NEW DELHI: Inundated with unnecessary requests and approvals that don’t require its clearance, the Finance Department has asked all other departments to refrain from forwarding proposals that fall within their own delegated financial powers, an order issued by the department read.
Departments have now been directed to revisit the financial powers assigned to them under the Delegation of Financial Power Rules, 1978, and act within that framework, without burdening the Finance Department with routine or redundant approvals. The direction comes in the wake of what the department described as a persistent inundation of tender and budget-related files that do not require its clearance.
The order noted that despite repeated guidelines, departments continue to send proposals—such as vetting of tender documents, MoUs, and rules framed under statutory provisions—to the finance department for approval, even though these fall under their own jurisdiction. It also highlighted that cabinet notes are often forwarded without verifying the department’s schemes or fund allocations, violating the Transaction of Business Rules, 1993.
Departments have been reminded that routine operational and administrative matters should be dealt with internally.