Channel of supervision and accountability

Procedure followed in Decision Making Process including channels of supervision and accountability 

What is the procedure followed to take a decision for various matters 

The Board is governed by the Rules and Regulations of the Government of India and is following the Fundamental Rules, Supplementary Rules, General Financial Rules, Revised Leave Rules 1972, Staff Car Rules etc.

The Board have also framed its own Rules and guidelines for the proper administration of the affairs of the Board. The decisions are taken based on the Rules and procedures in force.

What are the documented procedures / laid down procedures/ Defined Criteria /Rules to arrive at a particular decision for important matters? What are different levels through which a decision process moves? 

The procedure / criteria followed and the levels through which a decision process moves are given in detail in para 3.6.

What are the arrangements to communicate the decision to the public?

Decisions relating to implementation of various schemes operated through Development Department & Marketing Department as well as other important matters requiring public attention are being communicated to the public through press release, TV/Radio, e mail, Board’s website etc. Board’s publication, the `Spice India`, is a major medium of communication with the public.

Who are the officers at various levels whose opinions are sought for the process of decision making? 

In respect of subsidy schemes, the opinion of the Field Officer, Assistant Director (at Divisional Office level) Dy. Director (at Regional Office level) and Director (Development) at Head Office level are sought for arriving at a decision.

Similarly the opinion of various officers and the Heads of Departments are sought, for taking decisions relating to matters concerning the respective Departments. Regarding matters involving financial commitments of various Departments, the opinion of the Director Finance is obtained to arrive at a decision.

Procedure followed in decision making for important matters. 

The procedure followed in decision making process in respect of important subjects is as follows.

Procedure for approval of schemes or for major non- recurring expenditure, where the Board/ Government is the sanctioning authority. 

The policy decisions relating to the activities and schemes of the organization are taken in the meetings of the Spices Board, constituted under the Spices Board Act. The Board has 32 members representing various interests such as spice growers, exporters, spice producing states, etc and is headed by the Chairman appointed by Govt. of India.  In addition to this, statutory committees (Executive Committee and the Research and Development Committee for Cardamom & Market Development Committee for spices) are formed to scrutinize various matters and make recommendation to the Board.  The Board and committees meet periodically for transacting business.

The Director (Finance) will be invariably con­sulted before the schemes/ proposals are placed before the Secretary/ Committee/Board.

Proposals for schemes and other important matters are referred to the concerned committees of the Board, which in turn studies the proposals and make recommendations. The Board takes into account the recommendations of the committees also for arriving at a decision. Generally the schemes are proposed for a Medium Term Frame work for 3 years. Such schemes which require approval by the Ministry/ other relevant committees like SFC, EFC etc. on the basis of the financial powers and other related matters, are sent to the Ministry for approval.

As regards schemes or proposals for major non-recurring expenditure, they will be submitted in the format in which such schemes/ proposals are to be submitted to the Government for sanction. This format will inter-alia contain the following details:-

1)Title of the Scheme

2)Brief description and objects.

3)Justification

4)Description of the manner and period in which expenditure is to be incurred.

  1. Staff requirement, if any.

  2. Financial implications.

  3. Foreign exchange involved, if any.

  4. Benefits expected, and

  5. Specific sanction required.

On receipt of sanction from the relevant authority for the various schemes, the concerned Departments frame the scheme rules and submit it to the Secretary for approval. After receiving approval, the schemes are implemented based on the budget approval for the respective Mid Term Frame Work for 3 years.

Implementation of the schemes is taken up by the Department concerned, for which the following procedure is adopted.

Proposals for implementation will be initiated from the Department concerned and pro­cessed through the Accounts Division.

The Accounts Unit of the Department concerned will examine the proposals and in doing so, will inter-alia verify the following, viz:-

that the proposal is complete in all respects/details and arithmetical accuracy is checked;

that necessary budget provision as approved by the Government exists; and that the rules and procedures laid down by the Government/Board and in the Office Manual are followed in respect of purchases/civil works/other expenditure as the case may be.

After verification by the Accounts Unit, the proposals are seen by the Head of the Department concerned and submitted to the Secretary through Director (Finance) for necessary sanction.

The procedure outlined above is also applicable in the case of agenda items placed before the Committees/Board, seeking sanction/ approval for incurring expenditure both recurring and non-recurring.

Projects & Programmes implemented with funds received from other agencies. 

The Board has been implementing certain projects and programmes with grants received from other Government Departments and National agencies. The details of projects /programmes executed during 2017-18 and expenditure incurred during the year were as follows.

Project/ Programme

Funds received (Rs. In lakhs)

Expenditure (Rs. In lakhs)

MIDH

150.00

77.43

ASIDE

75.00

751.60

RKVY – Andhra Pradesh

5.60

17.82

ICAR –AICRPS

10.70

10.70

RKVY – Assam

8.48

6.41

Quality Standard in Medicinal Plants

6.39

5.16

IPC

0.64

0.64

DUS Test Centre


1.30

Area wide IPM

Black Pepper


3.68

E-Spices Project


15.40

WTO – STDF


2.74

Total

256.81

892.88

The schemes are implemented as per the guidelines issued by the funding agency.

