1. The Significance of head 'Government Account' is
explained in note 4 below. The other headings in the
summary hold balances on which Government has a liability
to repay the money received or has a claim to recover the
amount paid or they represent transactions pending for
adjustment, as in Suspense and Remittance heads. The
balances are not a complete record of the financial position
of the Union as they do not take into account all physical
assets of the State, such as value of all Government lands,
Monuments, Natural forests etc. nor do they take into
account accrued dues or outstanding liabilities, which are
not reflected in the Government accounts maintained on
cash basis.
2. A summary of receipts, disbursements and balances
under the Debt, Deposit, Advances, Suspense and
Remittance heads and the Contingency Fund is given in
Statement No.13.
3. On the unreconciled differences in the closing
balances under the heads in the Public Account vis-a-vis the
detailed/subsidiary accounts maintained in Ministries,
Departments, Attached and Subordinate offices, steps are
being taken to settle the discrepancies as soon as possible.
On the unreconciled differences pending for over 10 to 15
years, action is being taken to write off the differences or
credit them to revenue.
4. The head 'Government Account' in the
Consolidated Fund receives certain debits and credits at the
end of every year. The balances in heads 'Inter State
Settlement' and 'Transfer to Contingency Fund' close to
'Government Account' every year i.e. the balances in the
heads are transferred to 'Government Account'. The revenue
account is closed every year as also the capital receipts and
expenditure account (other than Public Debt and Loans and
Advances accounts). The net deficit or surplus in these
accounts, closed every year, are transferred to 'Government
Account'. The 'Government Account' thus represents, in a
sense, the cumulative deficit and surplus of the past, taken
together, under the heads closing to 'Government Account'
every year. Under the system of book-keeping followed in
Government Accounting, the balances under 'Government
Account', thus represents the cumulative surplus and deficit
of past years in the heads of account whose balances are not
carried forward to next year's accounts. After adding to
'Government Account' the balances under Debt, Loans,
Deposit, Advances, Suspense and Remittance heads and the
Contingency Fund, the net amount is the closing cash balance
at the end of the year and the balances thus worked out are
proved. The computation of changes in 'Government
Account' at the end of 2009-2010 given below will show how
the amount at the end of the year has been arrived at.