Participatory Budgeting : Porto Alegre Innovation

Abraham Karammel
Mainz, Germany
(A retired NRI with over 35 years overseas life experience)
Email: karammela@yahoo.com

As an overseas Indian from Kerala, I realised that Kerala’s and India’s development have been slow, erratic and imbalanced. During the last years of my working life, I tried to find an efficient governance model for the fast socio-economic development of my native state Kerala and my motherland India. My first discovery was Singapore, the most successful city of the 20th century. Its system of ‘Meritocracy’ is very efficient and highly productive; it made a city of superlatives. Singapore’s institutionalisation is worth emulating. But, the small city-state’s authoritarian and restrictive rule is not practical in Kerala and India.

On further search, I discovered ‘Porto Alegre Innovation’. The Brazilian city of Porto Alegre was bankrupt in 1988, spending 96 percent of its revenue for salaries and routine expenses – no funds for development projects! On pressure from local NGOs, the new Workers Party Mayor Mr. Olivio Dutra, together with the NGOs, devised and introduced a yearly cyclic Participatory Budgeting (PB) Process in 1989. This PB process evolved into world’s most systematic, very flexible and highly efficient proceess for fast, comprehensive, equitable and sustainable socio-economic development. Thru this process, Porto Alegre became Brazil’s city with the best quality of life in 12 years! Thus, the process became world famous as ‘Porto Alegre Innovation’!

It is simple and decentralised at the bottom level. Its flexibleility, people centred process etc make it suitable and acceptable to any village, town or city in any country. The well defined, self-improving and adapting process spread in Brazil and outside. In addition to about 300 communities in Brazil, more than 1200 communities in over 40 countries like Argentina, Chile, China, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, USA etc are adapting the PB process! But, most are doing simple versions of PB! The innovative PB is a real panasea for socio-economic ills. Only a close study will reveal the ‘Angels in Details’ and provide the specifics, which if adapted can transform Kerala and India very fast.

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