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Who Controls the Nation's Purse?
In a parliamentary democracy the government may spend only what the legislature allows. Article 265 says no tax can be levied or collected except by authority of law, and Article 266 places the revenue the government receives in one pool, the Consolidated Fund of India. Nothing leaves that pool without Parliament's sanction. This single idea explains the whole budget procedure: the budget statement, the voting on demands, the appropriation bill and the special status of money bills. Exam setters love this chapter because almost every answer is a fixed article number or a fixed number of days, so a student who has memorised the pattern scores quickly. These cards separate the three funds of the Union, the Money Bill rules, the cut motions and the stages of the budget, so that you can answer such questions in seconds.
1. Money can be withdrawn from which fund only after Parliament passes an Appropriation Act?
2. Who decides whether a bill is a Money Bill?
3. Within how many days must the Rajya Sabha return a Money Bill with its recommendations?
4. Which Article of the Constitution establishes the Contingency Fund of India?
5. Which cut motion asks that the amount of a demand be reduced to Re 1?
6. Which of the following is charged on the Consolidated Fund of India and so is not voted by Parliament?
7. Which Article allows the Lok Sabha to grant an advance for part of the financial year before the full budget is passed?
8. A teacher asks Class VIII where the government keeps the provident fund deposits of its employees. The correct answer is: