Delhi govt enhances financial powers of top bureaucrats for official works

New Delhi, Sep 3 (PTI) The Delhi government has revised the financial powers delegated to the heads of departments (HoDs) and administrative secretaries, with the authority to sanction larger sums on office equipment, refreshments and food served at official programmes, hire vehicles and for other official purposes.

The financial powers of the Delhi government's top bureaucrats were last revised in 2019.

According to a finance department memorandum, under the revised financial powers, the HoDs and administrative secretaries have also been authorised to directly procure IT-related items, carry out repairs of office buildings, maintenance and rentals, purchase equipment, hire human resources, appoint consultants and even replace condemned official vehicles.

The financial powers of the HoDs and administrative secretaries for sanctioning various works, projects and schemes of the government remain unchanged at Rs 10 crore and Rs 50 crore, as were fixed in the 2019 revision, respectively.

The administrative secretaries will now have full financial powers regarding contingent expenditure, while the HoDs will have limits of Rs 15 lakh (recurring) and Rs 5 lakh (non-recurring expenditures).

For the purposes of hiring any kind of vehicles, the administrative secretaries will have full powers, while the HoDs will be authorised to sanction Rs 5 lakh per month as well as reimburse Rs 4,000 per person per month as conveyance charge.

According to the 2019 revision, the finance department's permission was needed for vehicles to be hired by the departments.

The bureaucrats will also have enhanced financial powers in the payment of legal charges. The administrative secretaries will have full powers in these matters subject to the law department's rules and rates.

The administrative secretaries have been given full financial powers for the purchase, repair, hire and condemnation of furniture and fixtures in offices, while a limit of Rs 10 lakh per annum has been put in case of the HoDs.

Although the bureaucrats cannot purchase new official vehicles, the administrative secretaries have been delegated the financial power for the replacement of vehicles against condemnation, according to the net dealer price prescribed by the Staff Car rules, the memorandum said.

For the purposes of minor repairs and day-to-day maintenance of government buildings, the administrative secretaries have been empowered with sanctioning Rs 20 lakh and the HoDs Rs 10 lakh per annum.

The administrative secretaries will also be able to hire consultants, consultancy services and professionals now.

For the purchase of stationary stores, the administrative secretaries will have full financial powers, whereas the HoDs will have a cap of Rs 50 lakh per year.

Both the administrative secretaries and HoDs will have full financial powers in the purchase of all office equipment and other services, including IT-related goods and services.

The administrative secretary will have full powers to decide whether the equipment and services fall under this category in accordance with the information technology (IT) department's instructions.

The administrative secretaries were earlier provided Rs 25 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, respectively, for the purchase of computers, laptops, printers and furniture.

The administrative secretaries will exercise full financial powers for expenditure on refreshments and meals served at official press conferences, meetings, conferences and seminars. The amount will be capped at Rs 50 lakh per annum in case of the HoDs.

The existing powers of the HoDs and secretaries were Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh per year according to the 2019 revision. There was a ceiling of Rs 50 per person on refreshments served at official meetings and conferences. The cap on meals was Rs 300 per head in case of the HoDs and Rs 500 in case of the administrative secretaries.

All the financial powers will be exercised by the HoDs and administrative secretaries subject to the budget allocations and the extant government rules and codal formalities and guidelines, the memorandum said. PTI VIT RC