CBGA is a policy research and advocacy organization promoting people’s participation in the discourse on public policies and government finances in India. It draws the attention of the government to policy issues such as the magnitude and quality of public expenditure in social sectors and budgetary strategies for social inclusion, and advocates for greater transparency, accountability and space for public participation in budget processes.

1. MODEL - NON PROFIT
ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW
CBGA is a policy research and advocacy organization promoting people’s participation in the discourse on public policies
and government finances in India. It draws the attention of the government to policy issues such as the magnitude and
quality of public expenditure in social sectors and budgetary strategies for social inclusion, and advocates for greater
transparency, accountability and space for public participation in budget processes.
THE PROBLEM
CBGA believes that the government’s fiscal
decisions and budgetary allocations are often
unresponsive or inadequate to address the needs of
the poor and marginalized sections of society.
Research on Policy and Budgetary Issues
CBGA’s research encompasses issues such as:
CBGA’s research is consistently shared with various ministries, legislators,
media, academia and CSOs through the organization’s publications and
advocacy events.
Engagement with Civil Society Organizations
How responsive government programs / schemes are to regional
and social diversity and challenges in the country,
Whether pro-poor public policies are being backed with adequate
budgetary resources or not, and
Institutional and procedural bottlenecks in the implementation of
programs / schemes.
People’s Budget Initiative: CBGA serves as the Secretariat of this
coalition of CSOs that convenes every year to discuss gaps in public
provisioning. They arrive at a common set of prioritized policy and
budgetary demands, which are shared with policymakers and
members of legislature at the national level.
Capacity building workshops: CBGA helps CSOs, local budget
groups and non-profits incorporate budget analysis and advocacy
as a tool to strengthen their existing interventions, particularly
looking at budget assessment as a way to understand the priority
accorded to various sectors by the government.
CBGA’s RESPONSE
CBGA works closely with civil society groups, and gains
insight into ground realities, which it combines with
research to advocate for more responsive fiscal policies.
Its substantive research on policy issues reveals gaps in
poorly designed budgetary decisions and suggests
necessary reforms.
Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA)
Founded: 2002 | Head Office: New Delhi | Coverage: Pan-India | Full-Time Staff: 24
Budget (2013-14): Organization – INR 3.7 crore; Governance – INR 3.7 crore
HOW DID IT EVOLVE?
Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA)
WHAT DOES IT DO?
www.cbgaindia.org
CBGA began as a program of
the National Centre for
Advocacy Studies
Registered as an independent
organization with the mission
to bring grassroots voices into
fiscal and governance
processes
Partnered with civil society
organizations to create People’s
Budget Initiative, a platform to
articulate demands from the
Union budget, that has led to the
inclusion of civil society
expectations in budget
considerations
CBGA joined the Financial
Transparency Coalition, a
collective of civil society
organizations (CSOs) and think
tanks across countries working
to enhance transparency in
global financial systems
2002 2005 2006 2012
KEY INTERVENTIONS
1. Building awareness and mobilizing citizens
2. Training citizens for public engagement
3. Creating knowledge and evidence
4. Advocacy for policy design and
implementation
5. Technology platforms and solutions
6. Facilitating independent and inclusive
journalism
7. Capacity building of government officials
8. Capacity building of local partners
9. Facilitating platforms for multi-stakeholder
engagement

2. WHAT’S NEXT?
“CBGA is fostering the participation of a wide range of stakeholders in the debates and discussions on budget related
issues by demystifying the technical details underlying those issues, and it is generating relevant evidence for policymakers
through its in-depth research on design and implementation of public policies meant for the poor.”
– Subrat Das, executive director
citizenvoice policy law servicedelivery thinktank transparency RTI
elections budgets urbangovernance panchayatiraj accesstojustice
technology humanrights independentmedia
We want to thank the CBGA team for the
excellent job done on both sides of the
pension question – expenditure and resource
mobilisation.
Looking at resource mobilization has certainly
allowed us to get into this aandolan
(movement) with a sense of confidence of
how to approach this question.
– Nikhil Dey,
Prominent social activist (on CBGA’s support
to the Pension Parishad campaign)
Strengthening the voices of civil society stakeholders in debates and discussions on government budgets.
Greater attention to the needs of vulnerable sections of the population in state and Union budgets.
Enhanced transparency in the Union Budget, e.g. inclusion of figures for actual expenditures on schemes in the Union
Budget since 2011-12 (earlier the Budget only included estimates of expenditures on schemes).
Deepening of methodology of Gender Responsive Budgeting by Union Government ministries.
Introduction of a scheme for effective implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.
Research and advocacy on issues relating to Centre-state fiscal relations and fiscal decentralization, i.e., how to improve
the transfer and disbursement of funds given by the Centre to the states for development purposes.
District and sub-district level budget tracking exercises focusing on a number of schemes (eg. MNREGA, Scheduled
Caste Sub-Plan), i.e., developing appropriate methods for tracking budget allocation and utilization.
Reorienting the approach of policymakers towards fiscal policy strategies for vulnerable sections, through working on
Gender Responsive Budgeting, Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan, Tribal Sub-Plan and other programs for minorities.
CBGA has had a strong influence on the public discourse on budgets in India. Its work has contributed towards:
To maintain long-term sustainability, CBGA will build a corpus fund to support its core activities over time. Additionally,
some of the focus areas for CBGA in the coming years include:
WHAT HAS IT ACHIEVED?
VOICES FROM THE GROUND
Subrat Das, Executive Director, is an expert on issues of
government finances in India, with decades of
experience in research and training.
Funders: Ford Foundation, IDRC Think Tank Initiative,
Bernard Van Leer Foundation, European Debt and
Development Network, National Foundation of India.
Global partnerships with Financial Transparency
Coalition, Oxfam and Christian Aid among others.
2014-15 Budget Speech of Gujarat’s Finance Minister
acknowledges CBGA and the study on budget
transparency, which it led.
CBGA contributed a chapter on Child Budgeting for the
Annual Reports of the Union Ministry of Women and
Child Development for five consecutive years.
Leadership
Partnerships
Endorsements
QUALITY INDICATORS
Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA)
12 A 80 G FCRA