Welcome to the latest edition of our quarterly newsletter, Budget Track. It provides a quick glance at some of our most recent publications, opinion pieces, webinars, short videos, podcasts and interactive data visualisations. The snippets from our ongoing work, presented here, are meant to reflect the nature of our engagement with some of the important public policy and fiscal governance issues in the country. This newsletter is also an effort to disseminate CBGA's policy research contributions more widely. We will be very glad to hear from you about the various developments and outputs that we have flagged in this space.  

Subrat Das
Executive Director, CBGA






..
.
.
.
.
.

.

INTERFACE

Our podcasts, videos and events 

Dialogues on Global Financial Transparency

In the third episode of the online interview series, we speak to Matti Kohonen, Director, Financial Transparency Coalition. Discussion touches upon the fiscal policy response of the developing countries, and the urgent need for equitable recovery, in the backdrop of the pandemic induced disruptions.

The Budget Dialogue - A Webinar on Union Budget 2022-23

Our post Union Budget panel discussion addressed questions around the extent of fiscal policy support being promised through the Budget in the wake of the pandemic. It presented perspectives of eminent experts like Jayati Ghosh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Jashodhara Dasgupta (Feminist Policy Collective), R. Nagaraj (Centre for Development Studies), Ravi Duggal (Public Health Researcher and Activist), and Praveen Jha (Jawaharlal Nehru University).

Webinar on Social Sector Budgets and Excluded Communities                                                                

The joint webinar by CBGA and NCDHR, in the run up to the Union Budget 2022-23, highlighted the need for higher budgetary priority for marginalised sections and those depending on public sector provisioning of social services, in the wake of the uneven recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Webinar on Union Budget 2022-23: What does it Offer for Social Sectors, Dalits and Adivasis

CBGA co-organised this post-Budget  webinar with Centre for Dalit Studies (CDS), Hyderabad. It had a rich discussion on how the prevailing budgetary and policy strategies for Dalits and Adivasis could be revamped and strengthened in the coming years.                                  

Videos on the Data Portal

Video on Gender Responsive Budgeting

This video explains important aspects of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB), which is a crucial policy and budgetary strategy meant to ensure that governments spend money in ways that recognise gender-based challenges confronting women and persons of minority gender and sexual identities.

INTERACTIVE VISUALISATIONS

1.Education Sector Budgets of States 

View All

Compare how different States have provisioned for education sector, during the pre and post pandemic years. Assess education budgets vis-a-vis States’ total budgets (for all sectors) and population through these visualisations. 

Data Visualisations | CBGA India

2. Receipts Indicators

View All

Explore the receipts side of State Budgets through these simple visualisations, which enable cross-State comparisons of a number of indicators of budgetary receipts. 

Data Visualisations | CBGA India
Data Visualisations | CBGA India

IN-FOCUS

Policy briefs, papers and other outputs from our research

In Search of Inclusive Recovery: An Analysis of Union Budget 2022-23

Each year, we release a comprehensive analysis of the Union Budget soon after the presentation of the Budget. This year's analysis, In Search of Inclusive Recovery , examines priorities and trends in the Union Budget 2022-23, for the sectors that are most relevant for the disadvantaged sections of the population. 

Strengthening the Discourse for Public Sector Provisioning of Secondary Level of Education for Girls

This report looks at public sector provisioning of secondary education for girls, in the context of NEP 2020’s emphasis on universalisation of school education from 3-18 years. It discusses the resource requirements of free public sector provisioning of secondary education to all girls.

India's Policy Response to COVID-19: A Reality Check focussing on Dalits and Adivasis

This  paper  studies the impact of job losses, during the pandemic, on disadvantaged groups like Dalits and Adivasis. It also analyses the Union Government's policy response to the pandemic, and the extent to which these measures can ameliorate the livelihood crisis.


Assessing Public Finance Management Issues in the Post-matric Scholarship Scheme for SCs

Post-matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Castes provides financial assistance to all eligible students at the post-matriculation stage. This  paper  assesses the public finance management issues in the scheme, that need to be addressed for an improved impact of this important government intervention.

Tax Incentives for Philanthropic Giving: A Study of 12 Countries

The report and policy brief , prepared in collaboration with Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy, Ashoka University, analyse the types of tax incentives provided by the government for charitable donations in 12 different countries. This includes a rigorous mapping of the literature on the influence of tax incentives on charitable donations.

Opinions and Blogs

Our team members have written opinion pieces on several themes related to the Union Budget, that shed light on budgetary priorities for various sectors. These include child budgeting,   agriculture , tax revenues,   health , education , and climate actions, among others. Read all our opinion pieces here.

IN-PROGRESS

Snippets from some of our ongoing work on policies and fiscal governance

Learn more about our Open Budgets India (OBI) portal

A Sector Dashboard was recently integrated on the OBI portal, to provide the latest budget data from the States for many sectors. Along with the machine-readable data, the interactive visualisations on the portal, help facilitate comparison of sectoral budgets across the States. 


The updated Schemes Dashboard on the portal, provides data for State-specific Schemes in addition to the Central Schemes covered earlier.

Scoping Studies on Budgetary Support for Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Our primary research under the initiative has mapped the prevailing policy and budgetary response to sexual and gender-based violence in the states of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. It includes a series of interviews with providers of social, police, legal and medical services, also the survivors of violence. We are currently in the process of developing policy papers and recommendations based on this research.

Bihar's Policy and Budgetary Priorities for Transitioning towards Green Economic Recovery

We are examining the policy and budgetary priorities, in a number of States, from the lens of Green Economic Recovery. We are developing knowledge resources that State Government actors could refer to for incorporating climate mitigation actions within their economic revival measures. The Factsheet  on Bihar is the first in this series of publications; we will be bringing out similar resources on other States in the coming weeks. 

Union Budget Explorer dashboard (2022-23)

This dashboard (Union Budget Explorer) presents data on the receipts and expenditure projections of the Union Government for 2022-23. It also has visualisations on Ministry and Scheme-wise expenditures to make the Union Budget’s proposals and resource provisions easy to comprehend. 

INFLUENCE

Efforts by our partner organisations in India and other countries that have left a lasting impression

Promoting Transparency, Oversight and Participation in Budgeting during Emergencies  

Explore through this   paper , case studies of COVID-19-related fiscal policy responses of 15 different countries, conducted by  International Budget Partnership  (IBP). These illustrate how governments can put forward speedy policy responses without undermining transparency and accountability.

Examining challenges confronting Dalit Students during the Covid crisis

The  National Campaign for Dalit and Human Rights  engages with specific schemes meant to address the difficulties faced by Dalit and Adivasi students. In a recent  study , which looks at the Post Matric Scholarship scheme, they examine the challenges faced by the students in gaining access to scholarships, hostels and other facilities during the pandemic, and suggest remedial policy measures.

Tax Justice for a Feminist and Transformative Recovery

Our partner organisations,  Tax Justice Network Africa ,  Tax Justice Network , and  APMDD , shared insights in a recent  webinar  on how to advance tax justice to foster a feminist economic recovery. Coinciding with a global campaign, ‘make taxes work for women’, the webinar focused on interlinkages between gender issues and tax justice.