Funds, Finance, and Audit of the Authority and Committee

12. Funds, Finance, and Audit of the Authority and Committee (1) The State Government may provide grants to the Authority and Committee during each financial year, as it considers necessary for operations of the Authority and the Committee. (2) The Authority and the Committee shall have separate Personal Deposit (PD) Account in the Government Treasury to hold grants from the State Government, under this Act. (3) Further, there shall be dedicated Bank Account of the Authority and the Committee respectively, in any Scheduled Commercial Bank permitted by the State Government to hold funds in which all its income from application fees, fines, and funds received from any other sources that the State Government may approve from time to time shall be credited. (4) The expenditure of the Authority and the Committee shall be incurred from the PD Account and Bank Account maintained by them respectively, in accordance with the rules or procedure laid down by the State Government from time to time. (5) Any Officer of the Authority or the Committee who incurs an expenditure in violation of the rules or procedure provided in sub-section (4) or orders of the State Government in this regard, shall be held personally liable for such violation. (6) The Authority and the Committee shall prepare, in such form and at such time, each year as may be prescribed, a budget in respect of the ensuing financial year, showing the estimated receipts and expenditure and forward to the State Government for necessary approval. (7) The Chairperson of the Authority and the Committee shall be the Controlling Officer with regards to himself and all other officers of the Authority and the Committee, respectively, and shall exercise all such financial powers as are ordinarily vested in the Head of Department in addition to the Chairperson of the Authority or the Committee. (8) The Secretary of the Authority and Member Secretary of the Committee shall be the drawing and disbursing officer and exercise all such powers as may be vested in the Head of Office in addition to the powers delegated by the Authority or the Committee. (9) The Authority and the Committee shall maintain proper records of accounts which shall be duly audited internally by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) empanelled Chartered Accountant Firm, in the manner as may be prescribed by the State Government and shall submit such accounts before the State Government. (10) The Authority and the Committee as soon as possible after closing of its annual accounts, prepare a statement of accounts in such form and forward it to the Accountant General by such date as the State Government may notify for audit under Section 14 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service Act), 1971. (11) The State Government shall provide for the conduct of the test audit or full audit of accounts of the Authority and the Committee(s) at regular intervals by an auditor appointed by the Principal Accountant General (Audit), Jharkhand or auditors appointed by the Audit Directorate, Finance Department of Jharkhand as may be prescribed by the Rules. (12) The annual accounts of the Authority and the Committee together with the audit report thereon shall be forwarded to the State Government. (13) It shall be the responsibility of the Authority to annually present a report on the work done by the Authority and the Committee, to the State Government within 31st August of every year.