The Tamil Nadu government will reduce the allocation for the Governor’s Discretionary Fund (DF) from ₹5 crore to ₹3 crore this year and initiate an audit over the use of improper “Finance Codes” and lack of details for a significant percentage of the expenditure done by the Raj Bhavan, Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said on Wednesday.
During the discussion on the budgetary demands for his departments in the Assembly, Mr. Rajan said the DF had been reduced since only close to ₹3 crore was spent last year by the Raj Bhavan at the time of preparation of this year’s budget. The reduction was done in accordance with the general norm that no department could demand the allocation for coming year the amount they were unable to spend in the current year.
He said the Finance Department decided to conduct the audit to ensure that the allocated funds were utilised properly and to avoid issues that could be raised in the future by other agencies such as the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
The government was also planning to impart training to officials to ensure the expenditure were recorded under proper “Finance Codes”.
Welcoming the decision to audit, Leader of the House Duraimurugan said the mistake committed by anyone, even God, should be either be rectified or attract punishment. Importantly, Mr. Rajan said his perusal of records revealed that the initial increase in the DF to ₹50 lakh towards the end of financial year 2017-18 was done “unusually” by the then Finance Secretary without the Ministers concerned seeing or approving the relevant files.
The increase was done in response to a letter from Governor-Secretary that, according to him, seemed to have an “inappropriate” and “threatening” tone. The letter cited a decision taken by a committee formed during the Governors’ conference, which felt that the DF at the disposal of the Governor, who is the head of the State, was meagre.
He said the ₹50 lakh allocated towards the end of that financial year was not utilised and more than ₹49 lakh was transferred to the Raj Bhavan’s household expenditure head. The DF was increased to ₹5 crore in the subsequent budget, he said.
Though the description of expenses said the majority of ₹5 crore was given to the organisation Akshaya Patra, which intended to supply breakfast in some government schools, the expenditure was recorded under household expenditure head.
The then Governor-Secretary, before leaving office and moving to another State, gave an account without signature or seal, stating that ₹4.49 crore was given to Akshaya Patra but without giving any evidence.
He questioned how such an initiative launched by the organisation Akshaya Patra through the DF of the Governor, without any knowledge of the Ministers, could be considered an initiative of the then government.
Mr. Rajan said no other States increased the DF of Governor as Tamil Nadu. He stressed that the present government was allocating adequate demands since the present Governor took charge, based on the Raj Bhavan’s demands and after approval from the Ministers.
These included ₹2.1 crore for purchasing five vehicles, including a luxury car, around ₹1 crore for organising various functions, besides funds for buying new furniture.
