FM moves to make budget framing process more transparent

In a bid to make the Budget making process more transparent and less secretive,the finance inistry has put the whole process out in the public domain. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday released a Budget Manual that outlines the various aspects about the Budget including the Constitutional provisions,structure of government accounts and budget preparation. “Budget is shrouded in mystery. Even in the whole text of constitution,if you try to find out the word budget,you will not get it. Article 112 of the constitution which deals with the Budget uses the phrase Annual Financial Statement,” Mukherjee said.

By tradition,the budget-making process is secretive and many of the functions and activities related to it are not codified or placed in any single document. The manual,released today,attempts to do away with this lack of transparency in the process. The document has spelt out the key activities right from the issuance of the Budget circular in February to the presentation of the Budget in February. It also includes a calendar of Budget related activities,their timelines,details of the related duties and responsibilities of the officers and staff together with the Security and ‘Lock-in’ procedures.