dept.
5) Memo No.
41377-A/1233/A2/W&M/2001, dt.27.12.2001 of Finance
(W&M) Dept.
6) G.O.Ms.No.391, Finance (TFR)
Department.Dt.22.03.2002.
7) G.O.Ms.No.506, Finance (BG)
Department. Dt.10.04.2002
* * *
O R D E R:
In the G.O. 7thread
above, detailed instructions have been issued for the preparation of scheme
wise cost Benefit Analysis and Funds Flow Statements by the departments.
Finance department has also issued Budget Release Orders as per G.O. 3rd
read above. Accordingly, Heads of the department are also requested to send
Distribution Statements where BROs are issued (or where BROs are not required
to be issued), to the Director of Treasuries and Accounts so that budget
authorizations are issued without any further delay and all essential
expenditures are undertaken to carry on the activities in the field.
2. While the process of release of
budgeted allocations has been simplified and made quicker to enable the
Departments to ground their projects without undue delay, it is equally
imperative that the Departments and particularly the Drawing and Disbursing
Officers are made more accountable for the proper and efficient use of Public
Funds and maintenance of Accounts.
3. Accordingly, Government, after
careful consideration, has decided that the following norms of Financial
Accountability shall be scrupulously adhered to by each Drawing and Disbursing
Officer and enforced by the concerned Treasury Departments i.e., DTA/PAO/DWA
and their subordinate officers at the level of DTO/STOs/PAOs Works and Accounts
Department at the time of acceptance of bills and pre-audit before release of
funds under each Scheme/Programme.
4. The
Comptroller and Auditor General has been conducting periodical inspections to
verify transactions and maintenance of important accounts and other records and
accordingly, Inspection Reports are issued to the Heads of the Department. All the Secretariat heads and the Heads of
the Department are requested to take immediate action on the Inspection
Reports/Audit Paras/PAC Paras etc. and ensure that necessary action is taken to
send replies to at least 50% of the pending Inspection Reports/Audit Paras/PAC
Paras for the year 2000-01, latest by September, 2002 failing which further
Budget Release Orders will be withheld by the Finance Department pertaining to
the relevant schemes.
Replies to pending Audit Paras upto 2000-01:
5. At the field level, all the Drawing
and Disbursing Officers are hereby made responsible to ensure that suitable
replies are sent to the Inspection Reports/Audit Paras/PAC Paras relating to
the Schemes upto 2000-01 and furnish a certificate to the extent that replies
to the Audit Paras 2000-01 have been sent pertaining to that particular scheme
for which bills are being submitted to the Treasury/PAOs for the drawal of
funds. All the Treasury/PAOs are instructed to obtain a certificate that
replies to all the relevant Inspection Reports/Audit Paras/PAC Paras pertaining
to that particular scheme have been sent to the appropriate authority, from the
Drawing and Disbursing Officers concerned. It is instructed that no amounts
would be permitted to be drawn for that particular scheme by the particular
Treasury Officer until and unless the DDO submits a certificate that at least
50% of the pending audit paras etc., for years upto and inclusive of 2000-01
have been replied to. A copy of the certificate is enclosed as Annexure-
6. All the Secretariat Departments and
the Heads of the Department are requested to issue suitable instructions in
this regard to all the Drawing and Disbursing Officers under their control. The
Director of Treasuries and Accounts/PAO, Twin Cities/Director, Works &
Accounts are also requested to issue suitable instructions to their Subordinate
Offices.
