What is a vote-on-account?
The Indian Constitution says that all revenues received by the Union government and the loans raised by it are to be put into the Consolidated Fund of India. This does not include anything that is put into a Contingency Fund.
Since Parliament is not able to vote the entire budget before the commencement of the new financial year (like now, with elections round the corner), it is necessary to keep enough money at the disposal of government to allow it to run the administration of the country.
• Vote-on-account vs full Budget
• Discussion on Interim Budget on Feb 4
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When the government needs to withdraw any money from the Consolidated Fund of India to cover its expenditure (especially during the time when elections are underway and a caretaker government is in place), it has to seek approval from the Parliament.
A special provision is, therefore, made for a vote-on-account' by which the government obtains the vote of Parliament for a sum sufficient to incur expenditure on various items for a part of the year.
This sanction of Parliament for withdrawal of money from the Consolidated Fund of India to meet the government's expenses is generally known as a vote-on-account.
Apart from this, there are also the revised estimates of the expenditure incurred by the government during the financial year that is coming to an end. These estimates provide an assessment of how efficiently the government spent its resources. There are also the revised estimates of the government revenue from different sources.
So, a vote-on-account gives one an idea of the effectiveness of the policies to mobilise tax and non-tax revenues.
Are a vote ...