Let the people see how their money is being spent
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Baimiao, a small town in a remote area of Sichuan Province in southwest China, became famous after the local government published details of its budget on its website. But could governments around China follow its example?
During this year’s National People’s Congress session on March 5-14 there were the usual calls for the government to publish their budgets and make their financial affairs more transparent to the public.
Many people took up the call to follow the example of Baimiao Town.
This would allow tax payers to see how their money is being spent, and give real meaning to the slogan of public supervision of government.
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Some object that financial affairs of higher-level governments are too complicated to put on a website, and Baimiao’s accounts are understandable only because it has a population of less than ten thousand.
But in other countries, both central and local governments routinely publish their budgets. And administrative units in these countries are often as big as Chinese provinces.
Furthermore, higher level governments have more advanced equipment and technology to help them administer and present their accounts. So there is no real reason why higher level governments can’t follow Baimiao’s good example and keep the public informed of their financial affairs.
Government officials should understand the importance of transparency and realize that it is their duty to open up financial matters to the public.
This is not to say there are no problems in Baimiao Town. Just publishing accounts with no accompanying mechanisms to allow feedback and ensure accountability is not enough. But it is a start, and a good example for others to follow.
