Correct Option
The Parliament exercises significant control over public finance through various constitutional and legislative mechanisms.
- Placing the Annual Financial Statement (Budget) before the Parliament (Article 112) allows for parliamentary scrutiny and debate on the government's financial proposals, including revenue and expenditure estimates.
- Withdrawal of moneys from the Consolidated Fund of India is strictly regulated. As per Article 114, no money can be withdrawn without an Appropriation Bill being passed by Parliament, thereby ensuring legislative authorization for all government expenditure.
- Provisions for supplementary grants (Article 115) and vote-on-account (Article 116) enable Parliament to authorize additional or advance expenditure when necessary, maintaining its control over the executive's financial needs beyond the regular budget.
- Introducing the Finance Bill in Parliament is crucial for giving effect to the government's financial proposals for the ensuing financial year, including taxation measures. Parliament's approval is mandatory for these proposals to become law.
Incorrect Options
Statement 4 is not a currently established method of parliamentary control over public finance in India. India does not have a statutory Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) that conducts a periodic or mid-year review of government programmes against macroeconomic forecasts and expenditure. While parliamentary committees review expenditure, a dedicated institutional mechanism like a PBO for this specific function does not exist.
Therefore, options (b), (c), and (d) are incorrect as they include statement 4.