ASIDE projects are implemented over a period of time. Hence the fund received during a year will not be spent in the same year.

Sanction and regulation of Expenditure 

All proposals from the ­Departments having financial implications ( vide list given below ) and requiring sanction of the Secretary/Board/Government shall be initiated from the Departments concerned, processed through the Accounts Division/Unit of the Department concerned, seen by the concerned Head of the Department and submitted to the Secretary through the Director (Finance) for sanction.

i) All new schemes

ii) Procurement of assets exceeding Rs.1 lakh in each case where no specific provision exists, except for furniture and equipments.

Iii) Procurement of furniture exceeding Rs.2.00 lakh and equipments except lab equipments exceeding Rs.5.00 lakh, and lab equipments above Rs.20 lakh in each case.

  1. Procurement of agricultural/estate inputs/planting materials exceeding Rs.25.00 lakh in each case

(v) Hiring of new services (consultancy, training etc) costing more than Rs.3 lakh in respect of any single item.

(vi) Creation of Posts.

(vii) Delegation of financial powers.

(viii) Opening/closing of bank accounts.

(ix) Civil works exceeding Rs.10. 00 lakh in respect of any single item.

(x) Advance/loans to outside parties exceeding Rs.3.00 lakh in each case.

(xi) Disposal of assets of book value exceeding Rs.1.00 lakh in respect of any single item.

(xii) Telephone/e-mail/Internet connections.

(xiii) All proposals for re-appropriation of sanctioned budget.

(xiv) Proposals to write off losses exceeding Rs. 1,000 in each case.

Instructions contained in the Office orders /Circulars shall be strictly adhered to while processing proposals for financial sanction.

Procedure for incurring expenditure where Heads of Departments or subo­rdinate officers are empowered to sanction and incur expenditure. 

All Heads of Departments, Heads of Divisions and subordinate officers who have been granted delegation of finan­cial powers strictly adhere to financial Rules, orders issued by the Government of India from time to time and instructions given in the Office Orders, the Office Manual, etc regarding the procedure to be followed in the matter of sanct­ion and incurring of expenditure. The Officer concerned makes it a point that all proposals are within their financial powers for incurring expenditure and are according to the Rules, Orders and procedures to be followed. In cases of doubts, the matter is referred to the Director (Finance) for advice/comments and wherever necessary, orders of the Secretary is obtained.

Procurement of goods 

The Board has been delegated with full powers to make their own arrangements for procurement of goods subject to observance of the provisions of the General Financial Rules 2017.

The Board is following the General Financial Rules (GFR) Rule No. 154 and 155 for effecting purchases. Accordingly purchase of goods up to the value of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only) on each occasion can be made without inviting quotations or bids on the basis of a certificate to be recorded by the competent authority.

Purchase of goods costing above Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only) and up to Rs.2,50,000 (Rupees One lakh only) on each occasion are made on the recommendations of a duly constituted Local Purchase Committee consisting of three members of an appropriate level as decided by the Head of the Department.

In respect of purchases other than the above and direct purchases from Central Purchase Organisation as per rate contracts in terms of GFR 156 (1), the Board is following the system of inviting bids as stipulated in the GFRs.

Appointments, promotions and deputations

        1. All appointments, promotions and deputations are made subject to relevant rules framed by the Central Government/Board and within the frame work of FR&SR.

        2. Criteria for appointment/promotion is based on the positional qualifications laid down in the Spices Board Recruitment Regulations (approval awaited from Government).

        3. All promotions up to the level of key posts viz. Directors are made by the Secretary after observing usual formalities of constitution of Departmental Promotion Committee subject to observation of regulations in the concerned Bye-law.

        4. For Group A posts, other than key posts direct recruitment /promotions to higher grade are done based on interview conducted by a committee in which Secretary, Head of the concerned Department and subject expert from outside takes part.

        5. For the posts of Heads of Departments at the level of Directors and above, direct recruitment/ promotion to higher grade are done on the basis of interview conducted by a committee in which representative of the Ministry also takes part.

Routine matters

Channel of Submission of files/cases and other disposals

  1. The channel of submission of disposals is determined with reference to the organizational structure and the distribution of work in the organization, the departmental instructions, and orders of delegation of powers. The normal channel of submission with reference to a Section is the dealing hand, the Section Head, the Officer in immediate charge of the Section, the Supervisory Officer, the Group Supervisory Officer, the Head of the Department and the Secretary. In the forward chain the files and cases are submitted in this channel and in the back chain, the reverse order is followed.

  2. Functional expertise is provided in the Board’s organization by constituting functional divisions, sections, units of cells. Such functional expertise under the Board are grouped below:-

i) Finance & Accounts Division - Accounts Section/Units and Cells within it - For all financial matters,

ii) Administration Division - For application of service rules and allied matters.

iii) Vigilance Section – For all matters connected with Conduct Rules, Classification, Control and Appeal Regulations, Security and allied matters.

