If I wanted a more detailed explanation?
Here goes. . . The Indian Constitution says that all revenues received by the Union government and the loans raised by it are to be put into the Consolidated Fund of India. This does not include anything that is put into a Contingency Fund.
Since Parliament is not able to vote the entire budget before the beginning of the new financial year (like now, with elections round the corner), it is necessary to keep enough money at the government's disposal to allow it to run the administration of the country.
When the government needs to withdraw any money from the Consolidated Fund of India to cover its expenditure (especially when elections are underway and a caretaker government is in place), it has to seek first approval from Parliament.
A special provision is, therefore, made for a vote-on-account by which the government obtains the vote of Parliament for a sum sufficient to incur expenditure on various items for a part of the year.
This sanction of Parliament for withdrawal of money from the Consolidated Fund of India to meet the government's expenses is generally known as a vote-on-account.
Without passage of the vote-on-account before March 31 (the end of the financial year) in Parliament, the government will not have been able to draw money from the Consolidated Fund of India for government expenditure from April 1. Does a vote-on-account take place every year?
Image: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is recovering from heart surgery, heads the finance ministry as well. | Photograph: Vijay Kumar Joshi/PTI file photograph
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