Abstract Contingent Bills:
7. It is observed that inspite of the
repeated instructions, the drawal of AC bills are not adjusted by the
department with supporting Detailed Contingent (DC) Bills. As per the existing
Rules and Codes, AC Bills are required to be adjusted within one month from the
drawal of funds on the AC Bills. But
there seems to be no progress in this regard and tendency of AC Bills due for
adjustment is getting accumulated over a period of time. Simplification of the procedure for
adjusting the AC Bills and also revised instructions on the drawal of AC Bills
have been issued in the reference sixth read above. All the Drawing and
Disbursing Officers shall henceforth, ensure that DC Bills are submitted to the
Treasury Officer concerned against the earlier AC Bills drawn failing which
further drawal of funds on AC Bill shall not be permitted. In any case, notwithstanding the above, all
the AC Bills shall be settled within three months of their drawal and latest by
month of June for the Bills drawn during March. Now since countersignatures of the higher authority have been
dispensed with and Drawing and Disbursing Officer is made liable for the
submission of DC Bills himself, all the DDOs are requested to furnish the DC
Bills to the concerned Treasury Officers for all the pending AC Bills without
any further delay
Reconciliation of Accounts between the DDOs and the Treasury Officers:
8. Detailed instructions on the
Reconciliation of Accounts between the DDOs and the Treasury Officers have been
issued in the reference first read above.
As per the existing instructions in force, all the DDOs are requested to
prepare an Expenditure Statement and also the Statement of Receipts every month
and reconcile the figures with Treasury before 4th of the month
succeeding month to which they relate.
A copy of the certificate is enclosed as Annexure-II. Similarly, CCO (Chief Controlling Officer) /
Head of the Department (HOD) is required to reconcile his department’s accounts
with AG’s figures and issue monthly Reconciliation Certificates to AG every
quarter. The nominated officer in the
department is hereby made responsible for such a reconciliation process. A copy of the certificate is enclosed as
Annexure-III. The DTOs and PAOs shall
furnish the list of Drawing Officers, who have failed to reconcile the figures,
to the Heads of Department for taking necessary action. Instructions were also
issued to the District Treasury Officers and PAOs to maintain a Register
showing the dates on which the drawals have been reconciled with the
departmental figures and the dates on which actually they are
reconciled. This would facilitate to check correctness of the certificate
of verification furnished by the Drawing Officers on the bills. The Government
hereby reiterate that the orders already issued in reference 1st
read above shall be effectively enforced by all Treasury Officers and the
HODs/DDOs. In continuation of the
instructions already given, it is hereby ordered that no Treasury officer shall
permit any amount to be drawn by the concerned DDOs after 10th of
the month until and unless the Reconciliation of Accounts (all kinds of
Receipts and Expenditure figures) upto the previous month is completed and the
certificate to that extent is appended to the Bills while presenting them
before the Treasury/PAOs
Submission of statement of expenditure and utilization Certificates for
earlier drawals:
9. It is observed that budget controls
are quite effective before payments are released but not after the release when
the expenditure is actually committed or incurred. Consequently, it has been
noticed that DDOs draw amounts from the Treasury and keep them either in the PD
Accounts or in Bank accounts for long periods of time before they are actually
spent. Therefore, Government have
decided that no further amount for a particular scheme can be drawn until and
unless proof of expenditure of the amounts earlier drawn is provided. All the
DDOs are requested to submit a certificate of expenditure for further drawals.
The copy of the certificate has already been circulated as part of earlier GO
second read above and enclosed as Annexure-IV for ready reference. Further,
Government hereby order that every DDO shall also furnish the list of Bank
Accounts operated by him and cash balances available therein pertaining to the
specific scheme for which further funds are proposed to be drawn from the
Treasury.
10. Similarly, in case of PD Accounts,
detailed instructions were given for withdrawal of funds from the Deposit Accounts
in the reference second read above.
Instructions were also issued in the reference fifth read above, in
which all the PD Account Administrators, were requested to furnish the
information on district-wise actual expenditure incurred against the earlier
releases along with the certified copies of the bank balances available under
each scheme, while sending the cheque for counter signature in Finance
Department at the State level. A copy
of the certificate is enclosed as Annexure-V. Similarly, all the Treasury
Officers/PAOs are requested to obtain the information in the Annexures IV&
V before any further amounts are credited to the Deposit Accounts or before
anydrawals are made from the PD Account in case, endorsement of Treasury
Officers are required to be made on the PD Account cheques. Instructions given in para 9 supra
regarding furnishing of information of
balances in Bank Deposits shall equally apply to the PD Account Administrators
and further releases for the PD Account shall be permitted only when these
instructions are complied with. No
further amount shall be credited to PD Accounts until and unless 75% of the
amounts released earlier are drawn and spent.
