Karachi: Giving legal protection to citizens' participation in the budgeting process has become inevitable. There is also a need to increase the role of the members of the assemblies during budgeting and its implementation. These recommendations were made by the Council for Participatory Development while releasing fourth annual report on the state of budget transparency in Pakistan here at the PMA house Karachi.

In the report, the deficiencies found in the budgeting process at the federal and provincial levels have been identified. It was also suggested that annual audit reports along with the regular issuance of quarterly, half-yearly or annual reports on budget expenditure should be regularly uploaded on the Auditor General's websites. If inclusion is desired, it should be conveyed to these groups at least three months before presenting it in the assembly, it recommended.

Apart from this, independent institutions and commissions should be formed to monitor the budget execution. The executive branch should be empowered under the Constitution and law to transfer funds from one administrative unit to another. The budget should be referred to the finance committees of the federal and provincial assemblies at the beginning of the financial year, it stated.

It was also suggested that the government should ensure availability of budget data in standardized formats like Excel and CSV. Separate budgets should be prepared for children, women, minorities and persons with disabilities. In which the requirements and needs of each group should be taken care of, report suggested.  The government should make public access to all planning commission forms from PC1 to PC5 at the federal and provincial levels, it further recommended.  On the occasion of the release of this report, a dialogue was also organized in which senior officials of various departments, journalists, representatives of various organizations and students participated.

CEO of the Council for Participatory Development (CPD), Dr. Bilquis Rehman, highlighted the important contents and suggestions of the report in detail. Provincial coordinator for women protection cell Marvi Awan, Aslam Sheikh of Human Rights Commission and Ms.Nuzhat Shireen, Chairperson Sindh Commission on the Stats of Women also expressed their views. CNBA partners presented various suggestions on this occasion. The attendees demanded that to ensure budget transparency, Pakistan should launch a central digital platform to ensure citizens' participation in it. Through this platform, citizens, civil society and local businessmen should be empowered to express their concerns.

Priorities and suggestions can be conveyed directly to policy makers. It should be noted that CPDI has been trying to improve the budgeting process from the district level to the federal level in Pakistan for the past decade and to promote transparency in it. It has been reviewed, as a result of which this report based on "Budget Transparency Status in Pakistan 2022" was issued. This research report is a regular effort of CPDI and has been launched across Pakistan through district partners network name Citizens Network Budget Accountability.

Speaking on this occasion Dr. Bilquis Rehman -CEO Council for Participatory Development said that budget making process should be transparent and budget should be formalized through specific legislation or regulations to call it citizens budget. Ms.Nuzhat Shireen, Chairperson Sindh Commission on the Stats of Women says that the budget is not sufficient for the women commissions and department working for women in the Province. Board member CPW Khadija Ahmed, Aslam Sheikh of Human Rights Commission, M Yaqub of Takhliq Foundation, Saeed Naseem, Zeeshan Yasin of Hands, Senior Journalist Anchorperson Akhtar Shaheen Rand, Saeed Ahmed of HRC also spoke. Senior media representatives and people from different walks of life participated.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 14 2023

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