Budget Work in India: Civil Society's Innovative Experiment in Democratic Engagement with the State

In the last decade or so, civil society space in India has witnessed the proliferation of organizations engaged in budget analysis. Budget analysis can be defined as the process through which state budgets are scrutinized from the perspective of the poor and marginalized. Its focus is on critically evaluating budgetary allocations made by governments at the beginning of the fiscal year and tracking expenditure undertaken on the basis of these allocations to determine the extent to which policy translates into outcomes. The relevance of budget analysis lies in the fact that it has provided civil society with a tool through which it can effectively bring the perspectives and concerns of the poor and marginalized in to the process of policy formulation. More importantly, through budget analysis civil society organizations have successfully demonstrated the importance of strategic engagement with the state for promoting a people centric democratic discourse.