Recovery of Loans, Advances, Taxes etc. due to be paid back to the
Government:
11. There are substantial number of Loans
and Advances given to the Government Undertakings, Institutions and
Organisations under various schemes.
All the DDOs must ensure that all such loans and dues payable to the
Government are recovered as per the instalments prescribed along with interest
due before any further drawals against such scheme is made. All the Secretariat Heads and Heads of the
Department are requested to intimate the overdue instalments of loan recoveries
to all the DDOs if they are not being calculated at the level of DDOs. Likewise, there are certain recoveries to be
made from the individuals/ institutions/industries etc., to whom loans were
granted under various Government programmes or taxes and levies are due from
them under various Acts and Rules for which the concerned DDOs have been
assigned the target of recoveries to be made from such beneficiaries. The Comptroller and Auditor General has been
pointing out in every Report that adequate attention is not being paid to such
recoveries of loans, advances, taxes/levies etc., leading to pecuniary loss to
Government. All the DDOs are requested
to effect the recoveries and deposit in the Government account under the
appropriate head. All the Heads of the
Department are also requested to issue strict instructions in this regard to
the concerned officers and the DDOs, particularly where audit reports have
pointed out the deficiencies of the DDOs in taking proper action.
Releases
to Local Bodies, Public Sector Enterprises, Autonomous Bodies and other
Grant-in-Aid Institutions:
12. Non finalisation of annual accounts,
pendency of statutory audit for the years and failure to remedy the
deficiencies pointed out in audit paras are the major points of concern for the
Government pertaining to Local Bodies,
Public Sector Enterprises, Autonomous Bodies and other Grant-in-Aid
Institutions. Therefore, it is
instructed that further financial releases from April 2002 onwards would be
made only to those Local Bodies, Public Sector Enterprises, Autonomous Bodies,
and Grant-in-Aid Institutions who have completed their statutory audit for
1999-2000. These institutions have also
to give an undertaking that they would clear their audit objections to an
extent of 50% by September, 2002 and the balance by December, 2002. It should also to be ensured that they have
also submitted the Utilisation Certificates, certified by the Statutory Auditor
in case of previous grants/loans etc., released by State Government under
various schemes. Further releases shall
depend upon the amount for which the Utilisation Certificates against earlier
releases are sent. Therefore, this
shall be enforced before issuing the BROs at the level of concerned Finance
Secretaries in the Finance Department and then at the level of the Treasury
Officers/PAOs when the HODs/DDOs submit bills for drawal of funds on behalf of
such institutions. The following
Certificates shall be obtained from such Local Bodies and organizations before
drawal of any funds from the Treasuries.
a. Certificate to the
effect that Statutory Audit has been completed for 1999-2000.
b. An
undertaking to the effect that maintenance of accounts shall be done in the
format prescribed by the C & AG, particularly in the case of local bodies
as per the latest instructions of Eleventh Finance Commission in this regard.
c. An undertaking that
Audit objections will be cleared to the extent of 50% by September, 2002 and
the balance by December, 2002.
d. Utilisation
Certificates certified by the Statutory Auditor, that the funds previously
released have been fully and properly used for the purpose for which they have
been sanctioned.
A copy of the Certificate is
enclosed as Annexure -VI.
13. Further releases to Local Bodies,
Public Sector Enterprises, Autonomous and other Grant-in-Aid Institutions after
September, 2002, shall be made subject to further conditions that their
statutory audit is brought up to date, including 2000-2001 and subsequently
every year and the audit objections, particularly in relation to financial
assistance released by Government have been fully and properly replied to and
got cleared by the Statutory Auditor.
