MODEL - NON PROFIT

ORGANIZATION OVERVIEWCBGA is a policy research and advocacy organization promoting people’s participation in the discourse on public policies and government finances in India. It draws the attention of the government to policy issues such as the magnitude and quality of public expenditure in social sectors and budgetary strategies for social inclusion, and advocates for greater transparency, accountability and space for public participation in budget processes.

THE PROBLEMCBGA believes that the government’s fiscal decisions and budgetary allocations are often unresponsive or inadequate to address the needs of the poor and marginalized sections of society.

Research on Policy and Budgetary Issues CBGA’s research encompasses issues such as:

CBGA’s research is consistently shared with various ministries, legislators, media, academia and CSOs through the organization’s publications and advocacy events. Engagement with Civil Society Organizations

How responsive government programs / schemes are to regional and social diversity and challenges in the country, Whether pro-poor public policies are being backed with adequate budgetary resources or not, and Institutional and procedural bottlenecks in the implementation of programs / schemes.

People’s Budget Initiative: CBGA serves as the Secretariat of this coalition of CSOs that convenes every year to discuss gaps in public provisioning. They arrive at a common set of prioritized policy and budgetary demands, which are shared with policymakers and members of legislature at the national level. Capacity building workshops: CBGA helps CSOs, local budget groups and non-profits incorporate budget analysis and advocacy as a tool to strengthen their existing interventions, particularly looking at budget assessment as a way to understand the priority accorded to various sectors by the government.

CBGA’s RESPONSECBGA works closely with civil society groups, and gains insight into ground realities, which it combines with research to advocate for more responsive fiscal policies. Its substantive research on policy issues reveals gaps in poorly designed budgetary decisions and suggests necessary reforms.

Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA)

Founded: 2002 | Head Office: New Delhi | Coverage: Pan-India | Full-Time Staff: 24Budget (2013-14): Organization – INR 3.7 crore; Governance – INR 3.7 crore

HOW DID IT EVOLVE?

Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA)

WHAT DOES IT DO?

www.cbgaindia.org

CBGA began as a program of the National Centre for

Advocacy Studies

Registered as an independent organization with the mission to bring grassroots voices into

fiscal and governance processes

Partnered with civil society organizations to create People’s Budget Initiative, a platform to articulate demands from the

Union budget, that has led to the inclusion of civil society expectations in budget

considerations

CBGA joined the Financial Transparency Coalition, a collective of civil society

organizations (CSOs) and think tanks across countries working

to enhance transparency in global financial systems

2002 2005 2006 2012

KEY INTERVENTIONS

1. Building awareness and mobilizing citizens2. Training citizens for public engagement 3. Creating knowledge and evidence4. Advocacy for policy design and implementation5. Technology platforms and solutions6. Facilitating independent and inclusive journalism7. Capacity building of government officials8. Capacity building of local partners9. Facilitating platforms for multi-stakeholder engagement

WHAT’S NEXT?

“CBGA is fostering the participation of a wide range of stakeholders in the debates and discussions on budget related issues by demystifying the technical details underlying those issues, and it is generating relevant evidence for policymakers through its in-depth research on design and implementation of public policies meant for the poor.”– Subrat Das, executive director

citizenvoice policy law servicedelivery thinktank transparency RTI elections budgets urbangovernance panchayatiraj accesstojustice

technology humanrights independentmedia

We want to thank the CBGA team for the excellent job done on both sides of the pension question – expenditure and resource mobilisation.

Looking at resource mobilization has certainly allowed us to get into this aandolan (movement) with a sense of confidence of how to approach this question.

– Nikhil Dey, Prominent social activist (on CBGA’s support to the Pension Parishad campaign)

Strengthening the voices of civil society stakeholders in debates and discussions on government budgets. Greater attention to the needs of vulnerable sections of the population in state and Union budgets.Enhanced transparency in the Union Budget, e.g. inclusion of figures for actual expenditures on schemes in the Union Budget since 2011-12 (earlier the Budget only included estimates of expenditures on schemes).Deepening of methodology of Gender Responsive Budgeting by Union Government ministries. Introduction of a scheme for effective implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

Research and advocacy on issues relating to Centre-state fiscal relations and fiscal decentralization, i.e., how to improve the transfer and disbursement of funds given by the Centre to the states for development purposes.District and sub-district level budget tracking exercises focusing on a number of schemes (eg. MNREGA, Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan), i.e., developing appropriate methods for tracking budget allocation and utilization. Reorienting the approach of policymakers towards fiscal policy strategies for vulnerable sections, through working on Gender Responsive Budgeting, Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan, Tribal Sub-Plan and other programs for minorities.

CBGA has had a strong influence on the public discourse on budgets in India. Its work has contributed towards:

To maintain long-term sustainability, CBGA will build a corpus fund to support its core activities over time. Additionally, some of the focus areas for CBGA in the coming years include:

WHAT HAS IT ACHIEVED?

VOICES FROM THE GROUND

Subrat Das, Executive Director, is an expert on issues of government finances in India, with decades of experience in research and training.

Funders: Ford Foundation, IDRC Think Tank Initiative, Bernard Van Leer Foundation, European Debt and Development Network, National Foundation of India.Global partnerships with Financial Transparency Coalition, Oxfam and Christian Aid among others.

2014-15 Budget Speech of Gujarat’s Finance Minister acknowledges CBGA and the study on budget transparency, which it led.CBGA contributed a chapter on Child Budgeting for the Annual Reports of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development for five consecutive years.

Leadership

Partnerships

Endorsements

QUALITY INDICATORS

Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA)

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