How transparent is Indian Budget?

New Delhi, Jan 14: A question that is often posed relates to the transparency of the Indian Budgetary system and a new study gives just a little above 50 per cent marks in terms of its openness.

In short, there is considerable scope for improvement, For instance, there is no pre-budget statement which is made public.

Despite a five year plan cycle, there is no multi-year budgeting-- a feature followed by many countries. Policy proposals often are not linked to Budget proposals and an impact assessment not presented.

Besides, the Budget does not give any information on non-financial assets.

How does India fare with regard to other countries? India, according to the study, ranks 17 among 59 countries in terms of openness of its Budget proposals.

The study, a joint endevour of the New Delhi-based 'Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability' (CBGA) and 'International Budget Project' (IBP), Washington, has constructed an 'Open Budget Index' to measure transparency of Budgets of various governments.

The study says that on a 100 point scale, India scores only 52 - indicating an average level of openness of the Budget.

There are some other factors that could result in greater openness. The time for discussion in Parliament is less than six weeks, thus restricting any effective participation by the Members of the Parliament.

Though there is an independent audit Authority, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), that monitors government expenditure, its recommendations are not followed up adequately.

Neverthless, of late the government has put pre-bduget information on the Internet facilitating greater access to these closed documents. However, useful information is available only on Central government finances.

The study says at the State-level, in most cases, available database is limited to the Budget speech.

Even though the 'Right to Information Act' has been enacted, common people spend money to obtain financial information. On the basis of a survey, the study found that in the year 2004, only 32 people accessed the Internet for collecting information relating to the Indian Budget. The Index evaluates the quantity of information provided to citizens in seven key budget documents that all governments should make public during the course of the Budget year. India's performance indicates that the government provides citizens with some information on Central government's budget and financial activities, but there is considerable room for improvement.

The countries ahead of India in terms of the 'Open Budget Index' are as follows: France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, Slovenia, the United States, Peru, Sweden, Poland, Brazil, South Korea, Norway, Romania, Botswana, Czech Republic and Colombia.

The Executive Budget proposals is one of the most important documents released during the fiscal year. In India, Budget proposals provide some, but not adequate, information to the public, scoring 55 per cent. This is indicative of the extent of information provided to the public to give a comprehensive picture relating to the government's financial activity.

The government needs to report to citizens regularly during the Budget year on its spending, revenue collection and borrowings in its in-year reports. The study says that this would greatly strengthen public accountability by publishing a more comprehensive Mid-Year-Review. The document provides the public with updates on what can be expected during the second half of the Budget year.

Year-end reports by the Executive are not released in a timely manner, though they contain details needed to facilitiate comparisions between enacted levels and actual outcomes.

While India does not make its audit report public, it provides limited information on whether the audit Report's recommendations are successfully implemented.

Citizens require both access to information and opportunities for participation during the consideration of the Budget. The research found that opportunities for citizen's participation could be increased. For example, the legislature does not hold public hearings on the Budget in which the people can participate.

CBGA is an organisation involved in research on government Budgets and policies and advocates pro-active civil society engagement in making government policies more transparent and comprehensible to the common people. The International Budget Project is a similar organisation which aims to bring about Budget transprency at the global level.

The Report is entitled: 'A comparative study on budget access and transparency in 59 countries across the world.' The findings are based on the 'Open Budget Questionnairs' developed by the IBP.

The interest of civil society in promoting budget transparency by making comparisons among countries grew out of a number of similar trends. These include the wave of democratic openings in many countries during the 1990s, which focussed attention on issues such as combating corruption, ensuring accountability for the delivery of public services, decentralising government and community-led development.

In addition, a series of financial crises during the 1990s drew the attention of international financial institutions to the importance of government transparency and financial accountability.

UNI