Introduction for consolidated fund of india
Constituted under Article 267 of the Constitution, the Consolidated Fund of India is one of the most important government accounts. All the income generated through direct taxes, indirect taxes, and other sources of revenue (excluding exceptional items) are part of the Consolidated Fund of India.
Understanding Consolidated Fund of India
This fund is used for all the expenditures carried out by the government, barring a few transactions which are funded by the Contingency Fund or the Public Account. It represents one of the three parts of the Annual Financial Statement, along with the Public Account and the Contingency. As it is considered an important part of the financial statement, all State governments have maintained like the Central government for all major expenses.
How Does The Fund Get The Money?
The fund gets the money from all the government revenue generated via a number of sources such as:
● Revenue earned from direct taxes such as income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, estate tax, etc. ● Revenue earned from indirect tax such as Goods and Service Tax (GST) ● Dividends and profits earned from PSU’s like NTPC, ONGC, SAIL, etc. ● Profits earned from various government’s general services. ● Disinvestment receipts ● Debt repayments ● Loan recoveries
The money from the Consolidated Fund of India can only be withdrawn after the government gets approval from the Parliament.
Components of the Consolidated Fund of India
It is mainly divided into 5 parts, namely:
● Revenue account (receipts) ● Revenue account (disbursements) ● Capital account (receipts) ● Capital account (disbursements) ● Disbursements charged on consolidated funds
Expenditures Charged on Consolidated Funds
The charged expenditures on the Consolidated Funds of India are non-votable, meaning no voting takes place for a withdrawal of these expenditures. It doesn’t matter if the budget is passed or not, these charges must be paid in the form of salaries and allowances of:
● The President ● The Speaker ● The Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha ● The Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha ● Salaries and allowances of Supreme Court judges ● Pensions of Supreme Court and High Court judges
