Comply with rules on funding schemes: Parliament panel to Finance Ministry

NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary panel today asked the Finance Ministry to take "bold and innovative" steps to ensure compliance of financial rules with regard to funds allocated for various schemes.

"The fact that instructions have been issued time and again without achieving any concrete results warrants that some bold and innovative measures are required to be taken by the Finance Ministry to ensure compliance of financial rules or provisions relating to augmentation of funds under various object heads including Grants-in-Aid and Subsidy," it said.

Since instances related to financial breach attracting new instrument of service tantamount to assuming the financial powers of Parliament by the executive, the Committee trust that in the larger interest of achieving a sound fiscal health in future, the Finance Ministry should devise an effective mechanism to timely detect such cases, it said.

The ministry should ensure that these are included in the Supplementary Demands for Grants approval of Parliament thereon obtained and any slackness is strictly dealt with, Public Accounts Committee headed by K V Thomas said in a report tabled in Parliament said.

There is a need to put effective mechanism by Finance Ministry ( Department of Economic Affairs - Budget Division) so as to ensure that a proper check is exercised on the flow of expenditure, it said.