This recent effort from the Delhi government marks a big departure from the existing budgeting practices of all state governments, where budget allocations are accompanied with only vague promises.
In a first, the Delhi government has announced to make the bureaucrats accountable for the expenditure of budget, as nearly 60 per cent of the funds allocated in the last two years have remained untouched. The bureaucrats will also have to check the quantification of the budget in terms of output every quarter.
In a statement, the government said: "A comprehensive outcome budgeting exercise has been carried out by each department, wherein all major programmes and schemes have been mapped against outputs, such as tangible infrastructure or services to be provided, and how the people of Delhi will benefit from that." It further stated that subsequently, indicators have been defined for each output and outcome, and targets for 2017-18 have been set.
Speaking at a review meeting of all the Heads of the Departments, which was attended by the Finance Secretary and the Chief Secretary, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia said: "A traditional budget emphasises only financial outlays and spending on various activities, but stops short of promising outcomes that citizens eventually care about. This outcome budget will constitute a contract between the Delhi government, and therefore each department official, and the people of Delhi."
This recent effort from the Delhi government marks a big departure from the existing budgeting practices of all state governments, where budget allocations are accompanied with only vague promises.
In comparison, under the Delhi government's outcome budgeting exercise, each allocation will be accompanied by a comprehensive set of quantifiable indicators, some measuring outputs and some measuring outcomes.
"Extra attention was paid to ensure indicators are specific and measurable, and comparable across similar institutions and programmes, such as hospitals, engineering colleges, skill-training programmes, and others," the Minister said.
For instance, under the Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics scheme, the total financial outlay for 2017-18 will be accompanied by output indicators, measuring the total number of new clinics that will be launched, number of medical and para-medical staffers to be deployed, and the number of free medicines and tests that will be made available. The outcome indicators will track the actual number of patients availing these services, as well as the satisfaction score on a scale of 1 to 5.
Since the total list of indicators defined through the Outcome Budgeting might run into thousands, the Delhi government is also planning to develop an IT application that will track all these commitments on a quarterly basis, based on inputs provided by departments, and in some cases, through independent surveys.
The IT application will also have the ability to publish automated reports and data visualisation, as well as to provide customised dashboards for officials and ministers of the Delhi government.
The officials will also be accountable for the the budget spent every year and they will have to give an account of the money unspent every quarter of the financial year.
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