It is now learnt officially, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) of the Ministry of Finance could not create the Fund till date following objection. According to official sources, the Ministry of Railways has been pursuing with the Ministry of Finance for creation of the NERRDF at the earliest. The CGA, Ministry of Finance, has rejected introduction of Account head in the list of Major and Minor heads of Accounts of Government as it was not in sync with the accounting procedure and standards of the Government.
The CGA’s objection is on the ground that capital investments are meant for creation of Assets and transfer of budgetary support to proposed Fund would not result in actual creation of assets. It is also ascertained from official sources that the office of Controller and Auditor General (C&AG) of India has not agreed to such accounting adjustments. The C&AG has suggested to create the proposed Fund from revenue surplus of railways itself and not from the GBS. A fresh reference citing Cabinet decision to this effect was made to the Ministry of Finance, which has endorsed the earlier decisions of CGA and C&AG.
However, creation of a non-lapsable new Fund from the railways revenue surplus has not been found feasible, maintains a competent source in the Ministry of Railways. Benefits from creation of such a Fund is intended to act as a catalyst of growth for the North East region. In view thereof, the Ministry of Railways has approached the CGA of the Finance Ministry again for reconsidering the proposal.
It would be germane to mention here that during Emergency in 1976, then Indira Gandhi Government had created All India Radio and Door Darshan (Non-lapsable) Fund. Citing this precedent, the Ministry of Railways has approached the Finance Ministry afresh to resolve the issue of creation of non-lapsable NERRDF to help accelerate development and augmentation of rail infrastructure in this vital North East region of strategic importance. Advantages of such non-lapsable Fund will help faster growth of rail infrastructure in the North East region, as resources largely will be free from lapsing of unspent amount at the end of financial year on March 31 every year and its inclusion in the new appropriation by the Parliament. The North East region is mired in insurgency and terrain us landscape, slowing development of capital-intensive infrastructures like railways. Introduction of non-lapsable NERRDF is essential and, therefore, sine quo none!
India
Creation of North East Region Rail Development Fund, a non-starter
M.Y.Siddiqui - 2015-11-06 10:36
Creation of a non-lapsable North East Region Rail Development Fund (NERRDF), duly approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and incorporated in the Rail Budget 2014-15, is yet to take off although we are in the second half of the financial year 2015-16. Under the NERRDF, 25 per cent of yearly requirement were to be provided by the Railways through General Budgetary Support (GBS) from the General Public Exchequer and 75 per cent from the Ministry of Finance dividend-free, as additionality to GBS.