CONCEPT OF GENDER BUDGETING :

 

CONCEPT OF GENDER BUDGETING :

Gender Budgeting is a powerful tool in the hands of the government that narrows the gender differentials and further leads to empowering the women through its allocation in different schemes.

According to the Council of Europe, GB is the implementation of gender mainstreaming in the budgetary process. In order to advance gender equality, it entails reorganising income and expenditures, evaluating budgets based on gender and integrating a gender perspective at all stages of the budgetary process.

The goal of gender budgeting initiatives is to include gender-specific concerns and issues into fiscal policy and the financial management procedures of the government. GB was firstly adopted by Australia in the year 1984 and then consequently by Canada in 1993, accompanied by the Philippines and South Africa in 1995. It became much more popular when it was included in the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.

In India, GB was officially introduced in 2005-06 under statement 19 of the Union Budget in order to provide financial assistance to the women-centric or pro-women schemes through budgetary allocations. Later in 2006-07, it was shifted to statement 20 till 2017-18 and since 2017-18, GB has been presented in statement 13 of the Union Budget. Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) is the implementing agency for the Gender Budgeting in India.

 In order to prepare the GB, MoWCD issues a budget circular to all the ministries and departments, and each ministry/department is required to submit their plans and demands to address gender concerns in the specified format in order to prepare the gender budget. The allocation in GB till 2023-24, is divided into two main categories i.e., Part A and Part B, but a new category, Part C has been added to the GB since 2024-25. 

The three categories of its allocation are : 

Part A includes women-centric schemes that have 100 per cent provision towards women and girls.

Part B includes pro-women schemes that have at least 30 per cent provision for women and girls.

Part C includes pro-women schemes that have below 30 per cent provision for women and girls.

According to the Ministry of Finance (2023), GB provides a critical opportunity to identify, prioritise and address gender concerns in all ministries and departments through the process of budget planning and its preparation. Additionally, this process offers a space for making existing systems and programs more gender-responsive and also helps to addresses the disparities through the prism of gendered lens

Highlighting the Gender Budget 2025-26 :

The goal of gender budgeting is to use financial tools to identify and eliminate the gender-specific obstacles across all sectors. 

The government’s stated goal of enhancing female participation in economic development is reflected in GB 2025-26, which is structured entirely around women-led development, which intends to meet the needs of accelerating economic growth. 

To promote women’s participation in economic development, women-specific allotments have been made under Part A of GB which is Rs 1,05,535.40 crore, accommodating 23.50 per cent of the GB in 26 different ministries/departments. 

With an aim of promoting employment and utilising the female workforce in the agricultural sector, the newly launched ‘Namo Drone Didi’ scheme has been allocated Rs 950.85 crore in GB 2025-26 as compared to Rs 500 crore in the previous budget. 

Next, with an improved budget of Rs 19,005 crore in GB 2025- 26, the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) would be able to help impoverished rural women develop their full potential by providing them with education and training. Also, to empower women through asset ownership, a substantial amount of funds have been allocated under Part A of GB. 

Accumulating the funds for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana—both Urban and Rural, Rs 78,126 crore has been allocated which accounts for 74.02 per cent of the total Part A allocation of GB. 

Further in GB 2025- 26, the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s women-centric schemes have received nearly the same amount as in the previous budget, while the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has received a allocation of Rs. 0.01 crore for LPG connections to poor households against Rs 9,094 crore allocated in GB 2024-25.