Appendix 5 — GFR

APPENDIX - 5 [Rule 66] PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED IN CONNECTION WITH THE DEMANDS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY GRANTS An excess over the sanctioned Grant or Appropriation may arise owing to either –

(a) an unforeseen emergency; or

(b) under-estimated or insufficient allowance for factors leading to the growth of expenditure. In the case of an excess of either type the Head of the Department or the Controlling Officer concerned should proceed as follows: -

(i) He should, in the first place, examine the allotments given to other Disbursing Officers under the same detailed head within the unit of appropriation, and transfer to the Disbursing Officer who requires an additional allotment such sum as can be permanently or temporarily spared. Since appropriation audit is ordinarily conducted against total allotments for a unit, re-appropriation in the technical sense of the word is not involved in such cases. The process amounts only to redistribution which the Controlling Officer can ordinarily effect without reference to any other authority.

(ii) Should he find such redistribution impossible he should examine the allotments against other detailed heads inside the primary units of appropriation, with the object of discovering probable savings and effecting a transfer. Where such redistribution is feasible, he should if he has been vested with the necessary powers, carry it out. Otherwise, he should obtain the sanction of the competent authority. (iii)If the provision of funds from within the primary units proves to be impossible, an examination of the whole grant should be undertaken to see whether there are likely to be savings under any of the other units of grant or appropriation which can be utilized to meet it. If so, he should proceed as indicated in Clause

(ii) above. (iv)If such savings are not available, it should be seen whether special economies can be effected under other primary units of appropriation. If funds cannot be provided by either of these methods, it will have to be considered whether the excess should be met by postponement of expenditure or whether an application for supplementary grant or appropriation should be made.

(v) The Supplementary Demand for Grants shall be presented to the Parliament in a number of batches as decided by the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs. The first batch shall normally consist of requirements of the following nature: -

(a) Cases where advances from Contingency Fund of India have been granted, which are required to be recouped to the Fund.

(b) Payment against a court decree, which cannot be postponed; and

(c) Cases of additional requirement of funds for making immediate payments, which can be met by re- appropriation of savings in the Grant but attract the limitation of New Service / New Instrument of Service.

(vi) All applications for supplementary grants or appropriations should be submitted by the Department of the Central Government administratively concerned to the Ministry of Finance on such dates and in such forms / batches as may be prescribed by the latter from time to time.

(vii) On receipt of an application for a supplementary grant, the Ministry of Finance will review the position of the grant of appropriation as a whole with reference to the known actuals of the year to date and the actuals and estimates for previous years. If after this examination, the Ministry of Finance comes to the conclusion that it should be possible for the Administrative Department to meet the expenditure from within the sanctioned grant either from normal savings or by special economies or in the last resort by judicious postponement of other expenditure or in the last resort by judicious postponement of other expenditure, the Administrative Department will be so informed and no supplementary demand will be presented to Parliament. If, on the other hand, the Ministry of Finance considers that a supplementary grant will be necessary, a demand will be placed before Parliament.

(viii) If during the course of the year it is found necessary to incur expenditure on a ‘New Service’ not provided for in the annual budget the Administrative Department shall explain to the Ministry of Finance why the expenditure was not provided for in the original budget and why it cannot be postponed for consideration in connection with the next budget. The Ministry of Finance, if satisfied on these points, will consider whether it would not be reasonable to ask the department concerned to curtail its other expenditure so as to keep the total within the grant. Ordinarily, no “new service” or item will be accepted by the Ministry of Finance, unless the department concerned can guarantee that the extra expenditure will be met from normal savings or by special economies within the grant. Cases which involve additional grant will normally be accepted by the Ministry of Finance only if they relate to matters of real imperative necessity or to the earning or safeguarding of revenue. The demand for a supplementary grant of appropriation or a token vote in respect of a “new service” will be presented to Parliament as soon as practicable after the need arises. NOTE. –The expression ‘New Service’ wherever used in this Appendix includes – ‘New Instrument of Service’.