KARNATAKA PANCHAYAT RAJ TALUK PANCHAYATS (FINANCE AND ACCOUNTS) RULES, 1996

 

PREAMBLE

Whereas the draft of the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Taluk Panchayat Finance and Accounts Rules, 1995 in Notification No. KDP 280 ZPS 95, dated 644995 was published in Part IV, Section 2-C(i) of the Karnataka - Gazette,

Extraordinary, dated 6-4-1996 as required by sub-section (i) of Section 311 of Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, 1993 (Karnataka Act 14 of 1993) inviting objection and suggestion to the said draft from persons likely to be affected there to within ten days of its publication in the Official Gazette.

And, whereas, the said Gazette was made available to the public on 6-4-1996.

And, whereas, no objections or suggestions have been received by the State Government in respect of the said draft.

Now, therefore, in exercise of powers conferred by Section 250 of the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, 1993 (Karnataka Act 14 of 1993) read with Section 311 of the said Act the Government of Karnataka hereby makes the following rules namely:

CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY

Rule - 1. Title and commencement.

(1)     These rules may be called the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Taluk Panchayats (Finance and Accounts) Rules, 1996.

(2)     They shall come into force at once.

Rule - 2. Definitions.

In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,

(i)       "Act" means the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, 1993 (Karnataka Act 14 of 1993);

(ii)      "Auditor" means the comptroller and Auditor General of India who conducts audit of the accounts of the Taluk Panchayats under Section 253;

(iii)     "Bank" means the Bank to which Government Treasury business is entrusted;

(iv)    "Chief Accounts Officer." means the Chief Accounts Officer of the Zilla Panchayat appointed by the Government under sub-section (2) of Section 196;

(v)      "Committee" means a Standing Committee of the Taluk Panchayat constituted under Section 148;

(vi)    "Contingent charges" means expenditure which is incidental to the working of the office and includes expenditure on furniture, books, periodicals, postage and telegrams, bicycles, electric charges, clearing charges, freight charges, and all miscellaneous charges other than those that fall under any other head of expenditure like "Establishment", "Travelling Allowances", "Works", "Stock" and "Tools and Plant";

(vii)   "financial Year", "Official Year" or "Year" means the period of one year commencing on the first day of April and ending with the 31st day of March of the succeeding year;

(viii)  "Form" means a form appended to these rules;

(ix)    "Fund" means the Taluk Panchayat Fund as defined under Section 218;

(x)      "Section" means a Section of the Act;

(xi)    "Treasury" means a Government Treasury and includes a Bank carrying on cash transactions of such Treasury.

CHAPTER II GENERAL PROVISIONS

Rule - 3.

The accounts of the Taluk Panchayat shall be maintained separately for each financial year.

Rule - 4.

If, on a date specified tinder these rules for an act, proceeding or transaction, the Taluk Panchayat office is dosed, on account of a holiday, such act, proceeding or transaction shall be deemed to be duly done or taken, if it is done or taken on the next working day.

Rule - 5.

The Taluk Panchayat shall have all its transactions with the Government Treasury of the Taluk. All its receipts of every description shall be paid into this treasury and any money required by it for disbursement shall be drawn from its treasury by presenting bills. These transactions shall be classified in the treasury accounts under the head of account "8448 Deposits of Local Funds. . . 109 Panchayat Bodies Funds . . . Taluk Panchayats Funds. . . . Taluk Panchayat Fund".

Rule - 6.

The accounts of the Taluk Panchayat Fund at the Treasury is governed by the provisions of Chapter XVII of the Karnataka Financial Code and Article 222 of the Karnataka Treasury Code.

Rule - 7.

(1)     The Chief Accounts Officer of the Zilla Panchayat shall compile the accounts of all Taluk Panchayats in the District. All matters concerning preparation of monthly and annual accounts of the Taluk Panchayats and allied matters shall also be attended to by the Chief Accounts Officer.

(2)     The Chief Accounts Officer may issue advices from time to time to the District Treasury Officer to transfer amounts from the Zilla Panchayat Fund to any Taluk Panchayat Fund and from any Taluk Panchayat Fund to the Zilla Panchayat Fund or to any other Taluk Panchayat Fund. Such transfer advices, if they will have the effect of reducing the balance at the credit of a Taluk Panchayat Fund, shall be based on specific authorisations or prior concurrence of the Taluk Panchayat from which the amounts are to be transferred:

Provided, however, that no such authorisation or concurrence will be required in respect of action taken by the Chief Accounts Officer for setting right misclassifications.

Rule - 8.

Save as otherwise expressly provided in these rules or in orders issued by the Government tinder sub-section (1) of Section 238, in all matters relating to drawal of funds, form of bills, incurring of expenditure, maintenance of accounts, rendering of accounts by the Taluk Panchayat, etc., the provisions of the Karnataka Treasury Code, Karnataka Financial Code, Manual of Contingent Expenditure, Karnataka Public Works Accounts Code, Karnataka Public Works Departmental Code, Stores Manual, Budget Manual, other Departmental Manuals, Standing Orders or instructions applicable to departments of Government shall mutatis mutandis apply.

Rule - 9.

In administering the fund of the Taluk Panchayat for carrying out the purpose of the Act, the officers of the Taluk Panchayat shall exercise the administrative and financial powers as may be delegated to them under Section 151. The Taluk Panchayat may also declare certain officers as heads of offices for the purpose of these rules.

Rule - 10.

In respect of the District, State or Central Sector Schemes transferred or entrusted to the Taluk Panchayat and implemented by it, separate accounts shall be maintained in the manner and format, if any, specified by the Government or the Zilla Panchayat, as the case may be. The implementing officers of the Taluk Panchayat concerned shall ensure that the Projects or Schemes are implemented strictly in accordance with the guidelines issued in this behalf.

Rule - 11.

(1)     On or before the 1st week of January of each year the Executive Officer of each Taluk Panchayat shall furnish to the Chief Executive Officer an indent for the entire requirements of receipt books, licence forms, ticket books and other forms, account books and registers required for the use of the Taluk Panchayat during the following financial year. The Chief Executive Officer shall get the forms and registers by all the Taluk Panchayats within the jurisdiction of Zilla Panchayat printed by any printing firm after calling for tenders. The printed forms and registers shall be supplied to the Taluk Panchayats by the Chief Executive Officer on payment of the cost of such forms and registers.

(2)     As soon as the receipt books, forms, books and registers are received in the Taluk Panchayat Office, the total number of leaves in each book and register shall be counted and certified by the Executive Officer or other officer authorised by him on the last page of the book or register. The entire stock of receipt books, forms and registers shall then be taken to stock in the Stock Register in Form No. TP 1 and kept in safe custody. Separate pages shall be allotted in the stock register for the stock account of each kind of receipt books, forms and registers. No Taluk Panchayat shall purchase, lend to or borrow from any other Taluk Panchayat or other sources, such receipt books, forms or registers.

(3)     Out of the stock of receipt books, etc., held with the Executive Officer or other officer authorised by him, a certain number shall be handed over to such authorities as are competent to issue receipts, licences, etc. Such authorities shall also maintain a stock account in Form No. TP 1 in respect of the stock of receipt books, etc., handled by them.

(4)     Only one book of a particular kind shall be issued for use at a time after obtaining the acknowledgement of the staff member concerned to whom it is issued. Fresh issues shall be made only after the used book is returned and the fact recorded in the stock register. When this is not possible, the return of the used book shall be watched separately.

(5)     The books shall be issued strictly in serial order duly noting in the stock register, the serial number of each book issued. The office seal of the Taluk Panchayat shall be affixed on each page of the books issued.

(6)     When used receipt books are returned, the Executive Officer or other officer authorised by him, shall scrutinise the books to ensure that all the office copies of the receipts are intact and in order. In respect of receipt books issued by other Heads of Offices, a similar scrutiny shall be conducted by the head of office concerned. The used books should be kept in the personal custody of the Executive Officer, or the Head of Office concerned, as the case may be.

Rule - 12.

Every correction or alteration in the accounts shall be made neatly in red ink and attested by the Head of the Office, a single line being drawn through the original entry to be corrected. All corrections and alterations in the bills and vouchers shall be similarly attested by the officers drawing the bills or persons preferring the claims, while those in pay orders, shall be similarly attested by the officer signing them. Erasure shall be absolutely forbidden and no documents with an erasure shall be accepted.

Rule - 13.

(1)     All moneys received by an officer or employee of the Taluk Panchayat in his official capacity shall forthwith and without any reservation, be brought to account in the appropriate register and paid into the treasury without undue delay. No portion of the collection shall be kept back or used for current expenditure.

(2)     In cases where a Taluk Panchayat officer receives both Taluk Panchayat revenues and Government revenues in his official capacity, the revenues and other amounts creditable to Government shall be arranged to be credited to be appropriate receipt head of account under Government, in the treasury promptly and on no account shall such revenues be credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund.

Note: Since the funds required for maintenance of the various assets of the Zilla Panchayats are provided by Government, Government have issued instructions in June, 1987 and February, 1988 that the revenues generated from the resources of every department of the Zilla Panchayats have to be credited to Government. Similar considerations apply to Taluk Panchayats and hence a similar procedure of crediting the revenues to Government shall be followed by Taluk Panchayats also until such time as the aforesaid instructions are amended by Government.

Rule - 14.

No duplicate copies of receipts granted for money received, or duplicate or copies of bills or other documents for the payment of money which has already been paid, shall be issued on the ground that the originals have been lost. If any necessity arises for proof of such receipt or payment, a certificate may be given that on a specified day, a certain sum, on a certain account was received from or paid to a certain person. This does not prevent a certified copy of a public document being granted.

Rule - 15.

(1)     Whenever an embezzlement or misappropriation of Taluk Panchayat Funds or other valuables, or loss of money or stores, by theft, negligence or fraud is discovered in any department of the Taluk Panchayat, the matter shall be reported to the Executive Officer and the Chief Accounts Officer of the Zilla Panchayat. An enquiry shall made at once by the Executive Officer, or any other officer authorised by him in this behalf. If a preliminary investigation discloses or leads to the suspicion of a criminal offence like forgery or theft, the matter shall be reported to police authorities also.

(2)     When the matter has been fully enquired into, the Executive Officer shall place a report before the Taluk Panchayat indicating the total sum of money misappropriated or embezzled or value of stores articles or other property lost, the circumstances under which the above loss was rendered possible or the loss occurred, the person responsible for the same and steps taken to recover the loss besides action taken to punish the guilty to prevent recurrence of similar incidents in future. A report shall also be sent, to the Accountant General, Karnataka and the Chief Accounts officer. A detailed report shall be sent to Government also, if the defalcation or loss, etc., exceeds Rs. 5,000/-.

CHAPTER III RECEIPTS

Rule - 16.

All moneys received by any person authorised by the Taluk Panchayat in this behalf shall, without exception, be acknowledged on the same day by a receipt in carbon duplicate (using a double side carbon paper) in Form No. TP 2 duly signed by the authorisation authorised person. The carbon copy of the receipt shall be given to the party making the payment.

Note: 1. The receipt book shall be printed with original and duplicate one below the other and the duplicate perforated.

Note: 2. Only printed forms of receipts having their pages machine numbered at the printing press should be used. Use of manuscript forms of receipts is strictly prohibited.

Rule - 17.

(1)     Cheques on local banks may be accepted towards any dues to the Taluk Panchayat.

(2)     When amounts due to the Taluk Panchayat are paid by parties by means of cheques, only an acknowledgement for the receipt of the cheques shall be given to them in the first instance in Form No. TP 3. A final receipt for the net amount realised shall be sent to the address of the party, in Form No. TP 2 after the cheque is cleared and the proceeds thereof have been credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund.

(3)     In order to keep a record to ensure that all cheques received in payment of Taluk Panchayat dues are dealt with promptly and systematically, they shall be entered in a Register of Cheques Received, in Form No. TP 4. This register shall be scrutinised every month by the Head of the office concerned. By the fifteenth of the following month a statement showing cheques outstanding at the commencement of the month, cheques received during the month, cheques realised during the month and cheques outstanding with reasons therefor shall be sent to the Executive Officer by each Head of office.

Rule - 18.

If the amount of the receipt given under Rule 16 or Rule 17 exceeds rupees five hundred, the receipt shall be duly stamped, except when the receipts are granted to a Government Department for money paid by it to the Taluk Panchayat.

Rule - 19.

Any person paying money into the Treasury for being credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund shall present it with a challan in Form No. TP 5, in triplicate, conspicuously marked "Creditable to. . . Taluk Panchayat Fund" and showing distinctly the nature of payment and the head of account in full. The challan shall be got countersigned by the concerned Officer of the Taluk Panchayat in token of check of the correctness of the head of account and without such countersignature, the Treasury, shall not accept the remittances.

Rule - 20.

The Head of the Office who realises revenue receipts and other dues of the Taluk Panchayat and remits the amounts collected to the Treasury for credit to the Taluk Panchayat Fund shall maintain a Remittance Register in Form No, TP 6 showing particulars of amounts received in cash and by cheques separately. The Treasury Officer/Agency Bank shall acknowledge the remittance in the appropriate column of the Remittance Register.

Rule - 21.

(1)     Each Head of Office of the Taluk Panchayat who is responsible for the realisation of revenue receipts and other dues of the Taluk Panchayat shall submit a statement of receipts realised and credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund in each month to the Chief Accounts Officer and also to the Executive Officer by the tenth of the following month, after due verification of the credits shown in the statement with reference to Treasury accounts duly recording a certificate, as under, in the statement.

"Certified that the credits included have been verified and agreed with those in the Treasury accounts".

(2)     These statements of receipt shall be cross-checked in the office of the Chief Accounts Officer with reference to the Treasury Schedules of Receipts to ensure that the corresponding credits have actually appeared in the Treasury accounts.

Rule - 22.

(1)     All grants, loans, etc., payable to Taluk Panchayats by Government shall be passed on through the Zilla Panchayat concerned.

(2)     The grants, loans, etc., payable to the Taluk Panchayats shall be sanctioned by the Government duly specifying the names of the Taluk Panchayats, the amounts payable either individually or in lump and the heads of account in Government accounts to which the amounts are debitable. The Chief Accounts Officer is authorised to draw and disburse the amounts released by Government from the Consolidated Fund of the State. On receipt of the Government Order sanctioning grants, the Chief Accounts Officer shall prepare a Grant-in-aid bill for each major head of account under which the grants are released by the Government and submit the bills to the Treasury for payment. Such bills do not require countersignature of any other authority. At the Treasury, these bills should be passed for payment by transfer credit to the Zilla Panchayat Fund. A similar procedure shall be followed in respect of loan releases also.

(3)     In the accounts of the Zilla Panchayat, the amounts of such bills shall be credited initially to a suspense head "Taluk Panchayat Suspense". When the amounts due to the Taluk Panchayats are subsequently transferred to them, the payments have to be debited to the same suspense head in the accounts of the Zilla Panchayat. In the accounts of the Taluk Panchayat the receipts have to be accounted for under the appropriate head of account. It shall be the responsibility of the Chief Accounts Officer to issue advices promptly to the District Treasury Officer to transfer the amounts relating to each Taluk Panchayat Fund from the Zilla Panchayat Fund with the least possible delay.

Note: As a partial exception to the procedure of advice of transfer indicated in sub-rule (3) the Chief Executive Officer may issue an order showing the distribution of the grants to the various Taluk Panchayats and authorise the Executive Officers concerned to draw the amounts relating to them from the Zilla Panchayat Fund by presenting a payee's receipt at the Treasury and enclosing thereto, a copy of the distribution order.

(4)     Copies of the Government Orders/orders of distribution of grants should be endorsed to the concerned Treasury Officer. Copies of these orders as well as copies of Zilla Panchayat advices releasing funds to the Taluk Panchayats should be endorsed to the concerned Executive Officers also.

(5)     It is the responsibility of the Chief Accounts Officer to send advices of credit promptly to the Executive Officers concerned as soon as the releases made by Government are credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund.

Exception. The procedure indicated above shall not apply to the amount of surcharge on stamp duty, collected and passed on to the Taluk Panchayats periodically under sub-section 4 of Section 205 through orders issued by the authority to whom relevant powers have been delegated by Government. In such cases, the amounts may be drawn by the Executive Officers concerned by presenting payee's receipt at the Treasury countersigned by such authority as may be specified by the department issuing the release order.

CHAPTER IV PAYMENTS

Rule - 23.

All moneys required for expenditure of whatsoever nature, shall be drawn from the Taluk Panchayat Fund in the Treasury in accordance with the procedure laid down in these rules.

(i)       All claims against the Taluk Panchayat shall be preferred at the Treasury in the relevant forms prescribed under Karnataka Financial Code and Manual of Contingent Expenditure or other relevant Departmental Manuals in so far as payment of salaries, travelling allowance, contingencies, etc, are concerned, by the officers authorised in this behalf. However, such claims shall be subject to countersignature of such authority, as may be specified by the Chief Executive Officer in accordance with the guidelines, if any, laid down by Government in this regard;

(ii)      Salaries and allowance payable to the Adhyaksha and the . Upadhyaksha are governed by the rules issued by Government in this behalf. Claims of the Adhyaksha and the Upadhyaksha on this account shall be preferred in the bill forms prescribed for Gazetted Officers of Government. The Chief Accounts Officer shall issue a formal authorisation to the concerned Treasury specifying the entitlements of salaries and allowances of the Adhyaksha and the Upadhyaksha. Their travelling allowance bills shall be scrutinised and passed by the Executive Officer in accordance with the provisions of the rules mentioned above;

(iii)     The Executive Officer or any other officer of the Taluk Panchayat authorised in this behalf may draw and disburse all claims towards salaries, travelling allowance, sitting fees and other expenditure relating to the members of the Taluk Panchayat, staff and offices coming under General Administration of the Taluk Panchayat;

(iv)    All bills presented at the Treasury shall be conspicuously stamped "Debitable to .... Taluk Panchayat Fund";

(v)      The Executive Officer shall furnish to the Chief Accounts Officer, a list of officers authorised to draw moneys from the Taluk Panchayat Fund at the Treasury. The Chief Accounts Officer shall thereupon take steps to place the Authorised Officers in account with the Treasury by sending the necessary advices to the Treasury Officer and spelling out the conditions, limitations, etc., subject to which the bills presented by the officers are to be honoured. No withdrawals are to be allowed from the Taluk Panchayat Fund unless the officer preferring bills against the Fund has been placed in account with the Treasury by the Chief Accounts Officer in the manner detailed above;

(vi)    All drawing officers who are authorised to draw moneys from the Taluk Panchayat Fund in the Treasury should maintain a Bill Register in Form No. TP 7;

(vii)   The drawing officers, while preferring the salary bills shall append recovery schedules in support of all deductions effected in the bills, Separate schedules should be prepared for deductions creditable to the Taluk Panchayat Fund and those creditable to State funds. Where the deductions effected are adjustable in the accounts of the Treasury by the Treasury Officer, the Government head of account to which the amounts of each recovery schedule are creditable should be distinctly indicated, i.e., recoveries towards Income Tax, Profession Tax, Group Insurance, repayment of advances creditable to State Government accounts, etc) Where the recoveries are adjusted in the accounts of the Taluk Panchayat by the Chief Accounts Officer, the head of account of the Taluk Panchayat to which they are creditable should be indicated in red ink (i.e., recoveries towards repayment of advances paid out of the Taluk Panchayat Fund, fines, recoveries and excess payments, etc.) and in such cases, the bills should be passed by the Treasury for the net amount.

