Kathmandu. Rule 32 of the Financial Procedures and Financial Accountability Regulations, 2077 has a provision that funds cannot be transferred until the end of the first quarter period. However, contrary to this regulation, the government has transferred around Rs 29 crore till mid-October last year.

According to the details provided by the Ministry of Finance, the thematic ministries have transferred Rs 16.15 crore to various ministries and agencies during the period. In this way, in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, 28 crore 99 lakh 90 thousand rupees were transferred against the law. This does not include the amount heading of source transfer and additional release.

In August, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies transferred the amount against the law, while in September, the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology were seen transferring the amount against the regulation. Likewise, funds under miscellaneous headings have been transferred once to the Ministry of Finance in August and to the Ministry of Home Affairs four times in September.

Tanka Prasad Pandey, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, said that the money was used for payment in case of compulsory liability. “The amount has been provided for the payment of any scheme and programme due to a flaw in the Appropriation Act, the government has created a liability due to the court order and the decision made by the Council of Ministers for financial support,” he said. It cannot be transferred against the law,” Pandey said.

According to the details of the Ministry of Finance, an amount of Rs 7.65 crore has been transferred to the Ministry of Home Affairs under the title of ‘Abanda’ in the budget for the current fiscal year, Rs 30.8 million on October 6 and Rs 30 lakh on October 6. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT) has transferred Rs 13.76 crore in September last year.

The Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation has transferred Rs 2 crore 17 lakh 83 thousand while the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has transferred Rs 21.36 lakh in September.

According to the data received from the Ministry of Finance, around eight billion rupees have been transferred in the first five months of the current fiscal year. Out of this, various ministries have transferred Rs 6.87 billion in internal amounts, while the Ministry of Finance has transferred Rs 935 million under miscellaneous headings.

On July 17, the Ministry of Finance had sent a circular to all the ministries and agencies not to transfer the amount in the first quarter. Point No. 55 of the budget implementation guideline specifies the circumstances under which the amount should not be transferred. It seems that the Ministry of Finance has issued a circular not to transfer the amount in the first quarter of the fiscal year and in the month of June in the first quarter of the fiscal year. Experts believe that the transfer of money from the Ministry of Finance itself in violation of the regulations and budget implementation guidelines is not only a violation of financial discipline but also a violation of the law.

Economist Dr. Dilliraj Khanal said that transferring money in the first trimester is against the existing law. According to him, no one has been held responsible even when the law was violated. “We are not abiding by the laws made by ourselves. There is no need for anyone to be held responsible for the violation,” he said, adding that there is chaos and anarchy in the budget system. The failure of our financial and overall system is due to the increasing number of such irregularities. ”

This is not the first time that ministries have been transferring money in violation of the Financial Procedure and Financial Responsibility Act and Regulations. In the previous years, various ministries have been seen transferring funds, source differences and additional releases immediately after the start of the fiscal year. Comparatively, this year’s amount is less than in previous years.

According to the Ministry of Finance, Rs 2.51 billion was transferred in the first three months of the last fiscal year 2081/82. Out of this, Rs 2.36 billion was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development alone for the subsidy to the sugarcane farmers and the payment to the dairy farmers.

The Office of the Auditor General has been mentioning in its report every year the issue of money transfer against the law. The 62nd annual report of the Auditor General, 2082 states that the activities against the law such as transferring money in the first quarter and the end of the year, transferring money to projects and programs with zero budget allocation and transferring budget allocated to the projects of national pride should be stopped.

According to the report of the Auditor General, in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year 2080/81, only Rs 11.64 billion i.e. 4.54 percent of the total annual difference was transferred. Out of this year’s transfer, Rs 26.90 billion was transferred in the month of June 2081 and Rs 15.98 billion in the last week of June 2081. Similarly, the 62nd report of the Auditor General states that the Financial Procedures and Financial Accountability Regulations prohibit the transfer of money under the heading of unallocated expenditure, but an amount of Rs 11.75 billion has been transferred to 23 programs with zero budget. The budget allocated for the national pride projects cannot be transferred to other projects. However, in the fiscal year 2080/81, Rs 5.28 billion allocated for eight national pride projects was transferred to other projects.

Similarly, out of the total annual budget of the fiscal year 2079/80, Rs 95.29 billion or 5.31 percent of the annual allocation has been transferred. Out of this, Rs 23.10 billion was transferred in July 2020 and Rs 13.81 billion was transferred in the last week of June÷ 2020. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, Rs 33.15 billion or 34.79 per cent of the total amount has been transferred. The 61st report of the Auditor General states that the law should be followed while doing such work.

Clause 3 (3) of the Appropriation Act, 2079 has a provision that funds may be transferred from one or more grants to one or more than one number of grants in such a way that it does not exceed 10 percent of the total amount. The Auditor General’s report states that the amount was transferred contrary to the legal provisions.

Hemant Joshi/RSS