Q1.
Why do you think that Parliament keeps an eye on government expenditure? (Hint: Whose money does the government spend?)
Answer
Because it is not the government’s money — it is the people’s money. Government revenue comes from citizens: from the taxes we pay directly and from the taxes built into almost everything we buy, and from public assets that belong to the nation. The government only handles that money; it does not own it.
Now follow the chain. The people cannot each check the accounts themselves, so they elect representatives. Those representatives sit in Parliament. So Parliament watches the spending on the people’s behalf — which is exactly why the chapter says Parliament “approves and monitors government expenditure through the annual budget, and examining the distribution of funds to different ministries”.
| What Parliament does | What it prevents |
|---|---|
| Approves the budget before the money is spent | Spending on things the people’s representatives never agreed to |
| Examines the distribution of funds between ministries | One department being starved while another is over-funded |
| Monitors the spending afterwards, through committees | Money being approved for one purpose and quietly used for another, or simply wasted |
The rule behind it: in a democracy the body that raises the money must be the body that permits it to be spent. That is why the Executive prepares the budget but the Legislature sanctions it (see the table on page 153), and why a Money Bill can begin only in the directly elected Lok Sabha. The chapter adds the other half of the bargain: the government is expected to give Parliament the necessary information in a timely and accurate manner — scrutiny is impossible without honest figures.