Note: Recoveries which are not adjustable either in the Treasury accounts or the Taluk Panchayat accounts but payable to other agencies should be effected in cash and remitted to the concerned.

(viii)  An officer of the Taluk Panchayat supplied with funds for expenditure shall be responsible for such funds until accounts in respect of them have been rendered to the satisfaction of audit. In cases in which the vouchers and acquittances of actual payees are not sent elsewhere for audit, the officer is responsible for the safe custody of these important documents.

CHAPTER V TREASURY PROCEDURES

Rule - 24.

(1)     The Treasuries shall maintain separate accounts for the transactions of the Zilla Panchayat, Taluk Panchayat and Government.

(2)     In each of the Taluk Treasuries and the District Treasury of which the Taluk Treasury is a sub-treasury, a separate Taluk Panchayat Fund account shall be opened on the lines set out in Article 290 of the Karnataka Financial Code read with Article 322 of the Karnataka Treasury Code. All revenue receipts and other amounts relating to the Taluk Panchayat Fund remitted to the Treasury supported by challans signed by the Authorised Officers of the Taluk Panchayat shall be credited to this Fund.

(3)     The Taluk Treasury Officer shall exercise the same checks on the bills presented by the Authorised Officers of the Taluk Panchayat, as in the case of Government bills before passing them for payment.

(4)     The Taluk Treasury Officer shall ensure that the drawing officers have indicated the major, minor, sub and detailed heads of account, of the Taluk Panchayat budget in the bills preferred by them.

(5)     Wherever claims are drawn by Taluk Panchayat Officers on salary bills inclusive of fund and other deductions creditable to the Government accounts, the gross amount should be debited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund by the Treasury Officer and the deductions effected as per the schedules appended to the bills towards fund and other deductions should be credited by transfer credit to respective heads of accounts of Government in the Treasury accounts.

(6)     The Treasury Officer of the district shall send Schedules of Receipts and Payments of the Taluk Panchayats which are in account with him, in Form No. TP 8 and Form No. TP 9 respectively, to the Chief Accounts Officer of the Zilla Panchayat and also to the Executive Officer concerned. The payment schedule shall be sent in two lists, the first list comprising transactions from the first to the tenth of the month by the fifteenth of the month and the second list comprising transactions from the eleventh to the end of the month by the ninth of the following month. The Schedules shall be accompanied by,

(a)      challans in support of the receipts credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund in the case of receipt schedules; and

(b)      vouchers (paid bills) in support of payments made from the Taluk Panchayat Fund in the case of payment schedules.

(7)     The Treasury Officer shall also prepare Plus and Minus Memorandum showing opening balance, receipts and payments and closing balance of the Taluk Panchayat Fund in Form No. 51 of the Karnataka Treasury Code and forward it to the Chief Accounts Officer by the ninth of the following month with copies thereof to the Taluk Panchayat and the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department of Government.

Note: The Treasury Officer shall ensure that no difference exists between the closing balance of each month a plus and minus memorandum and the corresponding opening balance of the next month's memorandum. Any addition to or deduction from, the balance should be made by a special entry to be explained by a foot note.

CHAPTER VI DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ACCOUNTS STAFF

Rule - 25.

(1)     The Chief Accounts Officer will be in overall charge of the work relating to the accounts of the Taluk Panchayat.

(2)     All important communications, reference received from or addressed to the Government, the Auditor (Accountant General, Karnataka), financing agencies, etc., on matters relating to finance, accounts, budget and audit of the Panchayat shall be shown to him, on their receipt or before issue, as the case may be. Any other communication or reference having financial implication which the Executive Officer or any other officer of the Taluk Panchayat considers to be important may also be sent to the Chief Accounts Officer.

(3)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall discharge the following duties and functions in relation to accounts and audit,

(i)       He will provide guidance and advice to the Executive Officer in all matters relating to the formulation of budget proposals, revision of budget, formulation of supplementary budget and proposals for reappropriation, to be submitted to the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee or to the Taluk Panchayat;

(ii)      He will ensure that monthly and annual accounts of the Taluk Panchayat are prepared properly and promptly in accordance with the provisions contained in Chapter VIII of these rules;

(iii)     He will keep himself in regular touch with the audit objections and inspection reports of the Auditor and/or their early settlement. He may guide the Executive Officer and other departmental officers in the matter of processing and settlement of audit paras of the departments;

(iv)    He will furnish any information, statistics, etc., that may be called for by the Executive Officer, Finance, Planning and Audit Committee or the Adhyaksha of the Taluk Panchayat on matters relating to budget, accounts and audit.

(4)     All cases of serious financial irregularity noticed in any of the offices of the Taluk Panchayat shall be reported to the Chief Accounts Officer besides' the Executive Officer. All matters involving serious contravention of financial provisions or serious financial irregularity, proposals to sanction in relaxation of or deviation from any financial rules or principles, proposals for write off of loss or abandonment or remission of revenue, shall be referred to the Chief Accounts Officer and his opinion obtained, before final orders are passed.

(5)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall arrange for internal audit of accounts of the various offices of the Taluk Panchayat periodically. The Chief Accounts Officer shall bring any defects or irregularities noticed during the internal audit to the notice of the Executive Officer for his information and necessary further action. Serious defects and irregularities shall be reported by him to the Chief Executive Officer also.

(6)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall report to the Executive Officer all instances of payments made contrary to the rules and regulations besides cases where payments have been made in the absence of any provision in the budget estimates.

(7)     All defalcations or loss of Taluk Panchayat funds, stores or properly noticed in any of the offices of the Taluk Panchayat shall be reported to the Executive Officer and the Chief Accounts Officer.

Rule - 26.

(1)     The Executive Officer will be assisted by an Accounts Superintendent. The Accounts Superintendent will work directly under the Executive Officer and will function under the administrative control of the latter. In all matters relating to accounts and allied subjects, he shall be guided by and shall abide by the instructions given by the Chief Accounts Officer.

(2)     The Accounts Superintendent will be in overall charge of the work relating to the finance and budget of the Taluk Panchayat. In all matters relating to finance, budget and accounts, he shall strictly follow the rules, orders, guidelines, etc., issued by Government as well as the instructions, if any, issued by the Chief Accounts Officer.

(3)     All important communications, references received from or addressed to the Government, the Auditor (Accountant General, Karnataka), financing agencies, etc., on matters relating to finance, accounts, budget and audit of the Taluk Panchayat shall be shown to the Accounts Superintendent, on their receipt or before issue, as the case may be. Any other communication or reference having financial implication which any Head of Office of the Taluk Panchayat considers to be important may also be sent to the Accounts Superintendent.

(4)     The Accounts Superintendent shall discharge the following functions,

(i)       He will scrutinise the budget proposals submitted by the various officers of the Taluk Panchayat.. He will also be responsible for ensuring that the budget estimates of the Taluk Panchayat are properly framed keeping in view the instructions issued in this behalf and that they are submitted to the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee within the prescribed time schedule. For this purpose he may seek guidance and co-operation from the Chief Accounts Officer. He may also obtain any information or return from the various officers of the Taluk Panchayat in this connection;

(ii)      He will examine and advice on all schemes of new expenditure for which it is proposed to make a provision in the budget;

(iii)     He will keep a close watch over the progress of expenditure in the Taluk Panchayat and initiate, wherever necessary, moves for revision of the budget, reappropriation of funds or approval of a supplementary budget. If such proposals emanate from Heads of Offices of the Taluk Panchayat, all such proposals for revision of the budget or for reappropriation of funds shall be scrutinised by him. Likewise, he shall also scrutinise the proposals for supplementary grants sought for by the Heads of Offices of the Taluk Panchayat and advise the Executive Officer suitably;

(iv)    He will obtain necessary periodical returns of progress of expenditure, watch and review the progress against sanctioned grants and issue such instructions as may be found necessary to the various officers of the Taluk Panchayat;

(v)      He will assist the Executive Officer in regulating the expenditure of the various offices of the Taluk Panchayat according to the balance available in the Taluk Panchayat Fund by working out monthly allocations to be issued under the orders of the Executive Officer;

(vi)    He shall scrutinise the Abstract and Detailed Contingent bills, travelling allowance bills and other bills requiring countersignature of the Executive Officer;

(vii)   He shall be responsible, so far as transactions made by the Executive Officer are concerned, for reconciliation of departmental figures of receipts and expenditure with those booked by the Chief Accounts Officer. In respect of transactions of other officers, he shall be responsible to ensure that such a reconciliation is done promptly;

(viii)  He shall watch the progress of expenditure relating to plan schemes besides rendering accounts for claiming State or Central Government assistance in respect of such schemes;

(ix)    He will ensure maintenance of proper accounts relating to specific purpose grants received by the Taluk Panchayat and issue of utilisation certificates therefor;

(x)      He will obtain periodical returns of stores and stocks from the different offices of the Taluk Panchayat and review them. He will offer his remarks on such returns and place them before the Executive Officer;

(xi)    He will furnish any information, statistics, etc., that may be called 'for by the Executive Officer, Finance, Planning and Audit Committee or the Adhyaksha of the Taluk Panchayat on matters relating to budget, accounts and audit;

(xii)   He will keep himself in regular touch with the audit objections and inspection reports of the Auditor and the Chief Accounts Officer. He shall keep a watch over the early settlement of these objections and audit/inspection reports. He shall advice the Heads of Offices in furnishing replies to the Audit Reports and Objections Statements of the Auditor as well as the inspection reports issued by the Chief Accounts Officer;

(xiii)  He will keep a close watch on the recoveries of dues to the Taluk Panchayat and repayment of loans and interest;

(xiv)  He shall ensure prompt remittance of departmental receipts by periodical inspection of the accounts maintained in this behalf. He shall also ensure during such inspection that amounts due to be credited to Government are not retained by the Taluk Panchayat;

(xv)   He shall scrutinise the comparative statements of tenders prepared by the Administrative/Technical personnel relating to supplies, services and works, if any;

(xvi)  He shall furnish opinion on all proposals having financial implications.

(xvii) He shall advise the Heads of departments in all matters pertaining to Grants-in-aid, loans and advances, refunds, writes off, etc.;

(xviii)   He shall generally assist the Heads of Offices in controlling the expenditure.

(5)     The views/advice of the Accounts Superintendent shall be obtained on all proposals,

(i)       having financial implications;

(ii)      for release of funds;

(iii)     for investment of surplus funds;

(iv)    relating to all Schemes or Projects; and

(v)      for sanctioning grants-in-aid, loans and advances, scholarships, etc.

If his advice is not accepted by the sanctioning authority, the reasons therefor shall be recorded in writing.

(6)     The Executive Officer and the heads of all offices of the Taluk Panchayat shall ensure that all proposals having financial implications to be approved by the Executive Officer, the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee or the Taluk Panchayat, are invariably referred to the Accounts Superintendent for his opinion. The Executive Officer and Heads of Offices shall see that the Accounts Superintendent is given full opportunity to become conversant with such sanctions and proceedings of the Administrative and Technical Officers.

(7)     Wherever the Accounts Superintendent considers that any transaction or proceedings of the Administrative/Technical authorities ate opposed to rules or orders, he should bring the fact to the notice of the Executive Officer and the Head of the Office, with statements detailing the reasons and obtain the orders of the Executive Officer. If he is overruled, he should immediately make a brief note of the case in a register of reconsideration and orders. The Executive Officer may on reconsideration accept the advice of the Accounts Superintendent and order action accordingly. Where he disagrees with the advice of the Accounts Superintendent, he shall record the reasons for disagreeing with the advice and order for implementation of his decision.

(8)     The Accounts Superintendent shall furnish an extract of his objections entered in the register during the previous six months by the fifteenth of April and October of every financial year to the Executive Officer as well as the Chief Accounts Officer.

(9)     Wherever cases involving avoidable heavy expenditure or serious losses come to the notice of the Accounts Superintendent, he shall immediately report such cases to the Executive Officer and the Chief Accounts Officer in advance of the communication of audit objections, etc., to be made in the normal course.

(10)   The Accounts Superintendent may be entrusted with the local inspection of accounts of stores and stock and physical verification of stocks held by subordinate offices, by the Executive Officer.

(11)   The Accounts Superintendent may be entrusted with such other functions as may be considered necessary by the Executive Officer.

(12)   In the discharge of his duties, the Accounts Superintendent will be assisted by Accounts Assistants. The Accounts Assistants should work under the immediate control and supervision of the Accounts Superintendent. The duties and responsibilities of the Accounts Assistants shall be laid down by the Executive Officer in consultation with the Accounts Superintendent.

CHAPTER VII BUDGET

Rule - 27.

(1)     The Finance, Audit and Planning Committee shall cause to be prepared and laid before the Taluk Panchayat, at a meeting to be held between the first day of February and the tenth day of March every year, an Annual Estimate of the receipts and expenditure of the Taluk Panchayat for the ensuing financial year.

(2)     The Annual Budget Estimate shall be prepared in three parts viz., Revenue Account, Capital Account and Debt and Deposit Accounts (see Annual Accounts Format in Appendix). It is the responsibility of the Executive Officer to ensure that the Annual Estimate is prepared well in time and laid before the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee. After approval by the Committee, it shall be laid before the Taluk Panchayat for approval. The Budget as passed by the Taluk Panchayat shall be sent to the Zilla Panchayat on or before 25th March.

(3)     The estimates of receipts of the Taluk Panchayat relating to fees and other items of revenue including the surcharge on stamp duty passed on by Government to the Taluk Panchayat under Section 205(4) of the Act and the grants released by Government to the Taluk Panchayat under Sections 207 and 208 and the expenditure other than those mentioned in sub-rule (4) shall be included in the budget.

(4)     The estimates relating to the non-plan and plan schemes entrusted to the Taluk Panchayat by the Government or the Zilla Panchayat, for which funds are also placed at the disposal of Taluk Panchayat shall be included in the budget

(5)     The classification of Budget Heads of Accounts of the Taluk Panchayat shall be as prescribed in the List of Major and Minor Heads as in the case of Government. Further sub-heads and Detailed heads may be opened under each minor head according to requirements as per the budget heads obtaining in Government.

(6)     Provisions under Plan and Non-plan should be distinctly provided for.

(7)     Details of fixed charges including grants to aided institutions and works estimates, if any, costing one lakh of rupees or more shall be indicated in a separate Appendix in the manner prescribed for Budget Estimates of Government.

(8)     (i) It is irregular to incur any expenditure on items for which no provision has been made in the budget. Likewise it is irregular to incur expenditure on any item in excess of the budget provision;

(ii) The restriction mentioned above, will not, however, apply in case the item is an excepted item vide Rule 28 infra.

(9)     (i) Modifications to the budget provisions are allowed under the Act by way of revision, reappropriation or supplementary grantsvide Sections 248 and 249;

(ii) Revision of budget may be resorted to when it is found that the realistic estimates regarding receipts, prepared after taking into account current trends, differ substantially from the figures assumed at the time of budget formulation and consequently the provisions for expenditure under various heads require substantial changes, when the amounts earmarked for release as per the Central/State/Zilla Panchayat budget differ substantially from those assumed by the Taluk Panchayat earlier, when the distribution to be made for different activities require change as indicated by the Government or the Zilla Panchayat, etc. These are not changes which can be made by reappropriation or supplementary grants as wholesale changes are involved and hence the provision in the Act for revision of budget;

(iii) Reappropriation is to be resorted to when there is no increase in the provision overall and adjustments can be made within the total provision. It has, however, to be borne in mind that proposals for reappropriation have to take into account the restrictions laid down in the Act or the stipulations made by funding organisations;

(iv) If there is no occasion for revision of the budget and additional funds are required either because the existing provision is inadequate and the necessary funds cannot be found by reappropriation, or because an entirely new scheme or activity has to be taken up, a supplementary grant has to be obtained.

(10)   Drawing officers of the Taluk Panchayat shall invariably satisfy themselves regarding the availability of budget provision before proposing/incurring any expenditure from Taluk Panchayat funds.

(11)   The Chief Accounts Officer is responsible to verify with reference to the paid vouchers received by him, that no expenditure that is not covered by budget provision, is incurred by drawing officers of the Taluk Panchayat. If any such expenditure is noticed, unless the expenditure relates to an excepted item, he shall place the amount under objection and immediately take up the matter with the Executive Officer for regularisation of the expenditure.

Rule - 28.

Save as provided below, no expenditure shall be incurred out of the Taluk Panchayat fund, unless the same is covered by a budget grant except in the following cases, namely:

(i)       refunds of moneys which the Taluk Panchayat is authorised to make under the Act or the rules or regulations made thereunder;

(ii)      repayment of moneys belonging to the contractors or other persons held in deposit and of money credited to the Taluk Panchayat by mistake;

(iii)     sums which Taluk Panchayat is required or empowered by the Act to pay by way of compensation;

(iv)    every sum payable,

(a)      under the Act by order of the Zilla Panchayat or the Government;

(b)      under decree or order of Civil Court; and

(c)      under a compromise of any suit or other legal proceedings or claim; and

(v)      all contributions payable by the Taluk Panchayat to the Government or the Zilla Panchayat for the maintenance of water supply, dispensaries and other institutions or services managed by the Government or the Zilla Panchayat on behalf of the Taluk Panchayat.

CHAPTER VIII COMPILATION OF ACCOUNTS AND CONTROL OVER EXPENDITURE

Rule - 29.

(1)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall compile the monthly and annual accounts of all the Taluk Panchayats in the district from the Treasury Schedules received in two lists the first by the fifteenth of the month and the second list by the ninth of the following month-from the Treasury Officer along with the challans and paid vouchers.

(2)     On receipt of the Treasury Schedules, it shall be ensured that challans in support of all credit entries and paid vouchers in support of all debits are available and total debits and credits are arithmetically correct. If any challans/vouchers are wanting, the matter should be taken up immediately with the Treasury Officer to get them. The classification furnished in the challans and paid vouchers shall also be checked and corrections made wherever necessary. If any items of receipt or expenditure do not pertain to the Taluk Panchayat but relate to other organisations like the Government, Zilla Panchayat, etc., action should be initiated to get the amounts transferred to the account of the organisation concerned.

(3)     All receipts entered in the Treasury Schedule, shall be posted to the compilation sheet of receipts in Form No. TP 10 according to the Taluk Panchayat Budget Heads of accounts, i.e., Major/Minor/Sub-head and Detailed Heads with reference to the classification furnished in the challans and checked by the Chief Accounts Officer. It has to be ensured that cash receipts which are required to be taken in reduction of expenditure as per the rules are classified as minus expenditure under the appropriate expenditure head concerned in the compilation sheet. Amounts in respect of wanting challans or schedules shall be classified in the compilation sheet under the head "Treasury Suspense" subordinate to the minor head "Suspense Account (Civil)" under "8658-Suspense Accounts". If any challan does not pertain to the Taluk Panchayat at all, the amount thereof shall be classified under the head "Other Miscellaneous items" subordinate to the minor head "Suspense Account (Civil)" under 8658-Suspense Accounts", pending rectification of the misclassification.

(4)     Based on the classification recorded, and corrected during check of classification by the Chief Accounts Officer, in the paid vouchers accompanying the Treasury Schedules, the payments shall be posted date wise to the compilation sheet of expenditure in Form No. TP 11 according to the Taluk Panchayat Budget Heads. Amounts in respect of wanting vouchers or schedules shall be classified in the compilation sheet under the head "Treasury Suspense" subordinate to the minor head "Suspense Account" under "8658-Suspense Accounts". If any voucher does not pertain to the Taluk Panchayat at all, the amount thereof shall be classified under the head "Other Miscellaneous items" subordinate to the minor head "Suspense Account (Civil)" under "8658-Suspense Accounts", pending rectification of the misclassification. Refunds of revenue which stand included in the Treasury Schedule of Payments shall be classified under the appropriate receipt head concerned in the compilation sheet.

