Budgeting for a gender-inclusive ‘Viksit Bharat’

Context: The share of Gender Budget allocation in the total Union Budget has increased to 8.86% in FY 2025-26 from 6.8% in FY 2024-25. This is the highest allocation in two decades, with ₹4.49 lakh crore spread across 49 Union Ministries and departments. It reflects a strong commitment to create a more supportive and empowering environment for women. 

Key Highlights of Gender Budgeting 2025-26: 

1. Increased share of Gender Budget allocation:  

• Maximum allocation in Part B: 
  • 72.75% of the gender budget has been allocated to Part B type of gender budget, followed by Part A and Part C, i.e., 23.5% and 3.75% respectively.

• Ministry-wise allocation: 
  • 10 Ministries received over 30% of their allocation in the Gender Budget for FY 2025-26.
  • The Ministry of Women & Child Development received the highest 81.79% allocation, followed by the Department of Rural Development (65.76%), the Department of Food and Public Distribution, and the Department of Health and Family Welfare.
• Allocation to new Ministries: Twelve new Ministries/Departments have reported allocations in the GBS 2025-26.
  • They include: Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Department of Biotechnology, Department of Food & Public Distribution, Department of Financial Services, Department of Fisheries, Department of Land Resources, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Department of Water Resources, RD & GR, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, and Ministry of Railways.
  • This expansion of gender budgeting into non-conventional sectors reflects the government approach to gender mainstreaming.

2. Inclusion of women as a priority group in the National Development Framework: 

• The budget sets a holistic vision for Viksit Bharat with ‘zero poverty, universal good quality school education, 100% skilled labour with meaningful employment, 70% women in economic activities, and India as the food basket of the world.
  • As per the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey, India’s female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) has risen to 42% in 2023-24 from 33% in 2021-22. (the global average is 47% as reported by the International Labour Organisation). 
  • However, a 37% point gap remains when compared to men’s labour force participation of 79%. 
• Achieving the ambitious target of 70% women’s participation in economic activities by 2047, needs increased investment in skilling, employment, entrepreneurship, access to resources, and social security entitlements. 
• For this purpose, key initiatives like Skill India Programme, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission, MGNREGS, PM Employment Generation Programme, PM Vishwakarma, Krishonnati Yojana, have received increased allocations. Approximately 52% of  ₹1.24 lakh crore allocations of these funds are directed toward women and girls. 

3. Advancing women’s economic participation: 

• Budget 2025-26 provides a robust foundation for advancing women’s economic participation. New schemes like Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, first-time entrepreneurs’ scheme, sustainable livelihood for urban workers initiative etc. will play a critical role in fostering women’s workforce participation & creation of women entrepreneurs. 
  • As per the government’s Udyam portal, 20.5% of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are women-owned employing about 27 million people. 
  • Reports suggest that establishing 30 million additional women-owned businesses could generate 150-170 million jobs, accounting for over 25% of the job creation needed for India’s working-age population by 2030.
• The budget advocates:
  • Unlocking finance for women-owned enterprises through collateral-free loans, alternative credit scoring models, and targeted financial literacy programmes. 
  • Simplifying documentation requirements, such as delinking Kisan Credit Cards from land ownership, would help women farmers avail loans and credit facilities. 
  • Tracking access and usage of such schemes through gender-disaggregated data to further enhance their effectiveness.

4. Focus on gig workers: 

• The Budget proposes to formalise gig workers by issuing identity cards and registering them on the e-Shram portal.
  • This is a significant step as 90% of India’s working women are engaged in the informal sector. 
  • It will empower millions of women by providing them formal identity, access to social security entitlements, and financial inclusion benefits.

5. Gender inclusivity in the technology sector: 

• The budget aims for establishment of a Centre of Excellence on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the education sector, and has allocated a dedicated ₹600 crore gender budget under the India AI Mission.
• This demonstrates the government’s intent to harness AI for social good, and ensure equitable outcomes in the workforce, and promote gender inclusivity in the technology sector. 

About Gender Budgeting

• Gender budgeting is a strategy that ensures public financial policies, programs and expenditures to promote gender equality. 
• Components of Gender budgeting- There are three components of the gender budgeting
  • Part A (100% for women): These are gender-specific expenditures allocated for the schemes directly benefiting women. (E.g., Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, SHE-Box etc.)
  • Part B (30% to 99% for women): It consists of Pro-women general expenditure that benefits both men and women but special focus on improvement of women’s condition (E.g., MGNREGA ensures wage equality for women).
  • Part C (less than 30% for women): These are gender-neutral budgeting that impacts all the citizens but may need gender sensitive planning to ensure equal benefits. (E.g., Har Ghar Nal project benefitting women by reducing their time to fetch water). 

Benefits of gender budgeting: 

• Promotes gender equality: It ensures that government resources are allocated to reduce gender disparity. (Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme enhanced enrollment of girls in school)
• Enhancing economic empowerment of women: The adequate gender budgeting provides skill development enhancing employment and workforce participation in the workforce. (Mudra yojana and Stand-Up India to promote entrepreneurship among women)
• Improves health and social welfare: Budgeting in schemes like Janani Suraksha Yojana has reduced the maternal mortality by promoting institutional deliveries. (Institutional deliveries has been increased to 78%: NFHS-5)
• Ensuring women safety and security: Allocation of funds for safety and security of women by providing necessary infrastructure and self-defence training to women. (Nirbhaya fund is used for women’s safety projects like emergency helplines and surveillance in public transport.)

Issues in gender budgeting: 

• Inadequate allocation: Women constitute about half of the nation’s population but gender budgeting is only 8.86% of the budget.
• Skewed allocation: Over 95% of the gender budgeting is done for the 5 ministries only, this limits the scope of implementation of the gender budgeting.
• Implementation gap: Many gender-responsive schemes suffer from poor execution due to bureaucratic delay and lack of coordination. (only 37% of Nirbhaya Fund has been utilised since its inception)
• Gender neutral schemes overlook women: Needs of women are often overlooked leading to further deprivation of the women. (only 27% of supervisory position in MGNREGA are held by women)
• Insufficient monitoring and accountability: There is a lack of clear mechanism that leads to inefficient spending. (Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana’s benefits have reached less than 50% of eligible women as per NITI Aayog : 2023). 

By ensuring gender-responsive budgeting, strengthened social protection, and by fostering a labour market which includes both women and men, India can pave the way for women to become key drivers of national growth, ultimately achieving the ambitious target of 70% women in economic activities by 2047.