It doesnt come as a complete surprise,but rather a reaffirmation that in India,public information is not always as public as one would like it to be. According to a transparency survey conducted by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) in collaboration with the International Budget Partnership,Washington DC,the Indian government doesnt share complete budget information with the general public as opposed to countries like the United Kingdom,South Africa,France and the US,which are amongst the most transparent countries in the world as far as budget information is concerned. Of a total of 85 countries covered in the survey,though India surprisingly ranks high at 13,Siba Sankar Mohanty of CBGA said,"It is challenging to track India's public spending,revenue collection and borrowings during the year. India publishes detailed in-year reports,but its mid-year review lacks important details." Emphasising how even the shared information may fail to address important points,he added,"For instance,it does not reflect revised expenditure and revenue estimates,and it does not provide a breakdown of how much is spent for individual programmes. Making the mid-year report more comprehensive would facilitate public accountability,since it provides an update on how the budget is being implemented during the year and allows for midcourse corrections." The report,however,added that India's high score on the index this year shows that the government has taken some important steps to make the budgeting process more transparent and accountable in recent years. The report cited implementation of the Right to Information Act as a key factor responsible for this. Adding that there is scope for improving transparency in the budget process,the report said,"The legislature does not hold hearings on the budget in which the public can submit testimony. Thus opportunities for citizen participation in budget debates could be increased. In addition,India's Comptroller and Auditor-General receives very little public input on potential subjects for audits,so it could expand efforts to generate such feedback." India got a score of 60 on the Open Budget Index devised by CBGA to compare transparency levels in various countries compared to a score of 88 on 100 for the UK,87 each for South Africa and France,86 for New Zealand and 82 for the US. However,the worst performers according to the survey,were countries like Rwanda,Sudan,Democratic Republic of Congo,Equatorial Guinea,and São Tomé e Príncipe with other African and Asian countries trailing with only slightly higher scores. Saudi Arabia,too,was one of the least transparent countries with a score of 1 on 100 indicating that the country 'provides scant or no information' according to the report.