Note: While posting the expenditure, e.g., expenditure relating to salaries, the gross amount paid should be taken into account, and not the net amount paid as per the vouchers. The deductions/recoveries shown in payment vouchers, if adjustable in the books of the Chief Accounts Officer under the Taluk Panchayat Fund, shall be compiled under the relevant receipt or other head of account in a "Deduction Sheet" in Form No. TP 12.

(5)     After posting of all the challans and vouchers of both the Schedule of Receipts and the Schedule of Payments is completed, the totals of each detailed head are to be struck and thereafter, the totals of sub-heads, minor heads, etc. These totals as per the compilation sheets shall be tallied with the receipts as per the Treasury Schedule of Receipts, and payments as per the Treasury Schedule of Payments by drawing up proof sheets in Form No. TP 13.

(6)     (i) Adjustment of amounts classified under the suspense heads "Treasury Suspense" and "Other Miscellaneous items" shall be watched through suitable subsidiary registers;

(ii) The clearance from the subsidiary register and accounts adjustment in respect of treasury suspense items are to be carried out on receipt from the treasury, of the wanting documents or acceptable alternative documents such as details of credit in the case of challans and certificates of payment in respect of vouchers;

(iii) As regards items provisionally classified under "Other Miscellaneous Items", it may be necessary to ensure, if need be, in consultation with the drawing officer concerned of the Taluk Panchayat, that those items do not pertain to the Taluk Panchayat. If it is found that any such item actually pertains to the Taluk Panchayat, action should be taken to propose necessary adjustment entries in the accounts bringing the amount concerned under the appropriate head of account and clearing the suspense head. In other cases suitable action shall be taken to set right the misclassifications.

Examples:

(a)      If the misclassification represents an item of credit or debit which has to be correctly brought to account in the books of the Zilla Panchayat or another Taluk Panchayat, the accounts of which are maintained by the same Chief Accounts Officer, the Treasury Officer will have to be advised to make the necessary transfer of funds to or from the Zilla Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat concerned and include the transaction in the relevant treasury schedules;

(b)      In cases where an item has been wrongly credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund instead of Government, a refund bill will have to be prepared by the Chief Accounts Officer and presented to the Treasury for payment by transfer to the appropriate receipt head in the accounts of Government by minus credit to the aforesaid suspense head in the Taluk Panchayat accounts;

(c)      If, however, the error has to be set right only at the" Treasury, for instance in cases where a charge relating to Government has been debited erroneously to the Taluk Panchayat Fund, or in cases of credits where there is some uncertainty as regards the final adjustment thereof, action has to be taken to return the challans or vouchers concerned to the Treasury and to request the Treasury Officer to withdraw the erroneous credits or debits, as the case may be. The acknowledgement of the Treasury Officer for having received the challans or vouchers has to be obtained. The clearance of the items from the subsidiary register and necessary accounts adjustment are to be made on receipt of advice from the Treasury Officer, that the erroneous credits/debits to the Taluk Panchayat have been withdrawn and the Taluk Panchayat Fund balance corrected suitably.

(7)     All adjustments and rectification of errors in accounts of previous months, if any, shall be effected by Transfer Entries in Form No. TP 14 and incorporated in the Classified Abstracts.

Note: For adjustment of items classified under "Treasury Suspense" on receipt of documents, etc., vide sub-rule (6) above, formal transfer entries have to be proposed by minus credit or minus debit to "Treasury Suspense" and per contra credit to the appropriate revenue head or per contra debit to the appropriate expenditure head, as the case may be. In respect of adjustment of misclassifications on receipt of advice from the Treasury vide sub-rule (6) above, the withdrawal of the erroneous credit or debit shall be shown as a separate entry in the Treasury Schedule of Receipts or Payments as the case may be. During compilation of accounts by the C.A.O., the withdrawal of the erroneous credit or debit by the Treasury shall be classified as minus credit or minus debit under the suspense head "Other Miscellaneous items" and no formal transfer entry will be required to bring the transaction to account.

(8)     The monthly totals under the several heads of accounts shall be posted to a classified Abstract of Receipts in Form No. TP 15 and a Classified Abstract of Expenditure in Form No. TP 16 in respect of all the transactions of the Taluk Panchayat.

Rule - 30.

(1)     After ensuring the correctness of the actual receipts and payments and posting these figures in the Classified Abstract as stated above, and incorporation of the transfer entries, the Classified Abstracts should reflect the overall picture of the receipts/expenditure of the Taluk Panchayat for the month. The Chief Accounts Officer shall then draw up a 'Plus and Minus Memorandum' of the Taluk Panchayat for the month; this balance will be the same as the aggregate balance with the Treasury as appearing in the books of the Chief Accounts Officer. After this is done, the balance with the Treasury in the books of the Chief Accounts Officer shall be compared with the balance as per the plus and minus memorandum furnished by the Treasury Officer. Normally there should not be any difference between the two balances, However, if any difference is noticed, it should be reconciled and appropriate action taken to set it right.

(2)     Abstract of the monthly receipts and expenditure under each head of account of the Taluk Panchayat shall be posted from the Classified Abstracts to the Consolidated Abstracts of Receipts and Payments duly recording the progressive total from month to month, in Form No. TP 17.

(3)     From the Consolidated Abstract of Receipts and Expenditure of the Taluk Panchayat, the monthly accounts shall be prepared in Form No. TP 18, before the 20th of the following month and, together with the comments, if any, of the Chief Accounts Officer thereon, placed before the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee of the Taluk Panchayat through the Executive Officer.

(4)     Based on the postings in the Consolidated Abstracts, the annual accounts of the Taluk Panchayat shall be prepared in the form given in the Appendix to these Rules. These annual accounts, together with the comments of the Chief Accounts Officer thereon, shall be forwarded to the Taluk Panchayat within two months from the close of the year.

Rule - 31.

(1)     Statements II, III and IV of the annual accounts require the exhibition therein of variations between the budget provision and actual receipts/expenditure. On receipt of the annual accounts of the Taluk Panchayat and comments thereon from the Chief Accounts Officer, the Executive Officer shall cause to be prepared, an explanatory note on the variations between the final modified grant and actual expenditure shown in Statements III and IV. The annual accounts, the comments of the Chief Accounts Officer thereon and the remarks and explanations of the Executive Officer on the variations shall be placed before the Taluk Panchayat for consideration and approval through the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee.

(2)     The annual accounts and the aforesaid accompaniments thereto, shall be examined by the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee. The Chief Accounts Officer and the Executive Officer shall render all necessary assistance to the Committee in conducting this examination. During the course of such examination it will be open to the Committee to call any Head of Office to appear and give evidence before it.,

(3)     During the examination referred to above, the Committee shall consider, among other things, whether any items of irregular expenditure in the nature of expenditure incurred without budget provision, excesses over budget provision, etc, can be ratified by the Taluk Panchayat, the conditions subject to which the expenditure may be ratified including the action, if any, to be taken against the officers concerned, etc,

(4)     After the accounts are examined in detail as explained above and the views of the Committee are finalised on all relevant matters, the Committee shall pass the accounts with or without observations and place them before the Taluk Panchayat.

(5)     The process outlined in sub-rules (1) to (4) above shall be completed in such a manner that the annual accounts are passed by the Taluk Panchayat within three months from the close of the official year as required by sub-section (3) of Section 250.

(6)     When the annual accounts are finally passed by the Taluk Panchayat, a copy of the accounts shall be submitted to the Zilla Panchayat as required under Section 251 of -the Act. A copy of the accounts shall also be sent to the Accountant General, Karnataka.

Rule - 32.

(1)     With a view to ensuring strict control over expenditure, all heads of offices administering grants of the Taluk Panchayat are responsible for watching the progress of expenditure on services under their control. The heads of offices shall forward a consolidated statement of expenditure including the expenditure, if any, incurred by their subordinate officers, under each of the several minor/sub/detailed heads, to the Accounts Superintendent before the 20th of the following month.

(2)     The Accounts Superintendent shall verify the statements received with reference to the figures booked by the Chief Accounts Officer under the heads of account operated by each of the departmental officers of the Taluk Panchayat to ensure that,

(a)      the expenditure reported is in agreement with the figures booked by the Chief Accounts Officer;

(b)      the expenditure has not exceeded the allocations placed at the disposal of the heads of offices; and

(c)      the expenditure is within the grant earmarked therefor.

(3)     If any difference is noticed between the figures reported and the figures booked by the Chief Accounts Officer the Accounts Superintendent shall take immediate steps in consultation with the Heads of offices to reconcile the difference and initiate action, if necessary, to get the booked figures corrected by the Chief Accounts Officer. While the primary responsibility for reconciliation of differences is that of the Heads of Offices, the responsibility to follow up the matter until the differences are brought to nil, vests in the Accounts Superintendent.

(4)     All cases of non-receipt of expenditure statements from heads of offices and deviations, if any, in respect of the matters mentioned in sub-rule (2) above, shall be reported to the Executive Officer by the Accounts Superintendent.

CHAPTER IX ESTABLISHMENT

Rule - 33.

(1)     Every Head of Office authorised to draw establishment bills from the treasury shall maintain a Scale Register in Form No. TP 19. In this register, the various posts sanctioned, their number, scale of pay, period of currency, etc., shall be noted under the initials of the Head of Office. Separate pages shall be allotted in respect of each sanction to establishment.

(2)     Temporary establishment shall be recorded separately in the Scale Register at the end of the space allotted for permanent establishment and shall not be mixed up with it. The period for which the temporary establishment is sanctioned and the order of sanction shall be distinctly specified in the Scale Register.

(3)     If any of these establishments are categorised under Plan and Non-Plan, the entries relating to them shall be made in different sections of the Scale Register.

(4)     All fixed recurring charges such as house rent allowance, conveyance allowance, etc., shall be recorded on a separate page of the Scale Register.

(5)     Whenever any revision is made or a change occurs in respect of the details noted in the Register, the revised particulars shall be noted in the columns provided for the purpose and duly attested by the Head of Office.

(6)     The Chief Accounts Officer as also the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat shall maintain similar scale registers in their offices for the whole establishment of the Taluk Panchayat The Register maintained in the Taluk Panchayat office shall be reviewed by the Executive Officer periodically.

(7)     It is the duty of each Head of Office to ensure that whenever a change is made in his Scale Register, necessary particulars for updating the corresponding registers of the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat and the Chief Accounts Officer are communicated to them forthwith without any loss of time. In addition, updated copies of the Scale Register shall be furnished to them by each Head of Office every year by the 15th of April.

(8)     The designated heads of offices of the Taluk Panchayat shall prefer the salary claims of the staff in accordance with the provisions laid down in Articles 115 and 116 of the Karnataka Financial Code. Further, they are responsible for effecting recovery of fund deductions and repayment of advances from the salary claims of the employees besides maintenance of proper accounts therefor.

CHAPTER X GENERAL PROCEDURE FOR COLLECTION AND REMITTANCE OF TALUK PANCHAYAT MONEYS

Rule - 34.

(1)     All the Revenue Receipts, Licence Fees and other amounts due to the Taluk Panchayat, except the amount of surcharge on stamp duty payable under, sub-section (4) of Section 205 and grants payable under Sections 207 and 208 shall be collected by the Taluk Panchayat.

(2)     It shall be the responsibility of the Executive Officer and other heads of offices concerned to ensure that the various fees, rents and other amounts due to the Taluk Panchayat are promptly demanded, realised and credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund. For this purpose, they shall maintain a collection Register in Form No. TP 20 to record all revenues realised and credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund. They shall also maintain a Demand, Collection and Balance Register in Form No. TP 21.

(3)     Collections of amounts due to the Taluk Panchayat mentioned in sub-rule (1) above, shall be made only by a person authorised to do so by the Executive Officer. The person making the collection shall be supplied with a Day Book in Form No. TP 22 and a Receipt Book in the form prescribed and current at the time of supply. The books shall be in his personal custody. On every working day at the specified hour, the Day Book and the Receipt Book together with the collection shall be handed over by the person making the collections to the Executive Officer or to the officer duly authorised to receive such collections, or to the cashier, if there is any. The Executive Officer or other Authorised Officer or the cashier, shall acknowledge all such collections handed over to him in the Day Book both in words and figures, after satisfying himself about the correctness of the entries made and totals arrived at in the Day Book and after ensuring that the collections are duly entered in the Office Cash Book. The person handing over the collections shall be responsible for the amount collected until the collections are handed over and acknowledgement of the Executive Officer or other Authorised Officer or the Cashier receiving the amount is obtained in the Day Book.

(4)     Collections shall also be made directly from the parties desirous of making payments at the Taluk Panchayat Office, by the official duly authorised in this behalf or the cashier, if there is any, at the office of the Taluk Panchayat. When collections are made by the official or the cashier, the receipts to be issued to the payee shall be signed by the Executive Officer or the Accounts Superintendent, if specifically authorised by the former, and each item of receipt posted in the concerned Day Book and brought to account in the Office Cash Book immediately on receipt of the amount by him.

(5)     After all the item of receipts are entered in the Office Cash Book, the Accounts Superintendents or the cashier shall prepare a challan in Form No. 5 and simultaneously write up the Treasury Remittance Register in Form No. 6, The challan and the Treasury Remittance Register shall then be checked and attested by the Executive Officer. The collections shall thereafter be sent to the Treasury along with the Treasury Remittance Register. The Executive Officer shall keep a watch over the remittance of collections to the Treasury.

(6)     The instructions given in sub-rules (3) to (5) above shall mutatis mutandis apply in respect of other heads of offices also if they are authorised to collect Taluk Panchayat moneys.

CHAPTER XI REMISSIONS, WRITES OFF AND REFUNDS

Rule - 35.

Remissions of demands for fees etc, shall be allowed in accordance with the rules and bye-laws providing for such remissions. Notices of vacancies and other applications from the persons concerned in this connection and orders passed thereon by the Competent Authority after due inquiries and report by the concerned officers of the Taluk Panchayat, shall be filed in serial order and according to the several divisions of the Taluk. The remissions granted shall also be noted against the items concerned in the Demand Register in the column provided for the purpose. A Register in Form No. TP 23 shall be maintained to record all cases of remission therein.

Rule - 36.

Remission may be sanctioned by the Competent Authority subject to the following conditions:

(i)       Grant of remissions shall be at the absolute discretion of the sanctioning authority and no person can claim remission as a matter of right;

(ii)      In all cases of revenue from lease and amounts due under contract, the lessees and the contractors shall be held liable according to the terms of their agreements and remissions shall never be granted except in cases in which the lessee or the contractor has unduly suffered on account of unforeseen events beyond his control.

Rule - 37.

Writes off of irrecoverable amounts due to the Taluk Panchayat sanctioned in accordance with the rules applicable in this regard shall also be entered in the Register in Form No. TP 23.

Note: Remissions/writes-off of sums exceeding one thousand rupees require the previous sanction of the Zilla Panchayat under Section 252.

Rule - 38.

In respect of claims for refunds of deposits or of fees paid in excess to the Taluk Panchayat, the provisions of the Karnataka Financial Code and the Karnataka Treasury Code shall mutatis mutandis apply. However, it is necessary in addition, that all such claims are pre-checked and authorized for payment (through an enfacement on the bills) by the Chief Accounts Officer. In the absence of such authorization, the refund bills shall not be honoured by the Treasury Officer.

CHAPTER XII CONTINGENT AND OTHER CHARGES AND STOCK ACCOUNTS FOR MATERIALS AND PROPERTY

Rule - 39.

(1)     The provisions of Manual of Contingent Expenditure and other departmental Manuals framed in this behalf for the departments in Government, shall mutatis mutandis apply for drawal and incurring of contingent and miscellaneous expenditure out of the Taluk Panchayat fund.

(2)     The officers drawing moneys on Abstract Contingent (A.C.) bills shall render accounts through Non Payable Detailed Contingent (N.D.C.) bills, to the Chief Accounts Officer within a fortnight of the close of the month in which A.C. bills are drawn.

(3)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall enter in a Register of A.C. Bills in Form No. TP 24, all A.C. bills drawn by various officers of the Taluk Panchayat at the time of compilation of accounts with regard to paid vouchers received from the Treasury. The receipt of the N.D.C. bill in each case shall be watched through this register. At the end of every month, an abstract of the pending A.C. bills shall be drawn up and placed before the Chief Accounts Officer, along with a note of action taken for obtaining the wanting N.D.C. bills.

(4)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall exercise a careful watch over the A.C. bills not adjusted. On receipt of the N.D.C. bills, the Chief Accounts Officer shall ensure that the expenditure incurred as seen from the vouchers attached, has been sanctioned by the authority competent to do so and conforms to the prescribed rules and regulations. The A.C. bill shall be treated as adjusted only to the extent of the expenditure admitted on such scrutiny. Where any A.C. bill drawn by the officers of the Taluk Panchayat remain unadjusted through N.D.C. bills for over one month, he shall report the matter to the Executive Officer for necessary action. If the N.D.C. bill is not received within a further period of one month, he may issue advise to the Treasury Officer not to honour any bill presented by the drawing officer.

(5)     Though the amounts drawn on A.C bills are provisionally debited to the relevant head of account, the unspent amount of A.C. bill remitted back to the Treasury, shall be taken as a reduction of expenditure under the concerned head of account, on adjustment of the A.C. bill.

Rule - 40.

The officers of the Taluk Panchayat who are already placed with permanent advances by the Zilla Panchayat, shall continue to hold permanent advances to that extent in the Taluk Panchayat also. Any change in the amount of permanent advance, shall be with the sanction of the Chief Executive Officer on the advice of the Chief Accounts Officer. Permanent advance to any office for the first time shall also be sanctioned by the Chief Executive Officer on the advice of the Chief Accounts Officer. The provision of the Manual of- Contingent Expenditure shall apply in respect of all other matters relating to permanent advance.

Rule - 41.

(1)     The holder of a permanent advance shall, on first receiving it and thereafter on the 1st of April each year, sign on acknowledgement in the following terms and forward the same to the Chief Accounts Officer,

"I hereby acknowledge that the amount of Rs. ...........being the permanent advance of Rs. ...............of Taluk Panchayat is due from and has to be accounted for by me".

(2)     The acknowledgement shall always be for the full sanctioned amount. On transfer of charge of office, a similar acknowledgement for the full amount shall be signed by the relieving officer and the same forwarded to the Chief Accounts Officer.

Rule - 42.

A stamp account showing the purchases, issues and balances of stamps shall be maintained in Form No. TP 25. The balance on hand shall be verified with the balance as per stamp account by the Executive Officer or any other officer duly authorized by him, at least once a month and the result thereof recorded in the register under his signature.

Note:- The provisions of this rule shall also apply to the other Heads of Offices of the Taluk Panchayat.

Rule - 43.

(1)     A list of all moveable properties of a permanent or durable nature such as machines and other appliances, furniture and other articles belonging to the Taluk Panchayat shall be recorded in a Register of Moveable Properties in Form No. TP 26 under the initials of the Executive Officer. Separate pages shall be allotted, according to requirements, to each kind of article or property, sufficient space being left between each set of entries to admit of subsequent transactions being recorded.

(2)     For consumable stores and other articles, a separate stock register in which a sufficient number of pages shall be allotted for each kind of article according to requirements, shall be maintained in Form No. TP 27.

