What is the Demands and Appropriation Bill?
After a general discussion on the Budget, Parliament is adjourned for a fixed period. During this period, the demands for grants of various ministries/ departments are considered by concerned standing committees. The standing committee, consisting of 45 members (30 from Lok Sabha and 15 from Rajya Sabha), are required to make their reports within a specified period.
Then, Parliament meets to discuss and vote on these demands. The voting procedure is popularly known as 'guillotine.' The Lok Sabha has the power to assent to or refuse to give assent to any demand or even to reduce the amount of grant sought by the government.
After this, the government introduces the Appropriation Bill. The Appropriation Bill is intended to give authority to the government to incur expenditure from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India. What were some of the unusual (election- or crisis-related) vote-on-accounts presented in the last few decades?
Image: P Chidambaram addressing a national conference on Union Budget 2007-08 organised by FICCI. | Photograph: Dijeshwar Singh/Saab Press
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