BENGALURU: Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Janaagraha has alleged that 13 government departments have spent altogether Rs 38,455 crore – more than Rs 100 crore per day – in the city during 2021–22, but no disclosure has been made to the taxpayers. The NGO said this in its report titled Public Expenditure in Bengaluru – The Case for Radical Transparency, raising questions about the financial dealings by the government agencies.
The NGO said it arrived at the figures from analysing data from more than 70 documents. The report said erstwhile BBMP spent about 20% of the amount, while the remaining 80% was spent by the parastatals, such as the BWSSB, BESCOM and BMTC.
Only one-third of financial info made public
“On average, these parastatals publicly disclose only 34% of their financial information, and most of them have no legal obligation to do so. The BESCOM and BWSSB deliver essential services, but they are not elected bodies and are not directly accountable to the citizens,” the NGO said. “This figure is not officially published anywhere,” a communication from the NGO stated.
The NGO stressed that, without detailed information on public spending, it is difficult to determine whether the infrastructure and service delivery challenges the city faces are the result of insufficient funding, misplaced priorities, poor execution or weak accountability.
Janaagraha has recommended measures to achieve radical transparency, bringing all public authorities in Bengaluru under a common fiscal, creating a consolidated city-level public spending dashboard; publishing project-level details; ward-wise and sector-wise spending data and service delivery outcomes to empower citizens and help them demand accountability.
Without access to consolidated and timely information, citizens cannot hold the government accountable, and the government also remains constrained in its ability to make informed decisions and measure progress. Budgets, tenders, project reports and outcomes should be accessible to people, NGO said.