14. It shall be the responsibility of each
HOD and the DDO to ensure compliance and it should be the responsibility of
each Treasury Officer/PAO/PAO(W&P) to scrutinize the claims and
certificates in accordance with these norms and guidelines before admitting any
bills for pre-audit and release of funds.
A summary of Action Points discussed in the GO has been provided in
Annexure-VII and a Checklist of Action Points has been provided as
Annexure-VIII.
15. All the Secretariat heads and the
Heads of Department are requested to bring these orders to the notice of their
subordinate officers and to take necessary action in the matter and issue the
required instructions to the Drawing and Disbursing Officers under their
control. This order is available on the
AP Government Website “www.ap.gov.in” and “www.andhrapradesh.com”.
(BY ORDER AND IN THE NAME OF THE GOVERNOR
OF ANDHRA PRADESH)
S.K.
ARORA
Principal
Secretary to Government
To
The Principal Accountant
General (Audit), AP., Hyderabad.
The Accountant General
(A&E)
The Director, Treasuries
& Accounts, Hyderabad.
The Pay & Accounts
Officer, A.P., Hyderabad.
The Deputy Financial
Adviser (Works & Projects).
All the Spl. Chief
Secretaries/Prl. Secretaries/Secretaries to the Govt.
The Secretary to
Government (GA-Services) Department.
The Prl. Secretary to
Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad.
The PS to CM and PS to all
Ministers.
All Departments of
Secretariat.
All Head of the
Departments including Collectors and District Judges.
The Registrar, AP High
Court, Hyderabad.
The Registrar, AP
Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad.
All the Directors of
Accounts of Projects.
All District Treasury
Officers.
All the Chief Executive
Officers of Zilla Parishads.
All the District
Educational Officers.
The Secretaries of Zilla
Grandhalaya Samsthas through the Director of Public Libraries, AP, Hyderabad.
All the
Commissioners/Special Officers of the Municipalities/ Corporations.
All the Recognised Service
Associations.
The Managing Director,
APTS, Hyderabad.
The Registrar of all the
Universities.
Copy to SF/SC
ANNEXURE-I
Proforma on Pending Audit Paras/Observations
|
Name
of Programme/ Scheme |
|
||||
|
Name
of Department |
|
||||
|
Head
of Account |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Major
Head |
Sub
Major Head |
Minor
Head |
Group
Sub-head |
Sub-head |
|
Information
pertaining to audit observations for the scheme |
||
|
|
Number |
Amount
(Rs. lakhs) |
|
Number
of pending Audit Paras upto 31st March, 2001 |
|
|
|
Number
of Audit Paras replied to |
|
|
|
BALANCE
- Total number of pending audit observations pending to the scheme=(1) minus
(2) |
|
|
1. I
declare that the information provided above is true to the best of my knowledge
and belief.
2. I certify that the final replies to atleast 50% of the audit paras relevant to the scheme have been sent to the AG's office.
Date: Signature
of DDO -------------------
Name
of DDO ------------------------
ANNEXURE-II
Proforma on Reconciliation - I
Declaration
by DDO
Name of Department |
|
Name of District |
|
1. I certify that the Expenditure Statement and the Statement of Receipts has been prepared for the last month i.e. _________________ and the figures have been reconciled with Treasury on or before 4th of the current month.
2. I
declare that the information provided above is true to the best of my knowledge
and belief.
Date: Signature
of DDO -------------------
Name
of DDO ------------------------
ANNEXURE-III
Proforma on Reconciliation - II
Declaration
by Officer nominated by CCO/HOD
Name of Department |
|
Name of District |
|
1. I certify that the monthly reconciliation statements (reconciliation of expenditure statements and the statements of receipts with treasury figures) have been submitted to AG for the last quarter i.e. __________ month to _________________ month for the year _____________.
2. I
declare that the information provided above is true to the best of my knowledge
and belief.
Date: Signature
of DDO -------------------
Name
of DDO ------------------------
