Why in News ?

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for this financial year in the Lok Sabha.

What is Supplementary Demands for Grant ?

• Supplementary demand for grants is needed for government expenditure over and above the amount for which Parliamentary approval was already obtained during the Budget session.
  • The additional grant required to meet the required expenditure of the government is called Supplementary Grants.
  • When grants, authorised by the Parliament, fall short of the required expenditure, an estimate is presented before the Parliament for Supplementary or Additional grants.
  • These grants are presented and passed by the Parliament before the end of the financial year.
• Public Accounts Committee examines these excesses and gives recommendations to the Parliament.

Various Grant

• Additional Grant : When excess amount of grant is needed in the financial year for any additional expenditure for any service.
• Token Grant : This is similar to additional grant but the only difference is it is only available after the re-appropriation.
• Excess Grant : Same as the word excess mean. When money has been spent on any service during a financial year in excess of the amount granted for that service in the budget for that year.
• Exceptional Grant : It is granted for a special purpose and forms no part of the current service of any financial year.
• Vote of Credit : To meet an unexpected demand upon resources of India.
• Votes on Account : To make any grant in advance in respect to the estimated expenditure.

Recent gross additional expenditure

• Out of the Rs. 2.35 lakh crore gross additional expenditure, the proposals involving net cash outgo add up to almost Rs. 1.67 lakh crore.
• Where the fund is going to allocate?
  • State governments : including Rs. 44,340 crore in post-devolution revenue deficit grants, and Rs. 2,262 crore as grants-in-aid for the State Disaster Response Funds
  • Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme allocations of Rs. 40,000 crore additional funding promised.
  • Aatmanirbhar package to get Rs. 1 lakh crore.
  • Recapitalisation of public sector banks through issue of government securities at Rs. 20,000 crore.
    • In fact this was no in this year’s budget but the extra ordinary situation required the infusion.
  • Health Ministry included demands worth Rs. 6,852 crore for containment of the pandemic.

Source : The Hindu

Topic

Prelims : Supplementary Demands for Grant and other grant

GS II :

• Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
• Parliament and State Legislatures – structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these

Current Affairs Compilation : 15 September 2020