An awareness seminar on participation of public in budgeting process was organized by Young Star Development Organization (YSDO) in collaboration with Center for Peace and Development Initiative (CPDE) and Citizen Network for Budget Accountability (CNBA). The theme of awareness creating event held at Boni, district headquarters of Upper Chitral was ‘Stakeholders Dialogue on Transparent Budgeting’. Former Nazim Union Council Rashun Amirullah was chief guest while Subedar Major Mirza Alam presided over the seminar. Inamullah, manager of YSDO while performing as stage secretary, highlighted the aims and objectives of the event. Addressing the event, Inamullah said that YSDO organizes such awareness seminars and workshops on public opinion and their involvement in the budgeting process in collaboration with these partners organizations so that public opinion can also be included in the budgeting process because Budget is prepared for the welfare and development of the people, in which if public opinion is also taken, its transparency will be further improved. Chairman YSDO Asfandiar Khan also expressed his concern and highlighted the importance of public network in the process of public participation in the budgeting process and accountability. Commenting on this process, he said that CPDI has released its fourth annual report on "Status of Budget Transparency in Pakistan, International Best Practices".

The report identified shortcomings in the budgeting process at the federal and provincial levels and called for a broader discussion of budget proposals with civic groups, government agencies and key stakeholders. The purpose of this report is not only to present findings but to facilitate dialogue between governments, civil society and citizens at large. The report states that Pakistan should consider launching a centralized digital platform to promote citizen participation. The platform should be designed to present complex budget details in a manner that citizens can easily understand. Governments should prioritize the initiation of nationwide public consultations, including town hall meetings and workshops, during the critical phase of budget formulation. The report also calls for the preparation and release of separate budget statements for women, minorities, children and persons with disabilities, outlining specific allocations and strategies tailored to each group's unique needs and challenges. The report calls for regularization of the citizen budgeting process in Pakistan through specific legislation or regulations. According to the CPDI report, governments should make budget data available in widely machine-readable formats such as Excel and CSV. In addition, citizen participation in the budget-making process should be legally protected. And government institutions should be mandated to consult citizens during various stages of the budgeting process, especially the role of parliamentarians should be enhanced during budget formulation and implementation.

With elected representatives, local government representatives, civil society representatives during the "Stakeholder Dialogue on Transparent Budgeting" organized by CNBA member organization (Citizens Network for Budget Accountability). Chairman YSDO Asfandyar Khan said that since last one decade, CPDI has been working to improve the budgeting process in Pakistan from district to federal level to promote transparency in it. As a result, the fourth report on “Status of Budget Transparency in Pakistan 2023” has been released. This report not only assesses budget transparency but also helps assess the effectiveness of access to information laws in Pakistan to access budget information. Instead of extending it further, it should be sent to the Finance Committees of the Federal and Provincial Assemblies in advance. The CPDI report also called for all Planning Commission forms (PC-I to PC-V) to be made available to the public at all federal and provincial levels. There is a need to focus on citizen participation in budgeting, monitoring of the legislature, budget debate period in parliament and fair budgeting. A large number of people participated in the awareness seminar during which the participants also asked various questions in this regard, which were also answered by Chairman Asfandyar Khan.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)