(3)     Heads of offices who independently maintain and handle stores and moveable property shall also maintain similar registers as described above.

Rule - 44.

(1)     A Register of Immoveable Properties, other than lands, roads and completed works shall be maintained in Form No. TP 28 by all the Heads of offices.

(2)     All lands transferred by the Government, the Zilla Panchayat and other institutions as well as lands purchased or acquired by the Taluk Panchayat shall be entered separately in a Register of Lands in Form No. TP 29.

(3)     A Register of Roads indicating the roads vested with, the Taluk Panchayat, those transferred to it and also those newly constructed/shall be maintained by the concerned Assistant Executive Engineer of the Taluk Panchayat in Form No. TP 30. If any new roads are constructed by the Taluk Panchayat, particulars thereof should be sent promptly to the Executive Engineer of the Zilla Panchayat in order that the Register of Roads maintained in his office may be kept upto date.

(4)     A Register of Other Completed Works indicating the completed works vested with the Taluk Panchayat and those transferred to the Taluk Panchayat shall also be maintained by the concerned Assistant Executive Engineer of the Taluk Panchayat Form No. TP 28 with suitable modifications may be used for this purpose. Whenever new works are completed by the Taluk Panchayat, particulars thereof should be sent promptly to "the Executive Engineer of the Zilla Panchayat in order that his Register also may be kept upto date.

(5)     A consolidated record of immoveable properties duly classified into categories such as agricultural land, non-agricultural land, buildings, roads, irrigation tanks, ponds, lakes, wells, water supply schemes, parks, gardens, playgrounds, etc., belonging to or vested in the Taluk Panchayat shall be maintained by the Executive Officer, based on the particulars furnished by the heads of offices and the Assistant Executive Engineer.

Rule - 45.

Physical verification of stocks and stores shall be conducted by the Executive Officer at the end of every year and he shall record a certificate indicating results of such verification under his signature. Shortages that come to notice shall be got made good from the official in-charge of stores, if they cannot be accounted for or explained satisfactorily and excesses, if any, found shall be taken to stock as receipts.

Note: In respect of heads of Offices who independently maintain and handle stores and moveable property vide Rule 43(3), a similar physical verification of stocks and stores shall be conducted by the Head of Office concerned. The instructions given in this rule shall apply mutatis mutandis to such physical verification also.

CHAPTER XIII STORES, EQUIPMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

Rule - 46.

The matters relating to,

(a)      Purchase of stores, equipments and other articles;

(b)      Invitation and acceptance of tenders for works contracts and supplies; and

(c)      Execution, inspection and payments in respect of works and schemes, shall be governed by general or special orders issued by Government under Section 238.

Rule - 47.

(1)     Until orders are issued by Government under Section 238 the execution of works and schemes of the Taluk Panchayat shall be governed by the interim arrangements laid down in sub-rules (2) and (3) below. In all other matters, the provisions of the Karnataka Public Works Accounts code, Karnataka Public Works Departmental Code and Stores manual and other instructions and orders issued by Government shall apply.

(2)     Works of the Taluk Panchayat relating to Water Supply, Irrigation, Public Works, Forest, etc., shall ordinarily be executed by the implementing officers of the Zilla Panchayat who will be provided with funds for the purpose through the Zilla Panchayat. A similar arrangement shall be adopted for execution of certain other categories of schemes also, to be specified by Government. In such cases, the implementing officers shall be accountable to the Taluk Panchayat and it will be open to the Taluk Panchayat, its Standing Committees and the Executive Officer to monitor the execution of the works/schemes. The implementing officers of the Zilla Panchayat shall furnish such information, reports, statements, etc., in this connection as may be called for by the Taluk Panchayat through its authorized officers.

(3)     However, in exceptional cases in which the Taluk Panchayat decides to execute works through its own staff, funds for the purpose may be drawn by means of bills from the Treasury and the accounting done in the manner prescribed in Appendix 9 to the Karnataka Financial Code.

CHAPTER XIV GRANTS

Rule - 48.

(1)     Grants received by the Taluk Panchayat from Government or any other agency, shall be entered separately in a Register in Form No. TP 31 by the Chief Accounts Officer. Expenditure incurred from out of the grants shall be noted against each grant in the said Register. The concerned heads of offices of the Taluk Panchayat shall incur the expenditure as per the terms and conditions of the grant.

(2)     A similar Register in Form No. 31 shall be maintained by the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat also. This Register shall be reviewed by the Executive Officer every month.

Rule - 49.

(1)     The concerned heads of offices shall furnish utilization certificate to the appropriate authorities in respect of specific purpose grants through the Executive Officer.

(2)     The Executive Officer shall submit quarterly and annual statements showing opening balance of grants received, the grants utilized and the closing balance at the end of each quarter/year to the Chief Accounts Officer.

CHAPTER XV DEBT HEADS

Rule - 50.

(1)     All loans received by the Taluk Panchayat from the Government, Zilla Panchayat, or any other source shall be recorded, each on a separate page in a Register of Loans in Form No. TP 32. Whenever a Taluk Panchayat has to raise loans in the open market, the procedures prescribed in Section 220 of the Act shall be followed strictly.

(2)     The Executive Officer shall take action for arranging repayment of loans together with interest promptly on the due dates and note the repayment in the Register of loans against each loan.

(3)     A similar Register of Loans in Form No. TP 32 shall be maintained by the Chief Accounts Officer also. He shall keep a watch on the action taken by the Executive Officer to repay the loans together with interest promptly. Any delay or default shall be brought to the notice of the Executive Officer promptly for taking remedial action. The Chief Accounts Officer shall report the position of loans at the end of each year to the Chief Executive Officer.

(4)     (i) When any loan is raised by the Taluk Panchayat which is repayable, not in annual instalments, but after a specific period, it shall create a sinking fund to facilitate the liquidation of the loan on the due date;

(ii) The sinking fund shall be created by transferring a portion of the Taluk Panchayat Fund half yearly, which together with the cumulative interest earned on it, shall be sufficient to meet the liability on the due date. The transfer shall be made by book adjustment by the Chief Accounts Officer on the advice of the Executive Officer. The Chief Accounts Officer has to keep a watch to ensure that the necessary advice is received in time;

(iii) The amount so transferred to the Sinking Fund periodically shall be invested by the Executive Officer, in securities or in Scheduled or Co-operative Banks as may be stipulated by Government in the order according sanction for raising of loan. The outgo on this account shall be debited in the accounts to Sinking Fund Investment Account. The concurrence of the Chief Accounts Officer shall be obtained for making such investments and the concerned Securities, Deposit Receipts and other documents shall be kept in the custody of the Executive Officer;

(iv) The details of investments shall be recorded in a Register in Form No. TP 33 by the Executive Officer. He shall be responsible for the realisation of interest due on such investments and crediting the same to the Sinking Fund;

(v) Whenever any investment is withdrawn, the fact of withdrawal of the investment shall be noted in the Register of Investment against the relevant entry, duly furnishing the Challan number and the date of credit to the Sinking Fund;

(vi) A copy of the Register of Investments shall be sent to the Chief Accounts Officer at the end of every quarter by the Executive Officer. The Register shall be generally scrutinised in the office of the Chief Accounts Officer. In particular, it has to be verified whether the cost of acquisition of the securities tallies with the book balance under Sinking Fund Investment Account and whether the investments had been agreed to by the Chief Accounts Officer;

(vii) At the end of each half year, the Executive Officer shall personally take out all the Securities, Deposit Receipts, etc., and verify them with reference to the entries in the Investment Register and record a certificate in the Register to the effect that all the documents relating to the investments recorded therein are actually available on that date and that action has been taken to realise the interest due on them;

(viii) At the end of every year, an account of the Sinking Fund showing the amount transferred to the Sinking Fund during the year, the upto date progressive amount under the Sinking Fund, details of investments out of the Sinking Fund and the interest realised on the investments shall be prepared by the Executive Officer and after it is scrutinised and cleared by the Chief Accounts Officer, placed before the Taluk Panchayat;

(ix) No amount of the Sinking Fund shall be applied for liquidating any other liabilities of the Taluk Panchayat. However, with the approval of the Taluk Panchayat, a portion of the Sinking Fund amount, may be utilised to clear an outstanding loan commitment, before the actual period of repayment of that loan. The loan instalment and interest due on the previous loan discharged out of the Sinking Fund for the balance period shall be credited to the Sinking Fund from time to time.

Rule - 51.

(1)     Employees of the Taluk Panchayat may be sanctioned advances as admissible to Government employees in accordance with the provisions of the Karnataka Financial Code.

(2)     Short term advances like festival advance, advance of salary and travelling allowance on transfer and tour, bicycle advance, etc., may be sanctioned by the officers empowered to sanction such advances. Other advances require approval of the Taluk Panchayat.

(3)     No long term advances like House Building, House Purchase or House repair advances, Motor car advances, Motor cycle advances, etc., shall be sanctioned to the deputed staff by the Taluk Panchayat. Such advances shall continue to be sanctioned by the respective heads of parent departments in Government,

(4)     (i) The authorities of the Taluk Panchayat who sanction short term advances, shall be responsible for the proper maintenance of accounts relating to advances sanctioned by them and also for their recovery.

Note: According to the instructions issued by Government, festival advance granted to Government servants shall be classified in the accounts under the detailed head "Pay of officers/Pay of staff" to which their pay and allowances are ordinarily debited and recovers of the advance irrespective of the year in which they are effected shall be shown as reduction of expenditure under the same expenditure head "Pay of officers/Pay of staff".

In respect of employees transferred from the Taluk Panchayat to another Taluk Panchayat, Zilla Panchayat or Government, a watch on recoveries of festival advances due to the Taluk Panchayat shall be kept by the sanctioning authority as well as the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat. The recoveries will be remitted by the institution/department which effects the recovery and these receipts shall be accounted for in the books of the Taluk Panchayat as reduction of expenditure under the head "Pay of officers/Pay of staff". The recovery should be taken note of by the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat as well as the authority which sanctioned the advance.

In respect of employees transferred to the Taluk Panchayat, recoveries shall likewise be made by the Taluk Panchayat and remitted to the institution/department from which the employee drew the festival advance. In such cases, the gross amount inclusive of the recovery will be accounted for in the books of the Taluk Panchayat.

(ii) In respect of advances sanctioned by the Taluk Panchayat, the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat shall maintain accounts and watch the recovery thereof.

(5)     (i) The account of advances referred to in sub-rule (4)(i) and (ii) shall be maintained in the Register of Advances in Form No. TP 34. Separate pages shall be allotted in this Register for each type of advance depending on its accounts classification. All the balances outstanding at the end of the previous year shall be first entered in it and then each advance during the year shall be entered as soon as it is made. When an advance is repaid or recovered in cash or is adjusted by deduction from bill on transfer adjustment, the amount should be noted against the original advance in the column for the month in which the recovery or adjustment is made. The advances made during every month, as shown in this register and the columns for recoveries should be totalled at the end of the month and the outstanding balance struck for each type of advance. The register should be balanced at the end of the year and details of outstanding balances carried forward to the next year;

(ii) It shall be the responsibility of each Head of Office to ensure that the accounts of advances kept by him are reconciled with the accounts figures in the books of the Chief Accounts Officer;

(iii) The figures of opening balance, receipts, repayments/adjustments and closing balance in respect of each type of advance for every month have to be reported to the Chief Accounts Officer by each Head of Office by the tenth of the following month. In the office of the Chief Accounts Officer the figures reported by the various heads of offices shall be brought together and their agreement with the account figures verified.

Note 1: Advances should only be made on proper authority. All advances should be recovered or adjusted within a period of three months unless the authority sanctioning the advance orders otherwise.

Note 2: In respect of recoveries of advances given to the Taluk Panchayat staff transferred to other institutions and vice versa, the procedure of cash settlement outlined in the note under Rule 51(4)(i) relating to festival advances shall mutatis mutandis be followed.

Note 3: It shall be the duty of the Internal Audit staff of the Chief Accounts Officer vide Rule 54, to verify among other things, whether advances given by the Taluk Panchayat conform to the procedure and requirements spelt out in these rules. If it is noticed that advances are not recovered or adjusted within a period of three months or within such period as ordered by the sanctioning authority, the Chief Accounts Officer shall, as soon as the default is brought to his attention by his staff, report it to the Executive Officer for suitable remedial action.

(6)     Separate provisions shall be made in the budget estimates of the Taluk Panchayat for payment of personal advances to employees.

Rule - 52.

In respect of loans given by, or channelised through, the Taluk Panchayat in pursuance of schemes implemented by various departments of Government, the maintenance of accounts and other related matters shall be done in accordance with the instructions issued by the departments concerned.

Rule - 53.

(1)     Deposits of the Taluk Panchayat are generally of the following kinds:

(a)      Security Deposits from employees;

(b)      Contractors' deposits for the fulfillment of their contracts;

(c)      Earnest money deposits of tenderers;

(d)      Deposits representing sums which cannot be brought to account under any revenue head; and

(e)      Other Departmental Deposits.

(2)     The instructions pertaining to security deposits of employees are contained in Rule 56. All deposits received by the Taluk Panchayat shall be recorded in a Register in Form No. TP 35 to be maintained by the Chief Accounts Officer. Separate sets of pages are to be allotted therein for different lands of deposits.

(3)     Each, part of the register will open with the details of the previous year's outstanding balances as shown in the previous year's register. The deposits received during the year will then be entered in the relevant part as each transaction occurs. At the end of the month, a total of the deposits received during the month should be made and the total reconciled with the corresponding figure in the monthly statement of accounts and initialled by the Chief Accounts Officer or other officer authorised in this behalf. Repayments in cash or by transfer should be noted against the original credit in the column for the month in which the refund is made and total of the postings should be made at the end of the month and agreed with the corresponding figure in the monthly statement of accounts. A plus and minus memo of deposits showing the opening balance, total of receipts and expenditure and closing balance of deposits shall also be prepared every month. Similar plus and minus memo should be put up at the end of the year.

(4)     Refunds of deposits in cash shall be made only on presentation of a bill in the appropriate form by the Head of Office concerned. Before signing the bill, the Head of office shall verify with reference to his records that the deposit is actually outstanding and that the conditions for refund of the deposit are satisfied. All such bills requires precheck in the office of the Chief Accounts Officer. During this precheck, the Chief Accounts Officer shall verify with reference to his Deposit Register that the deposit is actually outstanding.

(5)     The Deposit balances should not be drawn upon to meet charges debitable to the General fund of the Taluk Panchayats. But deposits remaining unclaimed for three complete account years after their refunds fall due, should be transferred to the credit of Taluk Panchayat Revenues, as lapsed deposits. If claims are subsequently made and admitted, the amounts so claimed may be refunded as miscellaneous charges from the General balance of the Taluk Panchayat, with the sanction of the Taluk Panchayat.

CHAPTER XVI INTERNAL AND STATUTORY AUDITS

Rule - 54.

(1)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall be responsible for internal audit of all the transactions of the Taluk Panchayat. The internal audit shall include in its scope, the audit of receipts, expenditure and accounts of stores and stock.

(2)     The internal audit shall be conducted in two stages, and centrally in the office of the Chief Accounts Officer and the other locally in the departmental offices of the Taluk Panchayat.

(3)     The central audit will be conducted with reference to the records received in the central office, viz., the sanction orders and other communications received from Government, the Zilla Panchayat and the Taluk Panchayat, the Schedules, challans and vouchers received from the Treasury and the accounts of stores and stock received from the Heads of Offices of the Taluk Panchayat.

(4)     In so far as expenditure is concerned, the central audit will consist mainly in seeing,

(i)       that the expenditure is covered by proper sanction;

(ii)      that it conforms to the provisions of the Act, the rules and regulations made thereunder and other financial rules and regulations made applicable to the Taluk Panchayat;

(iii)     that it is covered by provision of funds and that it is within the purpose that the grant was intended to provide;

(iv)    that the demand is supported by a proper voucher duly acknowledged by the payee;

(v)      that the fact of payment has been so recorded as to make a second claim against the Taluk Panchayat impossible;

(vi)    that the classification recorded on the voucher is correct.

(5)     (i) The results of central audit will be communicated by the Chief Accounts Officer to the Heads of Offices of the Taluk Panchayat through letters, audit notes, half margin memoranda, objection statements, etc, The more important observations will be communicated to the Executive Officer also;

(ii) It shall be the responsibility of the Executive Officer and the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat to ensure that the audit observations are replied satisfactorily without delay and settled either by dropping of the objection or by taking follow up action to the satisfaction of internal audit.

(6)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall chalk out a systematic programme for internal audit of all the offices of the Taluk Panchayat, to be got done by the internal audit staff of his office. The internal audit report shall be reviewed by the Chief Accounts Officer and issued to the concerned Heads of Offices for compliance thereof. Any observation that warrants appraisal of the facts by the Executive Officer, shall be communicated to him by the Chief Accounts Officer through an audit note. Any issue that requires the decision of the Taluk Panchayat shall be placed before the Taluk Panchayat through the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee. The decision of the Taluk Panchayat shall be final in all such matters.

(7)     The heads of offices shall produce all initial accounts and records to the internal audit party without any reservation. They shall also furnish any explanation or information required by the audit party besides taking action to remedy the defects or irregularities, pointed out by the internal audit.

(8)     The heads of offices shall also furnish compliance reports in respect of observations not settled at the time of internal audit.

(9)     The internal audit staff shall check all financial transactions with reference to the rules and regulations and standing instructions in force for the respective offices.

(10)   The internal audit staff shall also check the initial accounts of each office with reference to the accounts compiled in the Chief Accounts Officer's office to ensure their accuracy and completeness of the accounts.

Rule - 55.

(1)     According to Section 253 the Comptroller and Auditor General of India will audit the accounts of the Taluk Panchayat. This audit will be conducted by the Accountant General, Karnataka.

(2)     The officers of the Taluk Panchayat shall produce all initial accounts and records to the audit party of the Accountant General without any reservation. They shall also furnish any explanation or information required by the audit party besides taking action to remedy the defects or irregularities, pointed out by audit.

(3)     All Heads of offices of the Taluk Panchayat shall attend promptly to the objections raised and other communications sent by audit in the form of letters/enquiries/audit memoranda/periodical statements of objections/audit reports, etc. The ultimate responsibility to ensure that all audit objections are satisfactorily and expeditiously settled, falls on the Executive Officer. The Heads of Offices may seek the assistance of the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat for the settlement of audit objections.

(4)     The Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat shall obtain periodical returns from all officers of the Taluk Panchayat about the outstanding audit objections, audit reports, etc, with reasons for pendency. The returns shall be reviewed by him and, along with his comments, suggestion for further action, etc, submitted to the Executive Officer, A copy of the review report shall be submitted to the Chief Accounts Officer also.

CHAPTER XVII MISCELLANEOUS

Rule - 56.

The officials who will be in charge of cash and stores, shall furnish Security Deposit as fixed by the Executive Officer or such other officer as may be authorised in this behalf. The Security deposit may be recovered in cash either in one lumpsum or in suitable instalments from the pay of each such official every month. In this connection, the provisions of Articles 352 to 359 of the Karnataka Financial Code shall be followed by the officers concerned.

Rule - 57.

For investments made by the Taluk Panchayat out of surplus funds available, instructions contained in Rule 50(4) shall mutatis mutandis apply. Entries relating to such investments in the Register in Form No. TP 33 shall be kept distinct from those pertaining to Sinking Fund.

