Former caretaker adviser Akbar Ali Khan has suggested parliamentary standing committees to scrutinise the budgets of their respective ministries and place their recommendations. Khan also recommended abolishment of the Committee on Estimates, responsible for going over the budgets of 37 ministries, saying it is “unrealistic”. He further said the standing committee on the Ministry of Finance should be entrusted with holding a public hearing on budget preparation. Khan made the observations at a budget dialogue, organised by Shamunnay and Manusher Jonno, at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel on Sunday. He said the changes would reverse a situation whereby many MPs do not get scope to participate in the budgetary discussions. “Currently, the finance minister presents the budget, some cut motions are presented that the speaker waves away, and finally the budget is passed in a hurry in line with the government’s plan.” Khan said, “The average time devoted to budget discussions in parliament during 1999-2006 was 35.1 hours only and 4.16 hours for discussions on supplementary budgets.” “Whereas, if the standing committees sit for budget discussions for a couple of days, they would be more fruitful,” he said. Khan recommended changes to section 111 (2) of RoP, which clearly stipulates that the budget shall not be referred to any standing committee. Khan said parliament’s rules of procedure empower the Committee on Estimates to scrutinise all ministry budgets. But, he pointed out, there were no standing committees when the Committee on Estimates was created. Now each ministry had its own standing committee, Khan said and the estimates committee has limitations. “It cannot submit any recommendation before the approval of the budget, and it is extremely difficult for one committee to oversee the estimates of all ministries.” Khan said the ministries should heed recommendations by standing committees as guidelines for budget preparation since their recommendations are not mandatory to go by, but rather “suggestive”. “The ministries may use them as guidelines in preparing supplementary budgets and for the following year’s budget too,” he said. A public budget hearing by the finance committee every year should also start with a review of recommendations of the previous year, which will create moral pressure on the government to consider, he also said. He believed it would ensure effectiveness to discuss budget policy with various stakeholders such as academicians, chambers of commerce, economic reporters and civil society members. Khan suggested if the standing committee on finance holds the responsibility to analyse the form and contents of the budget every year, it would ensure that the finance ministry can change the format in a continuous manner. “This will provide an opportunity to review the implementation progress of recommendations,” he said.
Source: bdnews24.com