The Accounts Department of a Railway Administration is mainly responsible for :- ·Keeping the accounts of the railway in accordance with the prescribed rules: ·The check with reference to rules or orders (Known as “Internal Check”) of transactions affectingthe receipts and expenditure of railway; ·Prompt settlement of proper claims against the railway ; ·Tendering, as part of its important functions, advice to the administration whenever required or necessary in all matters involving railway finance; ·Compilation of budgets in consultation with other departments and monitoring the budgetary control procedures as may be laid down in the relevant orders and Code rules from time to time ; ·Generally discharging other management accounting functions such as providing financial data for management reporting, assisting inventory management, participation in purchase/contracting decisions and surveys for major schemes in accordance with the relevant rules and orders; and Seeing that there are no financial irregularities in the transactions of the railway. | In the exercise of their financial powers, the sanctioning authorities must pay due regard to the following principles: — ·The expenditure should not prima facie be more than the occasion demands, and that every Government servant should exercise the same vigilance in respect of expenditure incurred from public moneys as a person of ordinary prudence would exercise in respect of the expenditure of his own money. ·No authority should exercise its powers of sanctioning expenditure to pass an order which will be directly or indirectly to its own advantage. ·Public moneys should not be utilized for the benefit of a particular person or section of the community unless — (i) The amount of expenditure involved is insignificant; or (ii) A claim for the amount could be enforced in a court of law; or (iii) The expenditure is in pursuance of a recognised policy or custom. ·The amount of allowances, such as travelling allowances, granted to meet expenditure of a particular type, should be so regulated that the allowances are not on the whole sources of profit to the recipients. |
