Infographics: When it comes to budget transparency, India does worse than Bangladesh

An international report on budget transparency — the Open Budget Survey 2015 , which measures the level of transparency practiced in various countries when it comes to their national budgets — has placed India in its ’limited transparency’ bracket, with an unimpressive overall score of 46 out of 100. [caption id=“attachment_2355870” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The survey, conducted by the International Budget Partnership, evaluates countries based on the transparency of their budgeting process on several counts under three major heads — public participation, oversight by the legislature and oversight by audit. The 2015 survey gives every country a score out of 100 based on the above mentioned parameters in 2013-14. India scored 46, just clearing the world average of 45. Countries around the world are divided into five brackets: a score of 81-100 comes under ‘Extensive’ transparency; 61-80 ‘Substantial’; 41-60 ‘Limited’ (India falls in this bracket); 21-40 ‘Minimal’ and 0-20 under ‘Scant or None’. [caption id=“attachment_2428494” align=“aligncenter” width=“825”] Courtesy: Open Budget Survey 2015[/caption] As far as countries with the strongest economies (GDP-wise) go, the top players fare pretty well, except of course for China, which scored just 14 and was judged to have among the least transparent budget processes. India scores an impressive 75 on 100 in oversight by audit, but performs poorly on the other two counts. Here’s India compared to its neighbours: When it comes to public participation, India’s score is a mere 19 on 100. The research for the survey was done by 102 research and civil society organisations working around the world. The organisation doing the research for India was the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), an NGO advocating greater transparency and accountability in budget making in India, reports the The Times of India .