CHAPTER III

FINANCE AND AUDIT

26. Employees’ State Insurance Fund. — (1) All contributions paid under this Act and all other moneys received on behalf of the Corporation shall be paid into a fund called the Employees’ State Insurance Fund which shall be held and administered by the Corporation for the purposes of this Act.

(2) The Corporation may accept grants, donations and gifts from the Central or any 1[State] Government, 2[* * *] Local authority, or any individual or body whether incorporated or not, for all or any of the purposes of this Act.

3[(3) Subject to the other provisions contained in this Act and to any rules or regulations made in this behalf, all moneys accruing or payable to the said Fund shall be paid into the Reserve Bank of India or such other bank as may be approved by the Central Government to the credit of an account styled the Account of the Employees’ State Insurance Fund.]

(4) Such account shall be operated on by such officers as may be authorised by the Standing Committee with the approval of the Corporation.

[27. Grant by the Central Government. —* * * ]

28. Purposes for which the Fund may be expended. — Subject to the provisions of this Act and of rules made by the Central Government in that behalf, the Employees’ State Insurance Fund shall be expended only for the following purposes, namely —

(i) payment of benefits and provision of medical treatment and attendance to insured persons and, where the medical benefit is extended to their families, the provision of such medical benefit to their families, in accordance with the provisions of this Act and defraying the charges and costs in connection therewith ;

(ii) payment of fees and allowances to members of the Corporation, the Standing Committee and the Medical Benefit Council, the Regional Boards, Local Committees and Regional and Local Medical Benefit Councils ;

(iii) Payment of salaries, leave and joining time allowances, travelling and compensatory allowances, gratuities and compassionate allowances, pensions, contributions to provident or other benefit fund of officers and servants of the Corporation and meeting the expenditure in respect of officers and other services set up for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of this Act ;

(iv) establishment and maintenance of hospitals, dispensaries and other institutions and the provision of medical and other ancillary services for the benefit of insured persons and, where the medical benefit is extended to their families, their families ;

(v) payment of contributions to any 1[State] Government 2[***] local authority or any private body or individual, towards the cost of medical treatment and attendance provided to insured persons and, where the medical benefit is extended to their families, their families, including the cost of any building and equipment, in accordance with any agreement entered into by the Corporation ;

(vi) defraying the cost (including all expenses) of auditing the accounts of the Corporation and of the valuation of its assets and liabilities ;

(vii) defraying the cost (including all expenses) of the Employees’ Insurance Courts set up under this Act ;

(viii) payment of any sums under any contract entered into for the purposes of this Act by the Corporation or the Standing Committee or by any officer duly authorised by the Corporation or the Standing Committee in that behalf ;

(ix) payment of sums under any decree, order or award of and Court or Tribunal against the Corporation or any of its officers or servants for any act done in the execution of his duty or under a compromise or settlement of any suit or other legal proceeding or claim instituted or made against the Corporation ;

(x) defraying the cost and other charges of instituting or defending any civil or criminal proceedings arising out of any action taken under this Act ;

(xi) defraying expenditure, within the limits prescribed, on measures for the improvement of the health and welfare of insured persons and for the rehabilitation and re-employment of insured persons who have been disabled or injured ; and

(xii) such other purposes as may be authorised by the Corpo-ration with the previous approval of the Central Government.

28-A. Administrative expenses. — The types of expenses which may be termed as administrative expenses and the percentage of the income of the Corporation which may be spent for such expenses shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central Government and the Corporation shall keep its administrative expenses within the limit so prescribed by the Central Government.]

29. Holding of property etc. — (1) The Corporation may, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by the Central Government, acquire and hold property, both movable and immovable, sell or otherwise transfer any movable or immovable property which may have become vested in or have been acquired by it and do all things necessary for the purposes for which the Corporation is established.

(2) Subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by the Central Government, the Corporation may from time to time invest any moneys which are not immediately required for expenses properly defrayable under this Act and may, subject to as aforesaid, from time to time re-invest or realise such investments.

(3) The Corporation may, with the previous sanction of the Central Government and on such terms as may be prescribed by it, raise loans and take measures for discharging such loans.

(4) The Corporation may constitute for the benefit of its staff or any class of them, such provident or other benefit fund as it may think fit.

30. Vesting of the property in the Corporation. — All property acquired before the establishment of the Corporation shall vest in the Corporation and all income derived and expenditure incurred in this behalf shall be brought into the books of the Corporation.

31. Expenditure by Central Government to be treated as a loan.—* * * ]

32. Budget estimates. — The Corporation shall in each year frame a budget showing the probable receipts and the expenditure which it proposes to incur during the following year and shall submit a copy of the budget for the approval of the Central Government before such date as may be fixed by it in that behalf. The budget shall contain provisions adequate in the opinion of the Central Government for the discharge of the liabilities incurred by the Corporation and for the main-tenance of a working balance.

33. Accounts. — The Corporation shall maintain correct accounts of its income and expenditure in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government.

34. Audit. — (1) The accounts of the Corporation shall be audited annually by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India and any expenditure incurred by him in connection with such audit shall be payable by the Corporation to the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.

(2) The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India and any person appointed by him in connection with the audit of the accounts of the Corporation shall have the same rights and privileges and authority in connection with such audit as the Comptroller and Auditor-General has, in connection with the audit of Government accounts and, in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books, accounts, connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of the offices of the Corporation.

(3) The accounts of the Corporation as certified by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India or any other person appointed by him in this behalf together with the audit report thereon shall be forwarded to the Corporation which shall forward the same to the Central Government along with its comments on the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General.]

35. Annual Report. — The Corporation shall submit to the Central Government an annual report of its work and activities.

36. Budget, audited accounts and the annual report to be placed before 1[Parliament]. — The annual report, the audited accounts of the Corporation, 2[together with the 3[report of the Comptro-ller and Auditor-General of India thereon and the comments of the Corporation on such report] under section 34] and the budget as finally adopted by the Corporation shall be placed before 1[Parliament] 4[***].

37. Valuation of assets and liabilities. — The Corporation shall, at intervals of 5[three years], have a valuation of its assets and liabilities made by a valuer appointed with the approval of the Central Government :

Provided that it shall be open to the Central Government to direct a valuation to be made at such other times as it may consider necessary.