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KARNATAKA PANCHAYAT RAJ TALUK PANCHAYATS (FINANCE AND ACCOUNTS) RULES, 1996

 

PREAMBLE

Whereas the draft of the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Taluk Panchayat Finance and Accounts Rules, 1995 in Notification No. KDP 280 ZPS 95, dated 644995 was published in Part IV, Section 2-C(i) of the Karnataka - Gazette,

Extraordinary, dated 6-4-1996 as required by sub-section (i) of Section 311 of Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, 1993 (Karnataka Act 14 of 1993) inviting objection and suggestion to the said draft from persons likely to be affected there to within ten days of its publication in the Official Gazette.

And, whereas, the said Gazette was made available to the public on 6-4-1996.

And, whereas, no objections or suggestions have been received by the State Government in respect of the said draft.

Now, therefore, in exercise of powers conferred by Section 250 of the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, 1993 (Karnataka Act 14 of 1993) read with Section 311 of the said Act the Government of Karnataka hereby makes the following rules namely:

CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY

Rule - 1. Title and commencement.

(1)     These rules may be called the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Taluk Panchayats (Finance and Accounts) Rules, 1996.

(2)     They shall come into force at once.

Rule - 2. Definitions.

In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,

(i)       "Act" means the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, 1993 (Karnataka Act 14 of 1993);

(ii)      "Auditor" means the comptroller and Auditor General of India who conducts audit of the accounts of the Taluk Panchayats under Section 253;

(iii)     "Bank" means the Bank to which Government Treasury business is entrusted;

(iv)    "Chief Accounts Officer." means the Chief Accounts Officer of the Zilla Panchayat appointed by the Government under sub-section (2) of Section 196;

(v)      "Committee" means a Standing Committee of the Taluk Panchayat constituted under Section 148;

(vi)    "Contingent charges" means expenditure which is incidental to the working of the office and includes expenditure on furniture, books, periodicals, postage and telegrams, bicycles, electric charges, clearing charges, freight charges, and all miscellaneous charges other than those that fall under any other head of expenditure like "Establishment", "Travelling Allowances", "Works", "Stock" and "Tools and Plant";

(vii)   "financial Year", "Official Year" or "Year" means the period of one year commencing on the first day of April and ending with the 31st day of March of the succeeding year;

(viii)  "Form" means a form appended to these rules;

(ix)    "Fund" means the Taluk Panchayat Fund as defined under Section 218;

(x)      "Section" means a Section of the Act;

(xi)    "Treasury" means a Government Treasury and includes a Bank carrying on cash transactions of such Treasury.

CHAPTER II GENERAL PROVISIONS

Rule - 3.

The accounts of the Taluk Panchayat shall be maintained separately for each financial year.

Rule - 4.

If, on a date specified tinder these rules for an act, proceeding or transaction, the Taluk Panchayat office is dosed, on account of a holiday, such act, proceeding or transaction shall be deemed to be duly done or taken, if it is done or taken on the next working day.

Rule - 5.

The Taluk Panchayat shall have all its transactions with the Government Treasury of the Taluk. All its receipts of every description shall be paid into this treasury and any money required by it for disbursement shall be drawn from its treasury by presenting bills. These transactions shall be classified in the treasury accounts under the head of account "8448 Deposits of Local Funds. . . 109 Panchayat Bodies Funds . . . Taluk Panchayats Funds. . . . Taluk Panchayat Fund".

Rule - 6.

The accounts of the Taluk Panchayat Fund at the Treasury is governed by the provisions of Chapter XVII of the Karnataka Financial Code and Article 222 of the Karnataka Treasury Code.

Rule - 7.

(1)     The Chief Accounts Officer of the Zilla Panchayat shall compile the accounts of all Taluk Panchayats in the District. All matters concerning preparation of monthly and annual accounts of the Taluk Panchayats and allied matters shall also be attended to by the Chief Accounts Officer.

(2)     The Chief Accounts Officer may issue advices from time to time to the District Treasury Officer to transfer amounts from the Zilla Panchayat Fund to any Taluk Panchayat Fund and from any Taluk Panchayat Fund to the Zilla Panchayat Fund or to any other Taluk Panchayat Fund. Such transfer advices, if they will have the effect of reducing the balance at the credit of a Taluk Panchayat Fund, shall be based on specific authorisations or prior concurrence of the Taluk Panchayat from which the amounts are to be transferred:

Provided, however, that no such authorisation or concurrence will be required in respect of action taken by the Chief Accounts Officer for setting right misclassifications.

Rule - 8.

Save as otherwise expressly provided in these rules or in orders issued by the Government tinder sub-section (1) of Section 238, in all matters relating to drawal of funds, form of bills, incurring of expenditure, maintenance of accounts, rendering of accounts by the Taluk Panchayat, etc., the provisions of the Karnataka Treasury Code, Karnataka Financial Code, Manual of Contingent Expenditure, Karnataka Public Works Accounts Code, Karnataka Public Works Departmental Code, Stores Manual, Budget Manual, other Departmental Manuals, Standing Orders or instructions applicable to departments of Government shall mutatis mutandis apply.

Rule - 9.

In administering the fund of the Taluk Panchayat for carrying out the purpose of the Act, the officers of the Taluk Panchayat shall exercise the administrative and financial powers as may be delegated to them under Section 151. The Taluk Panchayat may also declare certain officers as heads of offices for the purpose of these rules.

Rule - 10.

In respect of the District, State or Central Sector Schemes transferred or entrusted to the Taluk Panchayat and implemented by it, separate accounts shall be maintained in the manner and format, if any, specified by the Government or the Zilla Panchayat, as the case may be. The implementing officers of the Taluk Panchayat concerned shall ensure that the Projects or Schemes are implemented strictly in accordance with the guidelines issued in this behalf.

Rule - 11.

(1)     On or before the 1st week of January of each year the Executive Officer of each Taluk Panchayat shall furnish to the Chief Executive Officer an indent for the entire requirements of receipt books, licence forms, ticket books and other forms, account books and registers required for the use of the Taluk Panchayat during the following financial year. The Chief Executive Officer shall get the forms and registers by all the Taluk Panchayats within the jurisdiction of Zilla Panchayat printed by any printing firm after calling for tenders. The printed forms and registers shall be supplied to the Taluk Panchayats by the Chief Executive Officer on payment of the cost of such forms and registers.

(2)     As soon as the receipt books, forms, books and registers are received in the Taluk Panchayat Office, the total number of leaves in each book and register shall be counted and certified by the Executive Officer or other officer authorised by him on the last page of the book or register. The entire stock of receipt books, forms and registers shall then be taken to stock in the Stock Register in Form No. TP 1 and kept in safe custody. Separate pages shall be allotted in the stock register for the stock account of each kind of receipt books, forms and registers. No Taluk Panchayat shall purchase, lend to or borrow from any other Taluk Panchayat or other sources, such receipt books, forms or registers.

(3)     Out of the stock of receipt books, etc., held with the Executive Officer or other officer authorised by him, a certain number shall be handed over to such authorities as are competent to issue receipts, licences, etc. Such authorities shall also maintain a stock account in Form No. TP 1 in respect of the stock of receipt books, etc., handled by them.

(4)     Only one book of a particular kind shall be issued for use at a time after obtaining the acknowledgement of the staff member concerned to whom it is issued. Fresh issues shall be made only after the used book is returned and the fact recorded in the stock register. When this is not possible, the return of the used book shall be watched separately.

(5)     The books shall be issued strictly in serial order duly noting in the stock register, the serial number of each book issued. The office seal of the Taluk Panchayat shall be affixed on each page of the books issued.

(6)     When used receipt books are returned, the Executive Officer or other officer authorised by him, shall scrutinise the books to ensure that all the office copies of the receipts are intact and in order. In respect of receipt books issued by other Heads of Offices, a similar scrutiny shall be conducted by the head of office concerned. The used books should be kept in the personal custody of the Executive Officer, or the Head of Office concerned, as the case may be.

Rule - 12.

Every correction or alteration in the accounts shall be made neatly in red ink and attested by the Head of the Office, a single line being drawn through the original entry to be corrected. All corrections and alterations in the bills and vouchers shall be similarly attested by the officers drawing the bills or persons preferring the claims, while those in pay orders, shall be similarly attested by the officer signing them. Erasure shall be absolutely forbidden and no documents with an erasure shall be accepted.

Rule - 13.

(1)     All moneys received by an officer or employee of the Taluk Panchayat in his official capacity shall forthwith and without any reservation, be brought to account in the appropriate register and paid into the treasury without undue delay. No portion of the collection shall be kept back or used for current expenditure.

(2)     In cases where a Taluk Panchayat officer receives both Taluk Panchayat revenues and Government revenues in his official capacity, the revenues and other amounts creditable to Government shall be arranged to be credited to be appropriate receipt head of account under Government, in the treasury promptly and on no account shall such revenues be credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund.

Note: Since the funds required for maintenance of the various assets of the Zilla Panchayats are provided by Government, Government have issued instructions in June, 1987 and February, 1988 that the revenues generated from the resources of every department of the Zilla Panchayats have to be credited to Government. Similar considerations apply to Taluk Panchayats and hence a similar procedure of crediting the revenues to Government shall be followed by Taluk Panchayats also until such time as the aforesaid instructions are amended by Government.

Rule - 14.

No duplicate copies of receipts granted for money received, or duplicate or copies of bills or other documents for the payment of money which has already been paid, shall be issued on the ground that the originals have been lost. If any necessity arises for proof of such receipt or payment, a certificate may be given that on a specified day, a certain sum, on a certain account was received from or paid to a certain person. This does not prevent a certified copy of a public document being granted.

Rule - 15.

(1)     Whenever an embezzlement or misappropriation of Taluk Panchayat Funds or other valuables, or loss of money or stores, by theft, negligence or fraud is discovered in any department of the Taluk Panchayat, the matter shall be reported to the Executive Officer and the Chief Accounts Officer of the Zilla Panchayat. An enquiry shall made at once by the Executive Officer, or any other officer authorised by him in this behalf. If a preliminary investigation discloses or leads to the suspicion of a criminal offence like forgery or theft, the matter shall be reported to police authorities also.

(2)     When the matter has been fully enquired into, the Executive Officer shall place a report before the Taluk Panchayat indicating the total sum of money misappropriated or embezzled or value of stores articles or other property lost, the circumstances under which the above loss was rendered possible or the loss occurred, the person responsible for the same and steps taken to recover the loss besides action taken to punish the guilty to prevent recurrence of similar incidents in future. A report shall also be sent, to the Accountant General, Karnataka and the Chief Accounts officer. A detailed report shall be sent to Government also, if the defalcation or loss, etc., exceeds Rs. 5,000/-.

CHAPTER III RECEIPTS

Rule - 16.

All moneys received by any person authorised by the Taluk Panchayat in this behalf shall, without exception, be acknowledged on the same day by a receipt in carbon duplicate (using a double side carbon paper) in Form No. TP 2 duly signed by the authorisation authorised person. The carbon copy of the receipt shall be given to the party making the payment.

Note: 1. The receipt book shall be printed with original and duplicate one below the other and the duplicate perforated.

Note: 2. Only printed forms of receipts having their pages machine numbered at the printing press should be used. Use of manuscript forms of receipts is strictly prohibited.

Rule - 17.

(1)     Cheques on local banks may be accepted towards any dues to the Taluk Panchayat.

(2)     When amounts due to the Taluk Panchayat are paid by parties by means of cheques, only an acknowledgement for the receipt of the cheques shall be given to them in the first instance in Form No. TP 3. A final receipt for the net amount realised shall be sent to the address of the party, in Form No. TP 2 after the cheque is cleared and the proceeds thereof have been credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund.

(3)     In order to keep a record to ensure that all cheques received in payment of Taluk Panchayat dues are dealt with promptly and systematically, they shall be entered in a Register of Cheques Received, in Form No. TP 4. This register shall be scrutinised every month by the Head of the office concerned. By the fifteenth of the following month a statement showing cheques outstanding at the commencement of the month, cheques received during the month, cheques realised during the month and cheques outstanding with reasons therefor shall be sent to the Executive Officer by each Head of office.

Rule - 18.

If the amount of the receipt given under Rule 16 or Rule 17 exceeds rupees five hundred, the receipt shall be duly stamped, except when the receipts are granted to a Government Department for money paid by it to the Taluk Panchayat.

Rule - 19.

Any person paying money into the Treasury for being credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund shall present it with a challan in Form No. TP 5, in triplicate, conspicuously marked "Creditable to. . . Taluk Panchayat Fund" and showing distinctly the nature of payment and the head of account in full. The challan shall be got countersigned by the concerned Officer of the Taluk Panchayat in token of check of the correctness of the head of account and without such countersignature, the Treasury, shall not accept the remittances.

Rule - 20.

The Head of the Office who realises revenue receipts and other dues of the Taluk Panchayat and remits the amounts collected to the Treasury for credit to the Taluk Panchayat Fund shall maintain a Remittance Register in Form No, TP 6 showing particulars of amounts received in cash and by cheques separately. The Treasury Officer/Agency Bank shall acknowledge the remittance in the appropriate column of the Remittance Register.

Rule - 21.

(1)     Each Head of Office of the Taluk Panchayat who is responsible for the realisation of revenue receipts and other dues of the Taluk Panchayat shall submit a statement of receipts realised and credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund in each month to the Chief Accounts Officer and also to the Executive Officer by the tenth of the following month, after due verification of the credits shown in the statement with reference to Treasury accounts duly recording a certificate, as under, in the statement.

"Certified that the credits included have been verified and agreed with those in the Treasury accounts".

(2)     These statements of receipt shall be cross-checked in the office of the Chief Accounts Officer with reference to the Treasury Schedules of Receipts to ensure that the corresponding credits have actually appeared in the Treasury accounts.

Rule - 22.

(1)     All grants, loans, etc., payable to Taluk Panchayats by Government shall be passed on through the Zilla Panchayat concerned.

(2)     The grants, loans, etc., payable to the Taluk Panchayats shall be sanctioned by the Government duly specifying the names of the Taluk Panchayats, the amounts payable either individually or in lump and the heads of account in Government accounts to which the amounts are debitable. The Chief Accounts Officer is authorised to draw and disburse the amounts released by Government from the Consolidated Fund of the State. On receipt of the Government Order sanctioning grants, the Chief Accounts Officer shall prepare a Grant-in-aid bill for each major head of account under which the grants are released by the Government and submit the bills to the Treasury for payment. Such bills do not require countersignature of any other authority. At the Treasury, these bills should be passed for payment by transfer credit to the Zilla Panchayat Fund. A similar procedure shall be followed in respect of loan releases also.

(3)     In the accounts of the Zilla Panchayat, the amounts of such bills shall be credited initially to a suspense head "Taluk Panchayat Suspense". When the amounts due to the Taluk Panchayats are subsequently transferred to them, the payments have to be debited to the same suspense head in the accounts of the Zilla Panchayat. In the accounts of the Taluk Panchayat the receipts have to be accounted for under the appropriate head of account. It shall be the responsibility of the Chief Accounts Officer to issue advices promptly to the District Treasury Officer to transfer the amounts relating to each Taluk Panchayat Fund from the Zilla Panchayat Fund with the least possible delay.

Note: As a partial exception to the procedure of advice of transfer indicated in sub-rule (3) the Chief Executive Officer may issue an order showing the distribution of the grants to the various Taluk Panchayats and authorise the Executive Officers concerned to draw the amounts relating to them from the Zilla Panchayat Fund by presenting a payee's receipt at the Treasury and enclosing thereto, a copy of the distribution order.

(4)     Copies of the Government Orders/orders of distribution of grants should be endorsed to the concerned Treasury Officer. Copies of these orders as well as copies of Zilla Panchayat advices releasing funds to the Taluk Panchayats should be endorsed to the concerned Executive Officers also.

(5)     It is the responsibility of the Chief Accounts Officer to send advices of credit promptly to the Executive Officers concerned as soon as the releases made by Government are credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund.

Exception. The procedure indicated above shall not apply to the amount of surcharge on stamp duty, collected and passed on to the Taluk Panchayats periodically under sub-section 4 of Section 205 through orders issued by the authority to whom relevant powers have been delegated by Government. In such cases, the amounts may be drawn by the Executive Officers concerned by presenting payee's receipt at the Treasury countersigned by such authority as may be specified by the department issuing the release order.

CHAPTER IV PAYMENTS

Rule - 23.

All moneys required for expenditure of whatsoever nature, shall be drawn from the Taluk Panchayat Fund in the Treasury in accordance with the procedure laid down in these rules.

(i)       All claims against the Taluk Panchayat shall be preferred at the Treasury in the relevant forms prescribed under Karnataka Financial Code and Manual of Contingent Expenditure or other relevant Departmental Manuals in so far as payment of salaries, travelling allowance, contingencies, etc, are concerned, by the officers authorised in this behalf. However, such claims shall be subject to countersignature of such authority, as may be specified by the Chief Executive Officer in accordance with the guidelines, if any, laid down by Government in this regard;

(ii)      Salaries and allowance payable to the Adhyaksha and the . Upadhyaksha are governed by the rules issued by Government in this behalf. Claims of the Adhyaksha and the Upadhyaksha on this account shall be preferred in the bill forms prescribed for Gazetted Officers of Government. The Chief Accounts Officer shall issue a formal authorisation to the concerned Treasury specifying the entitlements of salaries and allowances of the Adhyaksha and the Upadhyaksha. Their travelling allowance bills shall be scrutinised and passed by the Executive Officer in accordance with the provisions of the rules mentioned above;

(iii)     The Executive Officer or any other officer of the Taluk Panchayat authorised in this behalf may draw and disburse all claims towards salaries, travelling allowance, sitting fees and other expenditure relating to the members of the Taluk Panchayat, staff and offices coming under General Administration of the Taluk Panchayat;

(iv)    All bills presented at the Treasury shall be conspicuously stamped "Debitable to .... Taluk Panchayat Fund";

(v)      The Executive Officer shall furnish to the Chief Accounts Officer, a list of officers authorised to draw moneys from the Taluk Panchayat Fund at the Treasury. The Chief Accounts Officer shall thereupon take steps to place the Authorised Officers in account with the Treasury by sending the necessary advices to the Treasury Officer and spelling out the conditions, limitations, etc., subject to which the bills presented by the officers are to be honoured. No withdrawals are to be allowed from the Taluk Panchayat Fund unless the officer preferring bills against the Fund has been placed in account with the Treasury by the Chief Accounts Officer in the manner detailed above;

(vi)    All drawing officers who are authorised to draw moneys from the Taluk Panchayat Fund in the Treasury should maintain a Bill Register in Form No. TP 7;

(vii)   The drawing officers, while preferring the salary bills shall append recovery schedules in support of all deductions effected in the bills, Separate schedules should be prepared for deductions creditable to the Taluk Panchayat Fund and those creditable to State funds. Where the deductions effected are adjustable in the accounts of the Treasury by the Treasury Officer, the Government head of account to which the amounts of each recovery schedule are creditable should be distinctly indicated, i.e., recoveries towards Income Tax, Profession Tax, Group Insurance, repayment of advances creditable to State Government accounts, etc) Where the recoveries are adjusted in the accounts of the Taluk Panchayat by the Chief Accounts Officer, the head of account of the Taluk Panchayat to which they are creditable should be indicated in red ink (i.e., recoveries towards repayment of advances paid out of the Taluk Panchayat Fund, fines, recoveries and excess payments, etc.) and in such cases, the bills should be passed by the Treasury for the net amount.