Files and cases relating to matters assigned to the above Divisions/Sections should be referred to them and their advice/ recommendations should be recorded in the files before putting up to the Secretary for final orders. The Heads of Departments and Supervisory Officers may refer files/cases to these Divisions/Sections for obtaining their advice.

The system may vary in certain Departments, depending up on the system of hierarchy in existence. However, there will be level jumping in some cases. Decisions can also be taken at lower level based on the delegation of administrative and financial powers.

Granting permit and sanctioning financial assistance to growers under Development Schemes. 

Manner of processing and payment of subsidy 

              1. The applications for subsidy under various schemes along with necessary documents are received from the farmers through online in Grant Management System (GMS) with the help of near by Field Offices. The applications should invariably be accompanied by a Survey Plan duly certified by a Registered Surveyor or Revenue authorities, a Certificate of Registration (CR) of the plantation/estate or a Certificate of having applied for Registration (ACR) issued by the Revenue Authorities, details of Survey No. of the plantation/estate including the Village and Taluk, total area and the area of plantation and land tax receipt. 


              1. The Field Office maintains separate scheme-wise registers to record the applications received (Register of Receipt of Application).

The Field Officer scrutinizes the online application, arranges cent per cent verification and makes suitable recommendations after conducting field inspection.

The details of recommended applications are recorded in another register viz. Application recommended Register.

The recommended applications are then forwarded from the Field Office to the Divisional Office through GMS for further processing. 

The recommended applications are then subjected to further test inspections at the level of the Assistant Director/ Deputy Director at the prescribed percentage. 

Permits are issued to the growers for doing the proposed work/ purchase. 

              1. Further inspection is conducted to verify whether the proposed work has been executed satisfactorily or the required items are purchased etc. 

Subsidy under various schemes is then sanctioned as per delegation of financial powers.

              1. The applications duly recommended/ sanctioned are received at Head Office through GMS for effecting payment to the beneficiaries through Public Financial Management System (PFMS). 

The Scheme Rules approved by the Secretary is the basis for determining the eligibility for payment of subsidy.

The officers involved in the decision making are: Field Officer/ Assistant Director and Deputy Director/ Director. These Officers are available in the concerned Field Offices/ Divisional/Regional Office/Head Office.

If the growers are not satisfied with the decision of these Officers, they can appeal to the Secretary, Spices Board whose address is given in the Notice Board.

Granting financial assistance to Growers/ workers under Extension schemes and Labour Welfare schemes as well as Market/export promotion schemes.

The eligibility for subsidy is based on scheme rules framed for each scheme. The procedure followed is also similar to those given in the preceding para with minor variations according to the nature of the respective scheme. The scheme rules are given in Manual 12 (Chapter 12 ) of this hand book.

Research Activities

Decisions regarding research activities are taken on the basis of recommendations made by the following committees related to research department

R & D COMMITTEE: 

Composition:

The committee is a statutory committee of the Spices Board with the Secretary, Spices Board as the ex-officio Chairman of the committee. Director (Res), Director (Dev), Director IISR and nominated members of the Board are members.

Functions:

The R & D committee lays down the long term research & development strategies of the Spices Board and also decides on policies, funding and implementation of the R & D programmes of the Board.

QUINQUINIAL RESEARCH REVIEW TEAM:

An external agency is assigned to undertake technical audit of the research programme undertaken by ICRI. Last quinquinnial audit was undertaken by NAARM (National Academy of Agricultural Research Management), ICAR, Hyderabad.

ANNUAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

Separate Councils are formed for Small & Large Cardamom

Composition:

Chairman: Director (Research)

Secretary: Dy. Director (Research)

Members: 3 External Experts for each subject from ICAR, other

Institutions (IISR etc), State Agricultural University & Leading private research laboratories.

Functions:

To review the progress of research work assigned to each scientific staff, suggest modifications or conclude the programme and to approve the programme for the subsequent year. The research programmes undertaken are based on problems faced by farmers and assessed during scientist – farmer interfaces, spice clinics and issues raised by Field Officers.

SCIENTIFIC STAFF COUNCIL:

Composition:

Chairman: Director (Research)

Convener: Dy.Director (Research)

Members:All the Scientific staff from Main and Regional Stations

The Scientific staff council is regularly held on first Wednesday of every month.

Functions:

Each Scientist’s assigned programme is reviewed and the succeeding months programme is approved. Short falls and constraints are assessed and mid term corrections are also undertaken.

FARM DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE:

Composition:

Chairman: Director (Research)

Convener: Farm Manger

Members: Dy.Director (Research), All HODS, AD(Admn), All

Farm staff & Scientist-in-charge (farm)

The Farm Development Committee is convened on first Thursday of every month.

Functions:

Approving the work for the succeeding month. Assessing the work carried out during the month. Finalization of approval of farm inputs, labour inputs etc. Farm Development activities and other infrastructural needs are assessed and approved.