Budgeting: Findings from the Pilot Studies

Abstract

This chapter looks at the budgeting process in eight different agencies that are involved in transport infrastructure development or provision of transport services. The former consists of the Public Works Department (PWD) of Delhi, the Corporation of Chennai and the Tamil Nadu Highways Department. The latter are Transport Corporations providing bus services. We evaluated the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). In the State of West Bengal, we scrutinized the Calcutta, North Bengal and South Bengal State Road Transport Corporations. The budget process is assessed using seven indicators. Overall, 41 of the 56 indicators evaluated only managed a ‘low’ score. PWD Delhi fared better than other agencies. While the Accountability and Capacity indicators had some ‘low’, ‘medium’ and even a few ‘high’ scores, we find that all Public Participation indicators and all but two of the Transparency indicators scored a ‘low’ rating.