Note: Recoveries which are not adjustable either in the Treasury accounts or the Taluk Panchayat accounts but payable to other agencies should be effected in cash and remitted to the concerned.

(viii)  An officer of the Taluk Panchayat supplied with funds for expenditure shall be responsible for such funds until accounts in respect of them have been rendered to the satisfaction of audit. In cases in which the vouchers and acquittances of actual payees are not sent elsewhere for audit, the officer is responsible for the safe custody of these important documents.

CHAPTER V TREASURY PROCEDURES

Rule - 24.

(1)     The Treasuries shall maintain separate accounts for the transactions of the Zilla Panchayat, Taluk Panchayat and Government.

(2)     In each of the Taluk Treasuries and the District Treasury of which the Taluk Treasury is a sub-treasury, a separate Taluk Panchayat Fund account shall be opened on the lines set out in Article 290 of the Karnataka Financial Code read with Article 322 of the Karnataka Treasury Code. All revenue receipts and other amounts relating to the Taluk Panchayat Fund remitted to the Treasury supported by challans signed by the Authorised Officers of the Taluk Panchayat shall be credited to this Fund.

(3)     The Taluk Treasury Officer shall exercise the same checks on the bills presented by the Authorised Officers of the Taluk Panchayat, as in the case of Government bills before passing them for payment.

(4)     The Taluk Treasury Officer shall ensure that the drawing officers have indicated the major, minor, sub and detailed heads of account, of the Taluk Panchayat budget in the bills preferred by them.

(5)     Wherever claims are drawn by Taluk Panchayat Officers on salary bills inclusive of fund and other deductions creditable to the Government accounts, the gross amount should be debited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund by the Treasury Officer and the deductions effected as per the schedules appended to the bills towards fund and other deductions should be credited by transfer credit to respective heads of accounts of Government in the Treasury accounts.

(6)     The Treasury Officer of the district shall send Schedules of Receipts and Payments of the Taluk Panchayats which are in account with him, in Form No. TP 8 and Form No. TP 9 respectively, to the Chief Accounts Officer of the Zilla Panchayat and also to the Executive Officer concerned. The payment schedule shall be sent in two lists, the first list comprising transactions from the first to the tenth of the month by the fifteenth of the month and the second list comprising transactions from the eleventh to the end of the month by the ninth of the following month. The Schedules shall be accompanied by,

(a)      challans in support of the receipts credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund in the case of receipt schedules; and

(b)      vouchers (paid bills) in support of payments made from the Taluk Panchayat Fund in the case of payment schedules.

(7)     The Treasury Officer shall also prepare Plus and Minus Memorandum showing opening balance, receipts and payments and closing balance of the Taluk Panchayat Fund in Form No. 51 of the Karnataka Treasury Code and forward it to the Chief Accounts Officer by the ninth of the following month with copies thereof to the Taluk Panchayat and the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department of Government.

Note: The Treasury Officer shall ensure that no difference exists between the closing balance of each month a plus and minus memorandum and the corresponding opening balance of the next month's memorandum. Any addition to or deduction from, the balance should be made by a special entry to be explained by a foot note.

CHAPTER VI DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ACCOUNTS STAFF

Rule - 25.

(1)     The Chief Accounts Officer will be in overall charge of the work relating to the accounts of the Taluk Panchayat.

(2)     All important communications, reference received from or addressed to the Government, the Auditor (Accountant General, Karnataka), financing agencies, etc., on matters relating to finance, accounts, budget and audit of the Panchayat shall be shown to him, on their receipt or before issue, as the case may be. Any other communication or reference having financial implication which the Executive Officer or any other officer of the Taluk Panchayat considers to be important may also be sent to the Chief Accounts Officer.

(3)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall discharge the following duties and functions in relation to accounts and audit,

(i)       He will provide guidance and advice to the Executive Officer in all matters relating to the formulation of budget proposals, revision of budget, formulation of supplementary budget and proposals for reappropriation, to be submitted to the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee or to the Taluk Panchayat;

(ii)      He will ensure that monthly and annual accounts of the Taluk Panchayat are prepared properly and promptly in accordance with the provisions contained in Chapter VIII of these rules;

(iii)     He will keep himself in regular touch with the audit objections and inspection reports of the Auditor and/or their early settlement. He may guide the Executive Officer and other departmental officers in the matter of processing and settlement of audit paras of the departments;

(iv)    He will furnish any information, statistics, etc., that may be called for by the Executive Officer, Finance, Planning and Audit Committee or the Adhyaksha of the Taluk Panchayat on matters relating to budget, accounts and audit.

(4)     All cases of serious financial irregularity noticed in any of the offices of the Taluk Panchayat shall be reported to the Chief Accounts Officer besides' the Executive Officer. All matters involving serious contravention of financial provisions or serious financial irregularity, proposals to sanction in relaxation of or deviation from any financial rules or principles, proposals for write off of loss or abandonment or remission of revenue, shall be referred to the Chief Accounts Officer and his opinion obtained, before final orders are passed.

(5)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall arrange for internal audit of accounts of the various offices of the Taluk Panchayat periodically. The Chief Accounts Officer shall bring any defects or irregularities noticed during the internal audit to the notice of the Executive Officer for his information and necessary further action. Serious defects and irregularities shall be reported by him to the Chief Executive Officer also.

(6)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall report to the Executive Officer all instances of payments made contrary to the rules and regulations besides cases where payments have been made in the absence of any provision in the budget estimates.

(7)     All defalcations or loss of Taluk Panchayat funds, stores or properly noticed in any of the offices of the Taluk Panchayat shall be reported to the Executive Officer and the Chief Accounts Officer.

Rule - 26.

(1)     The Executive Officer will be assisted by an Accounts Superintendent. The Accounts Superintendent will work directly under the Executive Officer and will function under the administrative control of the latter. In all matters relating to accounts and allied subjects, he shall be guided by and shall abide by the instructions given by the Chief Accounts Officer.

(2)     The Accounts Superintendent will be in overall charge of the work relating to the finance and budget of the Taluk Panchayat. In all matters relating to finance, budget and accounts, he shall strictly follow the rules, orders, guidelines, etc., issued by Government as well as the instructions, if any, issued by the Chief Accounts Officer.

(3)     All important communications, references received from or addressed to the Government, the Auditor (Accountant General, Karnataka), financing agencies, etc., on matters relating to finance, accounts, budget and audit of the Taluk Panchayat shall be shown to the Accounts Superintendent, on their receipt or before issue, as the case may be. Any other communication or reference having financial implication which any Head of Office of the Taluk Panchayat considers to be important may also be sent to the Accounts Superintendent.

(4)     The Accounts Superintendent shall discharge the following functions,

(i)       He will scrutinise the budget proposals submitted by the various officers of the Taluk Panchayat.. He will also be responsible for ensuring that the budget estimates of the Taluk Panchayat are properly framed keeping in view the instructions issued in this behalf and that they are submitted to the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee within the prescribed time schedule. For this purpose he may seek guidance and co-operation from the Chief Accounts Officer. He may also obtain any information or return from the various officers of the Taluk Panchayat in this connection;

(ii)      He will examine and advice on all schemes of new expenditure for which it is proposed to make a provision in the budget;

(iii)     He will keep a close watch over the progress of expenditure in the Taluk Panchayat and initiate, wherever necessary, moves for revision of the budget, reappropriation of funds or approval of a supplementary budget. If such proposals emanate from Heads of Offices of the Taluk Panchayat, all such proposals for revision of the budget or for reappropriation of funds shall be scrutinised by him. Likewise, he shall also scrutinise the proposals for supplementary grants sought for by the Heads of Offices of the Taluk Panchayat and advise the Executive Officer suitably;

(iv)    He will obtain necessary periodical returns of progress of expenditure, watch and review the progress against sanctioned grants and issue such instructions as may be found necessary to the various officers of the Taluk Panchayat;

(v)      He will assist the Executive Officer in regulating the expenditure of the various offices of the Taluk Panchayat according to the balance available in the Taluk Panchayat Fund by working out monthly allocations to be issued under the orders of the Executive Officer;

(vi)    He shall scrutinise the Abstract and Detailed Contingent bills, travelling allowance bills and other bills requiring countersignature of the Executive Officer;

(vii)   He shall be responsible, so far as transactions made by the Executive Officer are concerned, for reconciliation of departmental figures of receipts and expenditure with those booked by the Chief Accounts Officer. In respect of transactions of other officers, he shall be responsible to ensure that such a reconciliation is done promptly;

(viii)  He shall watch the progress of expenditure relating to plan schemes besides rendering accounts for claiming State or Central Government assistance in respect of such schemes;

(ix)    He will ensure maintenance of proper accounts relating to specific purpose grants received by the Taluk Panchayat and issue of utilisation certificates therefor;

(x)      He will obtain periodical returns of stores and stocks from the different offices of the Taluk Panchayat and review them. He will offer his remarks on such returns and place them before the Executive Officer;

(xi)    He will furnish any information, statistics, etc., that may be called 'for by the Executive Officer, Finance, Planning and Audit Committee or the Adhyaksha of the Taluk Panchayat on matters relating to budget, accounts and audit;

(xii)   He will keep himself in regular touch with the audit objections and inspection reports of the Auditor and the Chief Accounts Officer. He shall keep a watch over the early settlement of these objections and audit/inspection reports. He shall advice the Heads of Offices in furnishing replies to the Audit Reports and Objections Statements of the Auditor as well as the inspection reports issued by the Chief Accounts Officer;

(xiii)  He will keep a close watch on the recoveries of dues to the Taluk Panchayat and repayment of loans and interest;

(xiv)  He shall ensure prompt remittance of departmental receipts by periodical inspection of the accounts maintained in this behalf. He shall also ensure during such inspection that amounts due to be credited to Government are not retained by the Taluk Panchayat;

(xv)   He shall scrutinise the comparative statements of tenders prepared by the Administrative/Technical personnel relating to supplies, services and works, if any;

(xvi)  He shall furnish opinion on all proposals having financial implications.

(xvii) He shall advise the Heads of departments in all matters pertaining to Grants-in-aid, loans and advances, refunds, writes off, etc.;

(xviii)   He shall generally assist the Heads of Offices in controlling the expenditure.

(5)     The views/advice of the Accounts Superintendent shall be obtained on all proposals,

(i)       having financial implications;

(ii)      for release of funds;

(iii)     for investment of surplus funds;

(iv)    relating to all Schemes or Projects; and

(v)      for sanctioning grants-in-aid, loans and advances, scholarships, etc.

If his advice is not accepted by the sanctioning authority, the reasons therefor shall be recorded in writing.

(6)     The Executive Officer and the heads of all offices of the Taluk Panchayat shall ensure that all proposals having financial implications to be approved by the Executive Officer, the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee or the Taluk Panchayat, are invariably referred to the Accounts Superintendent for his opinion. The Executive Officer and Heads of Offices shall see that the Accounts Superintendent is given full opportunity to become conversant with such sanctions and proceedings of the Administrative and Technical Officers.

(7)     Wherever the Accounts Superintendent considers that any transaction or proceedings of the Administrative/Technical authorities ate opposed to rules or orders, he should bring the fact to the notice of the Executive Officer and the Head of the Office, with statements detailing the reasons and obtain the orders of the Executive Officer. If he is overruled, he should immediately make a brief note of the case in a register of reconsideration and orders. The Executive Officer may on reconsideration accept the advice of the Accounts Superintendent and order action accordingly. Where he disagrees with the advice of the Accounts Superintendent, he shall record the reasons for disagreeing with the advice and order for implementation of his decision.

(8)     The Accounts Superintendent shall furnish an extract of his objections entered in the register during the previous six months by the fifteenth of April and October of every financial year to the Executive Officer as well as the Chief Accounts Officer.

(9)     Wherever cases involving avoidable heavy expenditure or serious losses come to the notice of the Accounts Superintendent, he shall immediately report such cases to the Executive Officer and the Chief Accounts Officer in advance of the communication of audit objections, etc., to be made in the normal course.

(10)   The Accounts Superintendent may be entrusted with the local inspection of accounts of stores and stock and physical verification of stocks held by subordinate offices, by the Executive Officer.

(11)   The Accounts Superintendent may be entrusted with such other functions as may be considered necessary by the Executive Officer.

(12)   In the discharge of his duties, the Accounts Superintendent will be assisted by Accounts Assistants. The Accounts Assistants should work under the immediate control and supervision of the Accounts Superintendent. The duties and responsibilities of the Accounts Assistants shall be laid down by the Executive Officer in consultation with the Accounts Superintendent.

CHAPTER VII BUDGET

Rule - 27.

(1)     The Finance, Audit and Planning Committee shall cause to be prepared and laid before the Taluk Panchayat, at a meeting to be held between the first day of February and the tenth day of March every year, an Annual Estimate of the receipts and expenditure of the Taluk Panchayat for the ensuing financial year.

(2)     The Annual Budget Estimate shall be prepared in three parts viz., Revenue Account, Capital Account and Debt and Deposit Accounts (see Annual Accounts Format in Appendix). It is the responsibility of the Executive Officer to ensure that the Annual Estimate is prepared well in time and laid before the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee. After approval by the Committee, it shall be laid before the Taluk Panchayat for approval. The Budget as passed by the Taluk Panchayat shall be sent to the Zilla Panchayat on or before 25th March.

(3)     The estimates of receipts of the Taluk Panchayat relating to fees and other items of revenue including the surcharge on stamp duty passed on by Government to the Taluk Panchayat under Section 205(4) of the Act and the grants released by Government to the Taluk Panchayat under Sections 207 and 208 and the expenditure other than those mentioned in sub-rule (4) shall be included in the budget.

(4)     The estimates relating to the non-plan and plan schemes entrusted to the Taluk Panchayat by the Government or the Zilla Panchayat, for which funds are also placed at the disposal of Taluk Panchayat shall be included in the budget

(5)     The classification of Budget Heads of Accounts of the Taluk Panchayat shall be as prescribed in the List of Major and Minor Heads as in the case of Government. Further sub-heads and Detailed heads may be opened under each minor head according to requirements as per the budget heads obtaining in Government.

(6)     Provisions under Plan and Non-plan should be distinctly provided for.

(7)     Details of fixed charges including grants to aided institutions and works estimates, if any, costing one lakh of rupees or more shall be indicated in a separate Appendix in the manner prescribed for Budget Estimates of Government.

(8)     (i) It is irregular to incur any expenditure on items for which no provision has been made in the budget. Likewise it is irregular to incur expenditure on any item in excess of the budget provision;

(ii) The restriction mentioned above, will not, however, apply in case the item is an excepted item vide Rule 28 infra.

(9)     (i) Modifications to the budget provisions are allowed under the Act by way of revision, reappropriation or supplementary grantsvide Sections 248 and 249;

(ii) Revision of budget may be resorted to when it is found that the realistic estimates regarding receipts, prepared after taking into account current trends, differ substantially from the figures assumed at the time of budget formulation and consequently the provisions for expenditure under various heads require substantial changes, when the amounts earmarked for release as per the Central/State/Zilla Panchayat budget differ substantially from those assumed by the Taluk Panchayat earlier, when the distribution to be made for different activities require change as indicated by the Government or the Zilla Panchayat, etc. These are not changes which can be made by reappropriation or supplementary grants as wholesale changes are involved and hence the provision in the Act for revision of budget;

(iii) Reappropriation is to be resorted to when there is no increase in the provision overall and adjustments can be made within the total provision. It has, however, to be borne in mind that proposals for reappropriation have to take into account the restrictions laid down in the Act or the stipulations made by funding organisations;

(iv) If there is no occasion for revision of the budget and additional funds are required either because the existing provision is inadequate and the necessary funds cannot be found by reappropriation, or because an entirely new scheme or activity has to be taken up, a supplementary grant has to be obtained.

(10)   Drawing officers of the Taluk Panchayat shall invariably satisfy themselves regarding the availability of budget provision before proposing/incurring any expenditure from Taluk Panchayat funds.

(11)   The Chief Accounts Officer is responsible to verify with reference to the paid vouchers received by him, that no expenditure that is not covered by budget provision, is incurred by drawing officers of the Taluk Panchayat. If any such expenditure is noticed, unless the expenditure relates to an excepted item, he shall place the amount under objection and immediately take up the matter with the Executive Officer for regularisation of the expenditure.

Rule - 28.

Save as provided below, no expenditure shall be incurred out of the Taluk Panchayat fund, unless the same is covered by a budget grant except in the following cases, namely:

(i)       refunds of moneys which the Taluk Panchayat is authorised to make under the Act or the rules or regulations made thereunder;

(ii)      repayment of moneys belonging to the contractors or other persons held in deposit and of money credited to the Taluk Panchayat by mistake;

(iii)     sums which Taluk Panchayat is required or empowered by the Act to pay by way of compensation;

(iv)    every sum payable,

(a)      under the Act by order of the Zilla Panchayat or the Government;

(b)      under decree or order of Civil Court; and

(c)      under a compromise of any suit or other legal proceedings or claim; and

(v)      all contributions payable by the Taluk Panchayat to the Government or the Zilla Panchayat for the maintenance of water supply, dispensaries and other institutions or services managed by the Government or the Zilla Panchayat on behalf of the Taluk Panchayat.

CHAPTER VIII COMPILATION OF ACCOUNTS AND CONTROL OVER EXPENDITURE

Rule - 29.

(1)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall compile the monthly and annual accounts of all the Taluk Panchayats in the district from the Treasury Schedules received in two lists the first by the fifteenth of the month and the second list by the ninth of the following month-from the Treasury Officer along with the challans and paid vouchers.

(2)     On receipt of the Treasury Schedules, it shall be ensured that challans in support of all credit entries and paid vouchers in support of all debits are available and total debits and credits are arithmetically correct. If any challans/vouchers are wanting, the matter should be taken up immediately with the Treasury Officer to get them. The classification furnished in the challans and paid vouchers shall also be checked and corrections made wherever necessary. If any items of receipt or expenditure do not pertain to the Taluk Panchayat but relate to other organisations like the Government, Zilla Panchayat, etc., action should be initiated to get the amounts transferred to the account of the organisation concerned.

(3)     All receipts entered in the Treasury Schedule, shall be posted to the compilation sheet of receipts in Form No. TP 10 according to the Taluk Panchayat Budget Heads of accounts, i.e., Major/Minor/Sub-head and Detailed Heads with reference to the classification furnished in the challans and checked by the Chief Accounts Officer. It has to be ensured that cash receipts which are required to be taken in reduction of expenditure as per the rules are classified as minus expenditure under the appropriate expenditure head concerned in the compilation sheet. Amounts in respect of wanting challans or schedules shall be classified in the compilation sheet under the head "Treasury Suspense" subordinate to the minor head "Suspense Account (Civil)" under "8658-Suspense Accounts". If any challan does not pertain to the Taluk Panchayat at all, the amount thereof shall be classified under the head "Other Miscellaneous items" subordinate to the minor head "Suspense Account (Civil)" under 8658-Suspense Accounts", pending rectification of the misclassification.

(4)     Based on the classification recorded, and corrected during check of classification by the Chief Accounts Officer, in the paid vouchers accompanying the Treasury Schedules, the payments shall be posted date wise to the compilation sheet of expenditure in Form No. TP 11 according to the Taluk Panchayat Budget Heads. Amounts in respect of wanting vouchers or schedules shall be classified in the compilation sheet under the head "Treasury Suspense" subordinate to the minor head "Suspense Account" under "8658-Suspense Accounts". If any voucher does not pertain to the Taluk Panchayat at all, the amount thereof shall be classified under the head "Other Miscellaneous items" subordinate to the minor head "Suspense Account (Civil)" under "8658-Suspense Accounts", pending rectification of the misclassification. Refunds of revenue which stand included in the Treasury Schedule of Payments shall be classified under the appropriate receipt head concerned in the compilation sheet.

