Mukherjee presents 16th 'vote-on-account' since independence

New Delhi, Feb 16 (ANI): Acting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the country's 16th vote-on-account in Parliament on Monday for fiscal 2009-10.

Prior to Mukherjee's announcement, India has seen 15 vote on accounts in the past six decades.

The first vote-on-account was presented in 1951 and since then, every time the government changed hands. The last vote-on-account being 2004, by former Finance Minister Jaswant Singh.

A vote-on-account is primarily a Finance Minister's statement to seek Parliament's approval for obligatory expenditures that the government has to incur for the first three or four months of a financial year.

In addition to this, there are also revised estimates of the expenditure incurred by the government during the year that is coming to an end. These estimates provide an assessment of how efficiently and promptly has the government spent its resources. There are also the revised estimates of the government revenue from different sources.

A vote-on-account gives an idea of the tax compliance, tax buoyancy in different segments of the economy and of the effectiveness of the policies to mobilise tax as well as non-tax revenues.

The government does need Parliament's approval for such an account. (ANI)