The finance ministry has asked high spending ministries like rural development, power, health and family welfare and education to submit monthly accounts detailing their progress on spending.
The move was part of efforts to ensure that the outlays of all major programmes match their outcomes.
"The Prime Minister had written to all the central ministries earlier this year drawing their attention towards the need to match outlays with outcomes. In that context, high spending ministries will now be required to give us details of their monthly accounts," senior ministry officials told Business Standard.
The ministry had, in September, issued a directive to all the central ministries to refrain from bunching their expenses and from spending more than 33 per cent of their outlays in the last quarter.
To ensure better control over expenditure, the ministry had also initiated a comprehensive exercise to strengthen the role of financial advisors in all the central ministries.
Officials said the thinking was that financial advisors should be involved with central projects right from the stage of formulation rather than at the expenditure stage. Every project was to pass the various stages - conception, formulation, appraisal, approval and implementation.
"We are re-writing the charter for financial advisors. Advisors will have the powers to ensure that the ministries evenly space out their spending. If, for some reason, a ministry has to do otherwise, then the concerned secretary will have to provide reasons in writing to overrule the financial advisor," officials said.
The exercise was expected to be completed by the finance ministry over the next three to four months and sent to the Cabinet for approval.
Checks and balances
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The high-spending ministries to submit monthly accounts detailing their progress on expenditure
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The role of financial advisors in all the central ministries to be strengthened
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Every project to pass conception, formulation, appraisal, approval and implementation stages
- Finance Ministry to complete the exercise in 3-4 months and send the proposal for Cabinet's approval
