The Goa Panchayats (Accounts, Audit and Custody of Funds) Rules, 1997

rules · 1994 · Goa

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Parent: The Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (5a81924725426dc4fd1730a6d0d2b940d9864fc5)

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The Goa Panchayats (Accounts, Audit and Custody of Funds) Rules, 1997 ________ Department of Panchayati Raj and Community Development Directorate of Panchayat ________ Notification 17/28/DP/ACT-AUDIT/95 Whereas the draft of the Goa Panchayats (Accounts, Audit and Custody of Funds) Rules, 1995, was published as required by sub-section (1) of section 240 of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (Goa Act 14 of 1994), at pages 235 to 238 of the Official Gazette, Series I No. 23, dated 7-9-1995 under Notification No. 17/28/DP/ACT-Audit/95, dt. 11-8-95 of the Department of Community Development and Panchayats, inviting objections and suggestions from all persons likely to be affected thereby before the expiry of thirty days from the date of publication of the said Notification in the Official Gazette; And Whereas the said Gazette was made available to the public on 7th September, 1995: And Whereas vide subsequent Corrigendum/Notification No.17/28/DP/ACT-AUDIT/95, dated 4 th October, 1999, of the Department of Panchayat Raj and Community Development, published at pages 387 to 392 of the Official Gazette, Series I No. 32, dated 7-11-1996, the forms prescribed under the said Rules, 1995 and which were not published alongwith the Rules, 1995, for objections/suggestions, were published inviting objections/suggestions thereto from all persons likely to be affected thereby before the expiry of fifteen days from the date of publication of the said Corrigendum/Notification in the Official Gazette; And Whereas, the said Gazette was made available, to the public on 7th November, 1996; And Whereas, no objections/suggestions have been received from the public on the said draft Rules and Forms by the Government. Now, Therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 184 and 187 read wit

Rule TOC

1 · Short title and commencement.— (1) These rules may be called the Goa Panchayats (Accounts, Audit and Custody of Funds) Rules, 1997.

3 · (1) A Panchayat Fund shall be jointly administered by the Secretary and the Sarpanch of the Panchayat and shall be held in the Bank.

4 · (1) The Secretary and the Sarpanch of the Panchayat shall jointly operate the Accounts of the Panchayat Fund;

5 · The Secretary shall not, without the previous sanction of the Government, make any addition to, alteration in or modification of, any register or form specified in these rules or introduce any new form.

6 · The Secretary may, for administrative convenience, maintain such Registers as may be auxiliary to the account books specified in these rules, but such Register will not be recognised as account books specified in these rules.

7 · The accounts shall be maintained separately for each year.

8 · The accounts shall be kept in the language in which the Panchayat decides to keep its proceedings under rule 34 of the Goa Panchayat (Meetings) Rules, 1996.

9 · All books of accounts and registers shall be strongly bound. No accounts shall be prepared in loose sheets or loosely bound vouchers.

10 · Cash Book and Receipt Books shall be serially machine numbered and each page shall be stamped with the Panchayat seal, certified by B. D. O. or the officer authorised by the Director. The pages of all other accounts books shall also be serially numbered. No page shall be torn or removed from any account book. Pages may, when necessary, however be cancelled by drawing a line through them and writing "Cancelled". Such cancellation should be attested by the Secretary and the Sarpanch.

11 · No erasures or overwritings shall be made in any account books. Corrections shall be made, if required, in red ink by drawing a line through the wrong entry and writing the correct figure in a nearby space. All such corrections shall be properly attested by the Secretary and the Sarpanch.

12 · All money transactions to which any member, Secretary, or an employee of a Panchayat is a party in his official capacity, shall forthwith and without any reservation be brought to account in the appropriate register and all money received by such member, Secretary or employee, as the case may be, shall form part of the Panchayat Fund. Any person paying money for being credited to the Panchayat Fund shall present it to the Secretary or the person authorised to collect such sum.

13 · As soon as any sum is received by a person authorised to receive, a receipt in Form No. 4 duly signed and dated shall be issued out of a Printed Book containing the receipt form in duplicate by

14 · Any person having a claim against Panchayat shall present a voucher duly receipted and stamped with a receipt stamp for such value as specified under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 and the rules made thereunder.

15 · The bills shall be prepared and signed in ink. No payment shall be made on a voucher or order signed by a person other than the Secretary. No money shall be paid on a voucher or orders signed with a rubber or facsimile stamp. When the acquitance on a voucher is given by a mark or seal or thumb impression, it shall be attested by some known person. After payment, every voucher shall be kept on record in such manner as may be specified by the Director of Accounts.

16 · Every voucher shall bear or have attached to it an acknowledgement of the payment, signed by the person for whom or in whose behalf the claim is put forth. No payment shall be made in the absence of the necessary acknowledgement. If a voucher is lost, a certificate of payment prepared in manuscript and signed by the Secretary and endorsed, if necessary, by his superior officer, shall be placed on record. Full particulars of the claim shall invariably be set forth.

17 · Date of payment shall, whenever possible be noted by the payees in their acknowledgement. If, for any reason, such as illiteracy, on the presentation of a receipt in anticipation of payment, it is not possible to note the date of payment by the payee, the date of payment shall be noted by the Secretary under his initials.

18 · In the cases of payment made by remittance through post office, the postal money order receipt shall be kept with the voucher. In the case of payment for articles received by value payable post, the value payable cover together with the invoice or bill showing the details of the item paid for shall be kept with the voucher.

19 · No duplicate or copy of a receipt granted for money received or of a bill or other document for payment of money which has already been paid, shall be issued on the ground that the original has been lost. If any necessity arises for such a document, a certificate may be given that on a specified day, a certain sum on a certain account was received from or paid to a certain person.

20 · The accounts of a Panchayat Fund shall be maintained in the forms appended to these Rules in accordance with the instructions given in the said forms and the provisions of the following instructions.

21 · Monthly and Annual Accounts.— (a) Every Panchayat shall, at the end of each month as well as at the end of the year, prepare an Account in Form No.10 showing the receipts and payments classified under the several Heads of Account contained in the Budget Estimates.

22 · Pass Book.— (a) The Pass Book of the Bank shall be under the lock and key of the Secretary.

23 · (i) The accounts of a Panchayat shall be audited once a year by the Director of Accounts.

24 · The Audit Officer shall, within one month after the completion of audit, submit a copy of the audit report to the Panchayats and to the Chief Executive Officer.

25 · (i) The Budget estimate of a Panchayat shall be prepared by the Secretary in Form No. II appended to these rules not later than 15th February and forwarded to the concerned Block Development Officer not later than the 1st of March.

26 · Preservation of Accounts Records.— All the account records shall be preserved for such time as may be specified by the Director of Accounts from time to time and no account record shall be destroyed without his written permission.