Note: While posting the expenditure, e.g., expenditure relating to salaries, the gross amount paid should be taken into account, and not the net amount paid as per the vouchers. The deductions/recoveries shown in payment vouchers, if adjustable in the books of the Chief Accounts Officer under the Taluk Panchayat Fund, shall be compiled under the relevant receipt or other head of account in a "Deduction Sheet" in Form No. TP 12.

(5)     After posting of all the challans and vouchers of both the Schedule of Receipts and the Schedule of Payments is completed, the totals of each detailed head are to be struck and thereafter, the totals of sub-heads, minor heads, etc. These totals as per the compilation sheets shall be tallied with the receipts as per the Treasury Schedule of Receipts, and payments as per the Treasury Schedule of Payments by drawing up proof sheets in Form No. TP 13.

(6)     (i) Adjustment of amounts classified under the suspense heads "Treasury Suspense" and "Other Miscellaneous items" shall be watched through suitable subsidiary registers;

(ii) The clearance from the subsidiary register and accounts adjustment in respect of treasury suspense items are to be carried out on receipt from the treasury, of the wanting documents or acceptable alternative documents such as details of credit in the case of challans and certificates of payment in respect of vouchers;

(iii) As regards items provisionally classified under "Other Miscellaneous Items", it may be necessary to ensure, if need be, in consultation with the drawing officer concerned of the Taluk Panchayat, that those items do not pertain to the Taluk Panchayat. If it is found that any such item actually pertains to the Taluk Panchayat, action should be taken to propose necessary adjustment entries in the accounts bringing the amount concerned under the appropriate head of account and clearing the suspense head. In other cases suitable action shall be taken to set right the misclassifications.

Examples:

(a)      If the misclassification represents an item of credit or debit which has to be correctly brought to account in the books of the Zilla Panchayat or another Taluk Panchayat, the accounts of which are maintained by the same Chief Accounts Officer, the Treasury Officer will have to be advised to make the necessary transfer of funds to or from the Zilla Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat concerned and include the transaction in the relevant treasury schedules;

(b)      In cases where an item has been wrongly credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund instead of Government, a refund bill will have to be prepared by the Chief Accounts Officer and presented to the Treasury for payment by transfer to the appropriate receipt head in the accounts of Government by minus credit to the aforesaid suspense head in the Taluk Panchayat accounts;

(c)      If, however, the error has to be set right only at the" Treasury, for instance in cases where a charge relating to Government has been debited erroneously to the Taluk Panchayat Fund, or in cases of credits where there is some uncertainty as regards the final adjustment thereof, action has to be taken to return the challans or vouchers concerned to the Treasury and to request the Treasury Officer to withdraw the erroneous credits or debits, as the case may be. The acknowledgement of the Treasury Officer for having received the challans or vouchers has to be obtained. The clearance of the items from the subsidiary register and necessary accounts adjustment are to be made on receipt of advice from the Treasury Officer, that the erroneous credits/debits to the Taluk Panchayat have been withdrawn and the Taluk Panchayat Fund balance corrected suitably.

(7)     All adjustments and rectification of errors in accounts of previous months, if any, shall be effected by Transfer Entries in Form No. TP 14 and incorporated in the Classified Abstracts.

Note: For adjustment of items classified under "Treasury Suspense" on receipt of documents, etc., vide sub-rule (6) above, formal transfer entries have to be proposed by minus credit or minus debit to "Treasury Suspense" and per contra credit to the appropriate revenue head or per contra debit to the appropriate expenditure head, as the case may be. In respect of adjustment of misclassifications on receipt of advice from the Treasury vide sub-rule (6) above, the withdrawal of the erroneous credit or debit shall be shown as a separate entry in the Treasury Schedule of Receipts or Payments as the case may be. During compilation of accounts by the C.A.O., the withdrawal of the erroneous credit or debit by the Treasury shall be classified as minus credit or minus debit under the suspense head "Other Miscellaneous items" and no formal transfer entry will be required to bring the transaction to account.

(8)     The monthly totals under the several heads of accounts shall be posted to a classified Abstract of Receipts in Form No. TP 15 and a Classified Abstract of Expenditure in Form No. TP 16 in respect of all the transactions of the Taluk Panchayat.

Rule - 30.

(1)     After ensuring the correctness of the actual receipts and payments and posting these figures in the Classified Abstract as stated above, and incorporation of the transfer entries, the Classified Abstracts should reflect the overall picture of the receipts/expenditure of the Taluk Panchayat for the month. The Chief Accounts Officer shall then draw up a 'Plus and Minus Memorandum' of the Taluk Panchayat for the month; this balance will be the same as the aggregate balance with the Treasury as appearing in the books of the Chief Accounts Officer. After this is done, the balance with the Treasury in the books of the Chief Accounts Officer shall be compared with the balance as per the plus and minus memorandum furnished by the Treasury Officer. Normally there should not be any difference between the two balances, However, if any difference is noticed, it should be reconciled and appropriate action taken to set it right.

(2)     Abstract of the monthly receipts and expenditure under each head of account of the Taluk Panchayat shall be posted from the Classified Abstracts to the Consolidated Abstracts of Receipts and Payments duly recording the progressive total from month to month, in Form No. TP 17.

(3)     From the Consolidated Abstract of Receipts and Expenditure of the Taluk Panchayat, the monthly accounts shall be prepared in Form No. TP 18, before the 20th of the following month and, together with the comments, if any, of the Chief Accounts Officer thereon, placed before the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee of the Taluk Panchayat through the Executive Officer.

(4)     Based on the postings in the Consolidated Abstracts, the annual accounts of the Taluk Panchayat shall be prepared in the form given in the Appendix to these Rules. These annual accounts, together with the comments of the Chief Accounts Officer thereon, shall be forwarded to the Taluk Panchayat within two months from the close of the year.

Rule - 31.

(1)     Statements II, III and IV of the annual accounts require the exhibition therein of variations between the budget provision and actual receipts/expenditure. On receipt of the annual accounts of the Taluk Panchayat and comments thereon from the Chief Accounts Officer, the Executive Officer shall cause to be prepared, an explanatory note on the variations between the final modified grant and actual expenditure shown in Statements III and IV. The annual accounts, the comments of the Chief Accounts Officer thereon and the remarks and explanations of the Executive Officer on the variations shall be placed before the Taluk Panchayat for consideration and approval through the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee.

(2)     The annual accounts and the aforesaid accompaniments thereto, shall be examined by the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee. The Chief Accounts Officer and the Executive Officer shall render all necessary assistance to the Committee in conducting this examination. During the course of such examination it will be open to the Committee to call any Head of Office to appear and give evidence before it.,

(3)     During the examination referred to above, the Committee shall consider, among other things, whether any items of irregular expenditure in the nature of expenditure incurred without budget provision, excesses over budget provision, etc, can be ratified by the Taluk Panchayat, the conditions subject to which the expenditure may be ratified including the action, if any, to be taken against the officers concerned, etc,

(4)     After the accounts are examined in detail as explained above and the views of the Committee are finalised on all relevant matters, the Committee shall pass the accounts with or without observations and place them before the Taluk Panchayat.

(5)     The process outlined in sub-rules (1) to (4) above shall be completed in such a manner that the annual accounts are passed by the Taluk Panchayat within three months from the close of the official year as required by sub-section (3) of Section 250.

(6)     When the annual accounts are finally passed by the Taluk Panchayat, a copy of the accounts shall be submitted to the Zilla Panchayat as required under Section 251 of -the Act. A copy of the accounts shall also be sent to the Accountant General, Karnataka.

Rule - 32.

(1)     With a view to ensuring strict control over expenditure, all heads of offices administering grants of the Taluk Panchayat are responsible for watching the progress of expenditure on services under their control. The heads of offices shall forward a consolidated statement of expenditure including the expenditure, if any, incurred by their subordinate officers, under each of the several minor/sub/detailed heads, to the Accounts Superintendent before the 20th of the following month.

(2)     The Accounts Superintendent shall verify the statements received with reference to the figures booked by the Chief Accounts Officer under the heads of account operated by each of the departmental officers of the Taluk Panchayat to ensure that,

(a)      the expenditure reported is in agreement with the figures booked by the Chief Accounts Officer;

(b)      the expenditure has not exceeded the allocations placed at the disposal of the heads of offices; and

(c)      the expenditure is within the grant earmarked therefor.

(3)     If any difference is noticed between the figures reported and the figures booked by the Chief Accounts Officer the Accounts Superintendent shall take immediate steps in consultation with the Heads of offices to reconcile the difference and initiate action, if necessary, to get the booked figures corrected by the Chief Accounts Officer. While the primary responsibility for reconciliation of differences is that of the Heads of Offices, the responsibility to follow up the matter until the differences are brought to nil, vests in the Accounts Superintendent.

(4)     All cases of non-receipt of expenditure statements from heads of offices and deviations, if any, in respect of the matters mentioned in sub-rule (2) above, shall be reported to the Executive Officer by the Accounts Superintendent.

CHAPTER IX ESTABLISHMENT

Rule - 33.

(1)     Every Head of Office authorised to draw establishment bills from the treasury shall maintain a Scale Register in Form No. TP 19. In this register, the various posts sanctioned, their number, scale of pay, period of currency, etc., shall be noted under the initials of the Head of Office. Separate pages shall be allotted in respect of each sanction to establishment.

(2)     Temporary establishment shall be recorded separately in the Scale Register at the end of the space allotted for permanent establishment and shall not be mixed up with it. The period for which the temporary establishment is sanctioned and the order of sanction shall be distinctly specified in the Scale Register.

(3)     If any of these establishments are categorised under Plan and Non-Plan, the entries relating to them shall be made in different sections of the Scale Register.

(4)     All fixed recurring charges such as house rent allowance, conveyance allowance, etc., shall be recorded on a separate page of the Scale Register.

(5)     Whenever any revision is made or a change occurs in respect of the details noted in the Register, the revised particulars shall be noted in the columns provided for the purpose and duly attested by the Head of Office.

(6)     The Chief Accounts Officer as also the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat shall maintain similar scale registers in their offices for the whole establishment of the Taluk Panchayat The Register maintained in the Taluk Panchayat office shall be reviewed by the Executive Officer periodically.

(7)     It is the duty of each Head of Office to ensure that whenever a change is made in his Scale Register, necessary particulars for updating the corresponding registers of the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat and the Chief Accounts Officer are communicated to them forthwith without any loss of time. In addition, updated copies of the Scale Register shall be furnished to them by each Head of Office every year by the 15th of April.

(8)     The designated heads of offices of the Taluk Panchayat shall prefer the salary claims of the staff in accordance with the provisions laid down in Articles 115 and 116 of the Karnataka Financial Code. Further, they are responsible for effecting recovery of fund deductions and repayment of advances from the salary claims of the employees besides maintenance of proper accounts therefor.

CHAPTER X GENERAL PROCEDURE FOR COLLECTION AND REMITTANCE OF TALUK PANCHAYAT MONEYS

Rule - 34.

(1)     All the Revenue Receipts, Licence Fees and other amounts due to the Taluk Panchayat, except the amount of surcharge on stamp duty payable under, sub-section (4) of Section 205 and grants payable under Sections 207 and 208 shall be collected by the Taluk Panchayat.

(2)     It shall be the responsibility of the Executive Officer and other heads of offices concerned to ensure that the various fees, rents and other amounts due to the Taluk Panchayat are promptly demanded, realised and credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund. For this purpose, they shall maintain a collection Register in Form No. TP 20 to record all revenues realised and credited to the Taluk Panchayat Fund. They shall also maintain a Demand, Collection and Balance Register in Form No. TP 21.

(3)     Collections of amounts due to the Taluk Panchayat mentioned in sub-rule (1) above, shall be made only by a person authorised to do so by the Executive Officer. The person making the collection shall be supplied with a Day Book in Form No. TP 22 and a Receipt Book in the form prescribed and current at the time of supply. The books shall be in his personal custody. On every working day at the specified hour, the Day Book and the Receipt Book together with the collection shall be handed over by the person making the collections to the Executive Officer or to the officer duly authorised to receive such collections, or to the cashier, if there is any. The Executive Officer or other Authorised Officer or the cashier, shall acknowledge all such collections handed over to him in the Day Book both in words and figures, after satisfying himself about the correctness of the entries made and totals arrived at in the Day Book and after ensuring that the collections are duly entered in the Office Cash Book. The person handing over the collections shall be responsible for the amount collected until the collections are handed over and acknowledgement of the Executive Officer or other Authorised Officer or the Cashier receiving the amount is obtained in the Day Book.

(4)     Collections shall also be made directly from the parties desirous of making payments at the Taluk Panchayat Office, by the official duly authorised in this behalf or the cashier, if there is any, at the office of the Taluk Panchayat. When collections are made by the official or the cashier, the receipts to be issued to the payee shall be signed by the Executive Officer or the Accounts Superintendent, if specifically authorised by the former, and each item of receipt posted in the concerned Day Book and brought to account in the Office Cash Book immediately on receipt of the amount by him.

(5)     After all the item of receipts are entered in the Office Cash Book, the Accounts Superintendents or the cashier shall prepare a challan in Form No. 5 and simultaneously write up the Treasury Remittance Register in Form No. 6, The challan and the Treasury Remittance Register shall then be checked and attested by the Executive Officer. The collections shall thereafter be sent to the Treasury along with the Treasury Remittance Register. The Executive Officer shall keep a watch over the remittance of collections to the Treasury.

(6)     The instructions given in sub-rules (3) to (5) above shall mutatis mutandis apply in respect of other heads of offices also if they are authorised to collect Taluk Panchayat moneys.

CHAPTER XI REMISSIONS, WRITES OFF AND REFUNDS

Rule - 35.

Remissions of demands for fees etc, shall be allowed in accordance with the rules and bye-laws providing for such remissions. Notices of vacancies and other applications from the persons concerned in this connection and orders passed thereon by the Competent Authority after due inquiries and report by the concerned officers of the Taluk Panchayat, shall be filed in serial order and according to the several divisions of the Taluk. The remissions granted shall also be noted against the items concerned in the Demand Register in the column provided for the purpose. A Register in Form No. TP 23 shall be maintained to record all cases of remission therein.

Rule - 36.

Remission may be sanctioned by the Competent Authority subject to the following conditions:

(i)       Grant of remissions shall be at the absolute discretion of the sanctioning authority and no person can claim remission as a matter of right;

(ii)      In all cases of revenue from lease and amounts due under contract, the lessees and the contractors shall be held liable according to the terms of their agreements and remissions shall never be granted except in cases in which the lessee or the contractor has unduly suffered on account of unforeseen events beyond his control.

Rule - 37.

Writes off of irrecoverable amounts due to the Taluk Panchayat sanctioned in accordance with the rules applicable in this regard shall also be entered in the Register in Form No. TP 23.

Note: Remissions/writes-off of sums exceeding one thousand rupees require the previous sanction of the Zilla Panchayat under Section 252.

Rule - 38.

In respect of claims for refunds of deposits or of fees paid in excess to the Taluk Panchayat, the provisions of the Karnataka Financial Code and the Karnataka Treasury Code shall mutatis mutandis apply. However, it is necessary in addition, that all such claims are pre-checked and authorized for payment (through an enfacement on the bills) by the Chief Accounts Officer. In the absence of such authorization, the refund bills shall not be honoured by the Treasury Officer.

CHAPTER XII CONTINGENT AND OTHER CHARGES AND STOCK ACCOUNTS FOR MATERIALS AND PROPERTY

Rule - 39.

(1)     The provisions of Manual of Contingent Expenditure and other departmental Manuals framed in this behalf for the departments in Government, shall mutatis mutandis apply for drawal and incurring of contingent and miscellaneous expenditure out of the Taluk Panchayat fund.

(2)     The officers drawing moneys on Abstract Contingent (A.C.) bills shall render accounts through Non Payable Detailed Contingent (N.D.C.) bills, to the Chief Accounts Officer within a fortnight of the close of the month in which A.C. bills are drawn.

(3)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall enter in a Register of A.C. Bills in Form No. TP 24, all A.C. bills drawn by various officers of the Taluk Panchayat at the time of compilation of accounts with regard to paid vouchers received from the Treasury. The receipt of the N.D.C. bill in each case shall be watched through this register. At the end of every month, an abstract of the pending A.C. bills shall be drawn up and placed before the Chief Accounts Officer, along with a note of action taken for obtaining the wanting N.D.C. bills.

(4)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall exercise a careful watch over the A.C. bills not adjusted. On receipt of the N.D.C. bills, the Chief Accounts Officer shall ensure that the expenditure incurred as seen from the vouchers attached, has been sanctioned by the authority competent to do so and conforms to the prescribed rules and regulations. The A.C. bill shall be treated as adjusted only to the extent of the expenditure admitted on such scrutiny. Where any A.C. bill drawn by the officers of the Taluk Panchayat remain unadjusted through N.D.C. bills for over one month, he shall report the matter to the Executive Officer for necessary action. If the N.D.C. bill is not received within a further period of one month, he may issue advise to the Treasury Officer not to honour any bill presented by the drawing officer.

(5)     Though the amounts drawn on A.C bills are provisionally debited to the relevant head of account, the unspent amount of A.C. bill remitted back to the Treasury, shall be taken as a reduction of expenditure under the concerned head of account, on adjustment of the A.C. bill.

Rule - 40.

The officers of the Taluk Panchayat who are already placed with permanent advances by the Zilla Panchayat, shall continue to hold permanent advances to that extent in the Taluk Panchayat also. Any change in the amount of permanent advance, shall be with the sanction of the Chief Executive Officer on the advice of the Chief Accounts Officer. Permanent advance to any office for the first time shall also be sanctioned by the Chief Executive Officer on the advice of the Chief Accounts Officer. The provision of the Manual of- Contingent Expenditure shall apply in respect of all other matters relating to permanent advance.

Rule - 41.

(1)     The holder of a permanent advance shall, on first receiving it and thereafter on the 1st of April each year, sign on acknowledgement in the following terms and forward the same to the Chief Accounts Officer,

"I hereby acknowledge that the amount of Rs. ...........being the permanent advance of Rs. ...............of Taluk Panchayat is due from and has to be accounted for by me".

(2)     The acknowledgement shall always be for the full sanctioned amount. On transfer of charge of office, a similar acknowledgement for the full amount shall be signed by the relieving officer and the same forwarded to the Chief Accounts Officer.

Rule - 42.

A stamp account showing the purchases, issues and balances of stamps shall be maintained in Form No. TP 25. The balance on hand shall be verified with the balance as per stamp account by the Executive Officer or any other officer duly authorized by him, at least once a month and the result thereof recorded in the register under his signature.

Note:- The provisions of this rule shall also apply to the other Heads of Offices of the Taluk Panchayat.

Rule - 43.

(1)     A list of all moveable properties of a permanent or durable nature such as machines and other appliances, furniture and other articles belonging to the Taluk Panchayat shall be recorded in a Register of Moveable Properties in Form No. TP 26 under the initials of the Executive Officer. Separate pages shall be allotted, according to requirements, to each kind of article or property, sufficient space being left between each set of entries to admit of subsequent transactions being recorded.

(2)     For consumable stores and other articles, a separate stock register in which a sufficient number of pages shall be allotted for each kind of article according to requirements, shall be maintained in Form No. TP 27.

