The Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) is an attempt to promote transparent, accountable and participatory governance, and a people-centred perspective in preparation and implementation of budgets.

CBGA came into being at the initiative of a number of concerned individuals and organizations, many of which were already engaged with budget work: Development Initiative for Social and Human Action (DISHA) in Ahmedabad, Centre for Budget Studies (CBS) at Samarthan in Mumbai, Centre for Budget and Policy Studies (CBPS) in Bangalore, Social Watch Tamil Nadu in Chennai, and National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS) in Pune. Many of them felt that what was conspicuous by its absence was an organization which would do focused work on the Central Government’s budget and policies since in a federal structure, allocations made by the Central Government become very crucial as well.

Created in 2002, as a programme of the National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS), Pune, CBGA has now evolved as an independent organisation, analysing Union Budget and public policies from the perspective of the poor and the marginalised.

What is our role?

CBGA attempts to further deepen budget work at the national level. The analysis of the Central Government's budget is done by locating it in the context of overall macroeconomic policies and from the perspective of the disadvantaged sections of society. Budget and policy analysis pursued at CBGA is closely linked with advocacy efforts through a network of countrywide alliances with grassroots civil society groups and social movements. We advocate the use of budget analysis as an instrument to seek accountability from the Government for its commitments.

What do we attempt to do?

Our endeavour at CBGA is to unravel the complexities around budgets and make them understandable to the lay audience. We believe the 'marginalised' matter and seek to redress the balance, which we find at the moment tilted heavily in favour of the socio-economic elite. Another motivation that drives our efforts is to keep up the momentum of scrutinizing the policy priorities beyond the short euphoric period, which lasts around the time the Union Budget is presented. Many civil society budget groups across different countries are engaged in finding whether the money allocated has actually moved for the activities / programmes as shown in the budget and whether it has moved in time.

We believe that apart from analyzing the implications of budgetary policy priorities, tracking the implementation of the budgetary proposals, important policy initiatives and developments in the economy are crucial to the process of seeking a change in favour of the marginalised.

Our analysis and research on issues related to budget and important public policies have strengthened our belief that the policy priorities are not neutral to political ideologies and strategies. Many of the budgetary proposals and economic policies are not merely based on technocratic analyses but rather they are deliberate political choices of the Government in power. Also, it is our right to be concerned and informed about the way the Government handles our finances. Public understanding and involvement in the budget process is critical for ensuring that the Government is accountable to the public. Such a process of seeking accountability can lead to the formulation and proper implementation of pro-poor and pro-marginalised budgets.