The Centre for Budget and Policy Studies in India showcases problems in social sector budgeting and the responses of policymakers in their documentary.
As part of the first round of the TAP Grants Program, the Center for Budget and Policy Studies (CBPS) conducted a study of expenditures on health and education in two districts, Udupi and Chitradurga, in the state of Karnataka, India. Overall, they find that the process of budget allocations and decisions on spending is almost entirely top-down: districts depend exclusively on the State for revenue, and have little influence over budget allocations of that revenue. In addition, both district and state governments exhibit very poor record keeping, which means it is difficult to gauge demand for health and education spending at the local level, thus leading to almost purely arbitrary expenditure patterns from year to year. As part of their advocacy efforts, CBPS produced a video about the budgeting process and responses of government officials to common spending efficiency problems in health and education (the link below allows you to download a copy of the CBPS-produced video).
