CBGA endeavours to influence the budget making cycle at critical junctures with its concerns and agenda. Therefore, advocacy activities are planned all along the budget cycle. The two major activities held by the Centre include:

National Convention on the Forthcoming Budget

CBGA organises a National Convention on the forthcoming Union Budget around September every year which brings together policy analysts, academics, and civil society activists from across the country to discuss some of the pertinent issues relating to Union Budget from a pro-poor perspective. This Convention results in framing of the Charter of Demands on Union Budget, which is, in essence, the alternative voice – the voice of people’s movements, civil society organisations and some members of the academia, with concrete calls on the budget.

CBGA then takes this Charter of Demands forward to the Ministry of Finance and other relevant Ministries of the Union Government, Planning Commission, Finance Commission, National Advisory Council, Members of Parliament, civil society organisations, social activists, academicians and the media so as to put forward a civil society’s demands from the Budget.

Budgets: As If People Matter

Within 24 hrs of the budget speech delivered by the Finance Minister, CBGA prepares a quick Response to the Union Budget. On the following day, i.e., 1st March, it organises a public event, ‘Budgets: As If People Matter’, to raise awareness on where the budget stands vis-à-vis common people and shares its analysis with the panelists and larger audience.

Diplomats, leaders of the civil society, representatives of NGOs, activists and others from very diverse backgrounds have shared the audience seats and listened with great enthusiasm some of the best brains of our country debate the budget in the past years. The event has now become an important event in the democratic diary of India, as put by Yogendra Yadav, the moderator of the session.

In addition to these two major advocacy activities, specific advocacy strategies are designed for the research studies being conducted by the Centre from time to time.