Role of public expenditure tracking surveys vital for transparent economy

DHULIKHEL:  Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS) is a must to assure good governance.
Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys is a social accountability tool by which citizens track the amount of government’s budget allocated to activities implemented by the local bodies like VDCs, DDCs and municipalities, according to the participants of a workshop, organised here jointly by the World Bank’s Programme for Accountability in Nepal (PRAN) and the World Bank Institute.
“Through Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys, the community can learn how much of their budget is spent, or being spent, on specific activities, and what was actually achieved through the spent amount,” they explained. “In the current scenario with the absence of elected representatives throughout the country, we need a tool that would hold the administration accountable and PETs meets all the criteria.”
A three-day workshop ‘Following the Funds: Implementing Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys in Government Social Security Allowances,’ started on September 30 and concluded today provided a detailed, practical, hands-on training to over 50 social accountability practitioners – who implement the social accountability tools through various civil society organisations – from Dang, Kapilvastu, Gorkha, Palpa, Kalikot, Kailali Jajarkot, Bajura, Rolpa and Accham.
The workshop brought together national and international experts to share their experiences on implementing the Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS) methodology.

Through the use of PETS, people can find out whether the local government’s specific plans, programmes and resources have reached their intended targets, whether the money was spent for the approved purpose and, if not, what ways can be identified to ensure that the budget is spent as per the approved purposes.
“Our partners felt the need for such PETS training as most village communities lack proper knowledge on budget transparency and accountability issues,” PRAN’s coordinator Keith D Leslie said, on the occasion.

“We believe that citizens can more effectively hold their government accountable through such community-led, demand-driven tools as PETS,” she said, adding that through PRAN, we are able to provide practical training to develop the capacity of civil society in partnership with their government to promote social accountability in Nepal.”

Programme for Accountability in Nepal (PRAN) of the World Bank promotes the use of various social accountability tools allowing the citizens to hold the government and service providers accountable at the local level.

Public accountability meet shares experiences

Government officials and civil society representatives from Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan are meeting in Kathmandu to share their experiences on public participation and accountability in the budget process.
The forum — organised by World Bank Institute (WBI), the Programme for Accountability in Nepal (PRAN) and the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability-South Asia (ANSA-SAR) started yesterday and concludes tomorrow.
"The World Bank has embarked on an ambitious Openness Agenda," said World Bank Country Manager for Nepal Tahseen Sayed.
"Transparency, accountability and citizen participation are all central to the citizen-oriented approach,” she said, adding that the World Bank realises that one of the best things that can be provided to the beneficiaries of development interventions is easy-to-use data and access to information from across the globe. "We now clearly understand that open access to data and information empowers citizen, advocacy groups and their governments and their policy makers, to make better-informed judgments."
It allows governments and citizens to monitor implementation progress and track development results more accurately,” she added.
The forum will provide participants with an overview of social accountability approaches and relevant tools for independent budget analysis, expenditure tracking, budget demystification and dissemination, procurement monitoring, and monitoring of service delivery.
It intends to serve as a kick off for devising country level action agenda on greater budget accountability at national and local level.
Stared three years ago, the $3 million Programme for Accountability in Nepal (PRAN) is going to conclude its first phase of programme in October and with the success of the programme, the multi donor trust has shown interest to fund it to continue the efforts of making governments more accountable on public finance and service delivery.
It is expected to help engage the government and community social organisations in the constructive way, apart from making people aware that their money — the public spending — is also their responsibility. The continuous oversight of the budget will help increase its output and expedite and ensure quality service.
The public accountability programme is going on in 20 districts of the country at present, informed programme coordinator of PRAN Richard Holloway.