New Delhi: Budget preparation may be one of India's most secret exercises, but what's not under wraps is that the annual financial statement ranks 17th in a transparency index compiled by an American civil society group.
India is placed below countries like Brazil and Peru in the list of 59 countries measured for transparency of the budget document.
The Open Budget Index 2006 list, prepared by Washington-based Centre on Budget and Policy Priorities with inputs from Centre for Budget and Governance Analysis here, evaluates the quantity of information presented to the citizens in the key budget documents.
The group believes that all governments should make public during the course of the budget year, information that paints a comprehensive picture of the administration's economic activity.
India has scored 52 per cent when it comes to sharing of information, indicating that the government provides citizens with 'some information' on the Centre's budget and financial activities, but there is much room for improvement.
France tops the list with 89 per cent score, followed by UK (88 per cent), New Zealand (86 per cent) and South Africa (85 per cent) at the second, third and fourth positions respectively.
Countries like the US, Peru, Brazil and Sweden have also been ranked in the top ten list, while Pakistan is ranked below India at 20th position.
The study defines "publicly available" information as the information that any and all citizens might be able to obtain through a request to the public authority issuing document.
India provides extensive information in its in-year reports, but its year-end reports are not released in a timely manner, while it would considerably strengthen the public accountability by publishing a more comprehensive mid-year review, IBP said.
Another segment, where India's reputation takes a beating is the audit report, in which it provides very limited information on whether the audit reports' recommendations are successfully implemented or not.
An initiative of the International Budget Project (IBP) funded by Ford Foundation, the Open Society Institute and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the index is the first to offer an independent, non-governmental view of the Central Government's budget transparency.
The Open Budget Index results suggest that 90 per cent of the countries covered do not provide accurate and comprehensive information during each budget cycle.
Only six countries like France, UK, US, New Zealand, Slovenia and South Africa have scored between 81-100 per cent in the Index, which according to IBP defines a performance category of "provides extensive information."
BRIC nation Brazil has garnered 73 per cent, while Russia has managed only 47 per cent among three of the four BRIC economies. China was not reviewed.
IBP researchers found that opportunities for citizen participation could be increased, especially in India, where the legislature does not even hold public hearings on the Budget in which commoners can participate.
Comments
0 comment