The Agriculture department bypassing the finance department and disbursing a whopping Rs 313 crore for various schemes in the last five years throws up intriguing questions. The Cabinet may have given the issue a belated burial by granting an ex-post facto approval, but the grant itself raises questions over transparency in the systems. The finance department is entrusted with the job of studying proposals and advising government accordingly. Its job is to analyse the financial implication and raise queries based on available data. In the case of funds disbursed by the agricultural department, the finance department could have examined the grant in all its aspects to the extent of even ensuring whether it reaches the genuine beneficiaries.
The disbursal needs to be questioned because the accounts department went ahead with the payments without even getting a finance department approval. How did this happen and who authorized these payments which bypassed procedures? Systems have been bypassed for five long years and no one raised a finger. It was only when another such proposal was rejected by the accounts department this June that reality dawned.
The cabinet may be well within its rights to approve this sanction retrospectively, but there needs to be clarity on why the government chose the ex-post facto approval route. Interestingly, funds have been disbursed since 2014 and it establishes the fact that this was done to circumvent the scrutiny of the finance department. It also establishes that the accounts department worked on the whims and fancies of the powers that be.
The very fact that there are no queries raised and action taken on those responsible goes to show that this is a well-orchestrated move. And which is why there is no responsibility fixed. If there are genuine reasons behind releasing grants this way, the government should come out clean and explain. People need an explanation because this is their money and they have the right to know how it is channelled.
This has exposed the chinks in the system which often speaks about transparency. The protocol has been disrespected and procedures bypassed to benefit a section. It gives enough reason to believe that the government can bulldoze its way if it wills without having to face the queries raised by the finance department. The cabinet is empowered to overrule the finance department, just the way it did with the recent decision to slash road tax till December, but it still needs to hold responsibility. The onus, in this case, will be on the government to explain how the quantum jump in the sale of automobiles during the period is going to offset the losses incurred on account of tax cuts.
The Finance Department’s role is to manage government finances. It plays a crucial role in achieving the State’s economic and social goals. In a healthy government framework, the scrutiny and observations of this department cannot be ignored or bypassed, especially when the State is facing
a fiscal crisis.