(3)     Heads of offices who independently maintain and handle stores and moveable property shall also maintain similar registers as described above.

Rule - 44.

(1)     A Register of Immoveable Properties, other than lands, roads and completed works shall be maintained in Form No. TP 28 by all the Heads of offices.

(2)     All lands transferred by the Government, the Zilla Panchayat and other institutions as well as lands purchased or acquired by the Taluk Panchayat shall be entered separately in a Register of Lands in Form No. TP 29.

(3)     A Register of Roads indicating the roads vested with, the Taluk Panchayat, those transferred to it and also those newly constructed/shall be maintained by the concerned Assistant Executive Engineer of the Taluk Panchayat in Form No. TP 30. If any new roads are constructed by the Taluk Panchayat, particulars thereof should be sent promptly to the Executive Engineer of the Zilla Panchayat in order that the Register of Roads maintained in his office may be kept upto date.

(4)     A Register of Other Completed Works indicating the completed works vested with the Taluk Panchayat and those transferred to the Taluk Panchayat shall also be maintained by the concerned Assistant Executive Engineer of the Taluk Panchayat Form No. TP 28 with suitable modifications may be used for this purpose. Whenever new works are completed by the Taluk Panchayat, particulars thereof should be sent promptly to "the Executive Engineer of the Zilla Panchayat in order that his Register also may be kept upto date.

(5)     A consolidated record of immoveable properties duly classified into categories such as agricultural land, non-agricultural land, buildings, roads, irrigation tanks, ponds, lakes, wells, water supply schemes, parks, gardens, playgrounds, etc., belonging to or vested in the Taluk Panchayat shall be maintained by the Executive Officer, based on the particulars furnished by the heads of offices and the Assistant Executive Engineer.

Rule - 45.

Physical verification of stocks and stores shall be conducted by the Executive Officer at the end of every year and he shall record a certificate indicating results of such verification under his signature. Shortages that come to notice shall be got made good from the official in-charge of stores, if they cannot be accounted for or explained satisfactorily and excesses, if any, found shall be taken to stock as receipts.

Note: In respect of heads of Offices who independently maintain and handle stores and moveable property vide Rule 43(3), a similar physical verification of stocks and stores shall be conducted by the Head of Office concerned. The instructions given in this rule shall apply mutatis mutandis to such physical verification also.

CHAPTER XIII STORES, EQUIPMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

Rule - 46.

The matters relating to,

(a)      Purchase of stores, equipments and other articles;

(b)      Invitation and acceptance of tenders for works contracts and supplies; and

(c)      Execution, inspection and payments in respect of works and schemes, shall be governed by general or special orders issued by Government under Section 238.

Rule - 47.

(1)     Until orders are issued by Government under Section 238 the execution of works and schemes of the Taluk Panchayat shall be governed by the interim arrangements laid down in sub-rules (2) and (3) below. In all other matters, the provisions of the Karnataka Public Works Accounts code, Karnataka Public Works Departmental Code and Stores manual and other instructions and orders issued by Government shall apply.

(2)     Works of the Taluk Panchayat relating to Water Supply, Irrigation, Public Works, Forest, etc., shall ordinarily be executed by the implementing officers of the Zilla Panchayat who will be provided with funds for the purpose through the Zilla Panchayat. A similar arrangement shall be adopted for execution of certain other categories of schemes also, to be specified by Government. In such cases, the implementing officers shall be accountable to the Taluk Panchayat and it will be open to the Taluk Panchayat, its Standing Committees and the Executive Officer to monitor the execution of the works/schemes. The implementing officers of the Zilla Panchayat shall furnish such information, reports, statements, etc., in this connection as may be called for by the Taluk Panchayat through its authorized officers.

(3)     However, in exceptional cases in which the Taluk Panchayat decides to execute works through its own staff, funds for the purpose may be drawn by means of bills from the Treasury and the accounting done in the manner prescribed in Appendix 9 to the Karnataka Financial Code.

CHAPTER XIV GRANTS

Rule - 48.

(1)     Grants received by the Taluk Panchayat from Government or any other agency, shall be entered separately in a Register in Form No. TP 31 by the Chief Accounts Officer. Expenditure incurred from out of the grants shall be noted against each grant in the said Register. The concerned heads of offices of the Taluk Panchayat shall incur the expenditure as per the terms and conditions of the grant.

(2)     A similar Register in Form No. 31 shall be maintained by the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat also. This Register shall be reviewed by the Executive Officer every month.

Rule - 49.

(1)     The concerned heads of offices shall furnish utilization certificate to the appropriate authorities in respect of specific purpose grants through the Executive Officer.

(2)     The Executive Officer shall submit quarterly and annual statements showing opening balance of grants received, the grants utilized and the closing balance at the end of each quarter/year to the Chief Accounts Officer.

CHAPTER XV DEBT HEADS

Rule - 50.

(1)     All loans received by the Taluk Panchayat from the Government, Zilla Panchayat, or any other source shall be recorded, each on a separate page in a Register of Loans in Form No. TP 32. Whenever a Taluk Panchayat has to raise loans in the open market, the procedures prescribed in Section 220 of the Act shall be followed strictly.

(2)     The Executive Officer shall take action for arranging repayment of loans together with interest promptly on the due dates and note the repayment in the Register of loans against each loan.

(3)     A similar Register of Loans in Form No. TP 32 shall be maintained by the Chief Accounts Officer also. He shall keep a watch on the action taken by the Executive Officer to repay the loans together with interest promptly. Any delay or default shall be brought to the notice of the Executive Officer promptly for taking remedial action. The Chief Accounts Officer shall report the position of loans at the end of each year to the Chief Executive Officer.

(4)     (i) When any loan is raised by the Taluk Panchayat which is repayable, not in annual instalments, but after a specific period, it shall create a sinking fund to facilitate the liquidation of the loan on the due date;

(ii) The sinking fund shall be created by transferring a portion of the Taluk Panchayat Fund half yearly, which together with the cumulative interest earned on it, shall be sufficient to meet the liability on the due date. The transfer shall be made by book adjustment by the Chief Accounts Officer on the advice of the Executive Officer. The Chief Accounts Officer has to keep a watch to ensure that the necessary advice is received in time;

(iii) The amount so transferred to the Sinking Fund periodically shall be invested by the Executive Officer, in securities or in Scheduled or Co-operative Banks as may be stipulated by Government in the order according sanction for raising of loan. The outgo on this account shall be debited in the accounts to Sinking Fund Investment Account. The concurrence of the Chief Accounts Officer shall be obtained for making such investments and the concerned Securities, Deposit Receipts and other documents shall be kept in the custody of the Executive Officer;

(iv) The details of investments shall be recorded in a Register in Form No. TP 33 by the Executive Officer. He shall be responsible for the realisation of interest due on such investments and crediting the same to the Sinking Fund;

(v) Whenever any investment is withdrawn, the fact of withdrawal of the investment shall be noted in the Register of Investment against the relevant entry, duly furnishing the Challan number and the date of credit to the Sinking Fund;

(vi) A copy of the Register of Investments shall be sent to the Chief Accounts Officer at the end of every quarter by the Executive Officer. The Register shall be generally scrutinised in the office of the Chief Accounts Officer. In particular, it has to be verified whether the cost of acquisition of the securities tallies with the book balance under Sinking Fund Investment Account and whether the investments had been agreed to by the Chief Accounts Officer;

(vii) At the end of each half year, the Executive Officer shall personally take out all the Securities, Deposit Receipts, etc., and verify them with reference to the entries in the Investment Register and record a certificate in the Register to the effect that all the documents relating to the investments recorded therein are actually available on that date and that action has been taken to realise the interest due on them;

(viii) At the end of every year, an account of the Sinking Fund showing the amount transferred to the Sinking Fund during the year, the upto date progressive amount under the Sinking Fund, details of investments out of the Sinking Fund and the interest realised on the investments shall be prepared by the Executive Officer and after it is scrutinised and cleared by the Chief Accounts Officer, placed before the Taluk Panchayat;

(ix) No amount of the Sinking Fund shall be applied for liquidating any other liabilities of the Taluk Panchayat. However, with the approval of the Taluk Panchayat, a portion of the Sinking Fund amount, may be utilised to clear an outstanding loan commitment, before the actual period of repayment of that loan. The loan instalment and interest due on the previous loan discharged out of the Sinking Fund for the balance period shall be credited to the Sinking Fund from time to time.

Rule - 51.

(1)     Employees of the Taluk Panchayat may be sanctioned advances as admissible to Government employees in accordance with the provisions of the Karnataka Financial Code.

(2)     Short term advances like festival advance, advance of salary and travelling allowance on transfer and tour, bicycle advance, etc., may be sanctioned by the officers empowered to sanction such advances. Other advances require approval of the Taluk Panchayat.

(3)     No long term advances like House Building, House Purchase or House repair advances, Motor car advances, Motor cycle advances, etc., shall be sanctioned to the deputed staff by the Taluk Panchayat. Such advances shall continue to be sanctioned by the respective heads of parent departments in Government,

(4)     (i) The authorities of the Taluk Panchayat who sanction short term advances, shall be responsible for the proper maintenance of accounts relating to advances sanctioned by them and also for their recovery.

Note: According to the instructions issued by Government, festival advance granted to Government servants shall be classified in the accounts under the detailed head "Pay of officers/Pay of staff" to which their pay and allowances are ordinarily debited and recovers of the advance irrespective of the year in which they are effected shall be shown as reduction of expenditure under the same expenditure head "Pay of officers/Pay of staff".

In respect of employees transferred from the Taluk Panchayat to another Taluk Panchayat, Zilla Panchayat or Government, a watch on recoveries of festival advances due to the Taluk Panchayat shall be kept by the sanctioning authority as well as the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat. The recoveries will be remitted by the institution/department which effects the recovery and these receipts shall be accounted for in the books of the Taluk Panchayat as reduction of expenditure under the head "Pay of officers/Pay of staff". The recovery should be taken note of by the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat as well as the authority which sanctioned the advance.

In respect of employees transferred to the Taluk Panchayat, recoveries shall likewise be made by the Taluk Panchayat and remitted to the institution/department from which the employee drew the festival advance. In such cases, the gross amount inclusive of the recovery will be accounted for in the books of the Taluk Panchayat.

(ii) In respect of advances sanctioned by the Taluk Panchayat, the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat shall maintain accounts and watch the recovery thereof.

(5)     (i) The account of advances referred to in sub-rule (4)(i) and (ii) shall be maintained in the Register of Advances in Form No. TP 34. Separate pages shall be allotted in this Register for each type of advance depending on its accounts classification. All the balances outstanding at the end of the previous year shall be first entered in it and then each advance during the year shall be entered as soon as it is made. When an advance is repaid or recovered in cash or is adjusted by deduction from bill on transfer adjustment, the amount should be noted against the original advance in the column for the month in which the recovery or adjustment is made. The advances made during every month, as shown in this register and the columns for recoveries should be totalled at the end of the month and the outstanding balance struck for each type of advance. The register should be balanced at the end of the year and details of outstanding balances carried forward to the next year;

(ii) It shall be the responsibility of each Head of Office to ensure that the accounts of advances kept by him are reconciled with the accounts figures in the books of the Chief Accounts Officer;

(iii) The figures of opening balance, receipts, repayments/adjustments and closing balance in respect of each type of advance for every month have to be reported to the Chief Accounts Officer by each Head of Office by the tenth of the following month. In the office of the Chief Accounts Officer the figures reported by the various heads of offices shall be brought together and their agreement with the account figures verified.

Note 1: Advances should only be made on proper authority. All advances should be recovered or adjusted within a period of three months unless the authority sanctioning the advance orders otherwise.

Note 2: In respect of recoveries of advances given to the Taluk Panchayat staff transferred to other institutions and vice versa, the procedure of cash settlement outlined in the note under Rule 51(4)(i) relating to festival advances shall mutatis mutandis be followed.

Note 3: It shall be the duty of the Internal Audit staff of the Chief Accounts Officer vide Rule 54, to verify among other things, whether advances given by the Taluk Panchayat conform to the procedure and requirements spelt out in these rules. If it is noticed that advances are not recovered or adjusted within a period of three months or within such period as ordered by the sanctioning authority, the Chief Accounts Officer shall, as soon as the default is brought to his attention by his staff, report it to the Executive Officer for suitable remedial action.

(6)     Separate provisions shall be made in the budget estimates of the Taluk Panchayat for payment of personal advances to employees.

Rule - 52.

In respect of loans given by, or channelised through, the Taluk Panchayat in pursuance of schemes implemented by various departments of Government, the maintenance of accounts and other related matters shall be done in accordance with the instructions issued by the departments concerned.

Rule - 53.

(1)     Deposits of the Taluk Panchayat are generally of the following kinds:

(a)      Security Deposits from employees;

(b)      Contractors' deposits for the fulfillment of their contracts;

(c)      Earnest money deposits of tenderers;

(d)      Deposits representing sums which cannot be brought to account under any revenue head; and

(e)      Other Departmental Deposits.

(2)     The instructions pertaining to security deposits of employees are contained in Rule 56. All deposits received by the Taluk Panchayat shall be recorded in a Register in Form No. TP 35 to be maintained by the Chief Accounts Officer. Separate sets of pages are to be allotted therein for different lands of deposits.

(3)     Each, part of the register will open with the details of the previous year's outstanding balances as shown in the previous year's register. The deposits received during the year will then be entered in the relevant part as each transaction occurs. At the end of the month, a total of the deposits received during the month should be made and the total reconciled with the corresponding figure in the monthly statement of accounts and initialled by the Chief Accounts Officer or other officer authorised in this behalf. Repayments in cash or by transfer should be noted against the original credit in the column for the month in which the refund is made and total of the postings should be made at the end of the month and agreed with the corresponding figure in the monthly statement of accounts. A plus and minus memo of deposits showing the opening balance, total of receipts and expenditure and closing balance of deposits shall also be prepared every month. Similar plus and minus memo should be put up at the end of the year.

(4)     Refunds of deposits in cash shall be made only on presentation of a bill in the appropriate form by the Head of Office concerned. Before signing the bill, the Head of office shall verify with reference to his records that the deposit is actually outstanding and that the conditions for refund of the deposit are satisfied. All such bills requires precheck in the office of the Chief Accounts Officer. During this precheck, the Chief Accounts Officer shall verify with reference to his Deposit Register that the deposit is actually outstanding.

(5)     The Deposit balances should not be drawn upon to meet charges debitable to the General fund of the Taluk Panchayats. But deposits remaining unclaimed for three complete account years after their refunds fall due, should be transferred to the credit of Taluk Panchayat Revenues, as lapsed deposits. If claims are subsequently made and admitted, the amounts so claimed may be refunded as miscellaneous charges from the General balance of the Taluk Panchayat, with the sanction of the Taluk Panchayat.

CHAPTER XVI INTERNAL AND STATUTORY AUDITS

Rule - 54.

(1)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall be responsible for internal audit of all the transactions of the Taluk Panchayat. The internal audit shall include in its scope, the audit of receipts, expenditure and accounts of stores and stock.

(2)     The internal audit shall be conducted in two stages, and centrally in the office of the Chief Accounts Officer and the other locally in the departmental offices of the Taluk Panchayat.

(3)     The central audit will be conducted with reference to the records received in the central office, viz., the sanction orders and other communications received from Government, the Zilla Panchayat and the Taluk Panchayat, the Schedules, challans and vouchers received from the Treasury and the accounts of stores and stock received from the Heads of Offices of the Taluk Panchayat.

(4)     In so far as expenditure is concerned, the central audit will consist mainly in seeing,

(i)       that the expenditure is covered by proper sanction;

(ii)      that it conforms to the provisions of the Act, the rules and regulations made thereunder and other financial rules and regulations made applicable to the Taluk Panchayat;

(iii)     that it is covered by provision of funds and that it is within the purpose that the grant was intended to provide;

(iv)    that the demand is supported by a proper voucher duly acknowledged by the payee;

(v)      that the fact of payment has been so recorded as to make a second claim against the Taluk Panchayat impossible;

(vi)    that the classification recorded on the voucher is correct.

(5)     (i) The results of central audit will be communicated by the Chief Accounts Officer to the Heads of Offices of the Taluk Panchayat through letters, audit notes, half margin memoranda, objection statements, etc, The more important observations will be communicated to the Executive Officer also;

(ii) It shall be the responsibility of the Executive Officer and the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat to ensure that the audit observations are replied satisfactorily without delay and settled either by dropping of the objection or by taking follow up action to the satisfaction of internal audit.

(6)     The Chief Accounts Officer shall chalk out a systematic programme for internal audit of all the offices of the Taluk Panchayat, to be got done by the internal audit staff of his office. The internal audit report shall be reviewed by the Chief Accounts Officer and issued to the concerned Heads of Offices for compliance thereof. Any observation that warrants appraisal of the facts by the Executive Officer, shall be communicated to him by the Chief Accounts Officer through an audit note. Any issue that requires the decision of the Taluk Panchayat shall be placed before the Taluk Panchayat through the Finance, Audit and Planning Committee. The decision of the Taluk Panchayat shall be final in all such matters.

(7)     The heads of offices shall produce all initial accounts and records to the internal audit party without any reservation. They shall also furnish any explanation or information required by the audit party besides taking action to remedy the defects or irregularities, pointed out by the internal audit.

(8)     The heads of offices shall also furnish compliance reports in respect of observations not settled at the time of internal audit.

(9)     The internal audit staff shall check all financial transactions with reference to the rules and regulations and standing instructions in force for the respective offices.

(10)   The internal audit staff shall also check the initial accounts of each office with reference to the accounts compiled in the Chief Accounts Officer's office to ensure their accuracy and completeness of the accounts.

Rule - 55.

(1)     According to Section 253 the Comptroller and Auditor General of India will audit the accounts of the Taluk Panchayat. This audit will be conducted by the Accountant General, Karnataka.

(2)     The officers of the Taluk Panchayat shall produce all initial accounts and records to the audit party of the Accountant General without any reservation. They shall also furnish any explanation or information required by the audit party besides taking action to remedy the defects or irregularities, pointed out by audit.

(3)     All Heads of offices of the Taluk Panchayat shall attend promptly to the objections raised and other communications sent by audit in the form of letters/enquiries/audit memoranda/periodical statements of objections/audit reports, etc. The ultimate responsibility to ensure that all audit objections are satisfactorily and expeditiously settled, falls on the Executive Officer. The Heads of Offices may seek the assistance of the Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat for the settlement of audit objections.

(4)     The Accounts Superintendent of the Taluk Panchayat shall obtain periodical returns from all officers of the Taluk Panchayat about the outstanding audit objections, audit reports, etc, with reasons for pendency. The returns shall be reviewed by him and, along with his comments, suggestion for further action, etc, submitted to the Executive Officer, A copy of the review report shall be submitted to the Chief Accounts Officer also.

CHAPTER XVII MISCELLANEOUS

Rule - 56.

The officials who will be in charge of cash and stores, shall furnish Security Deposit as fixed by the Executive Officer or such other officer as may be authorised in this behalf. The Security deposit may be recovered in cash either in one lumpsum or in suitable instalments from the pay of each such official every month. In this connection, the provisions of Articles 352 to 359 of the Karnataka Financial Code shall be followed by the officers concerned.

Rule - 57.

For investments made by the Taluk Panchayat out of surplus funds available, instructions contained in Rule 50(4) shall mutatis mutandis apply. Entries relating to such investments in the Register in Form No. TP 33 shall be kept distinct from those pertaining to Sinking Fund.