Context: Delhi has witnessed a remarkable increase in the gender budget from ₹10 billion in 2011-12 to ₹71 billion in 2024-25. While providing financial assistance to women and child development is essential to reduce the gender gap, it is equally important to invest in other components like education and health.
Relevance of the Topic:Mains: Gender Budgeting: Concept & significance.
What is Gender Budgeting?
- Gender Budgeting or Gender Responsive Budgeting, is an approach that uses fiscal policy to promote gender equality by assessing the impact of government budgets on gender equity.
- In 2005-06, India introduced a gender budget. The Government of India publishes a Gender Budget Statement (GBS) annually along with the Union Budget.
- The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development leads the implementation of gender budgeting at the national level.
- The Departments of Women and Child Development, Social Welfare, and Finance act as nodal agencies in the States and Union Territories.
Rationale behind Gender Budgeting:
- The needs and requirements of genders differ. Gender-neutral budgets ignore the gender-specific impacts of Budgets.
- Thus, gender budgeting aims to:
- Promote Gender Equality through positive discrimination in favour of women.
- Promote higher efficiency through adequate provisions for women.
Significance:
- It ensures public financial resources are allocated to address disparities between genders across various sectors.
- Gender budgeting does not entail creating a separate budget for men and women; rather, it integrates gender considerations into the existing budget framework.
- It dissects budgets to identify gender-differential impacts and translates gender commitments into actionable fiscal policies.
- It addresses gender concerns within general schemes and programs, ensuring that even gender-neutral policies benefit women.
Examples of Gender Budgeting in Action
- MGNREGA:
- Mandates at least one-third participation of women.
- Introduces gender-sensitive provisions like safe drinking water, first aid, and childcare facilities at worksites.
- Financial Inclusion:
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) disproportionately benefits women, promoting financial inclusion.
- Establishment of Bharatiya Mahila Bank to enhance women's financial participation.
- Rural Development: Prioritizes safe drinking water, reducing time poverty for women and enabling greater economic participation.
- Housing (PMAY-U): Allocates housing under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) to female household members, increasing women's asset ownership.
- Energy Sector: Promotes clean cooking fuel initiatives, recognising their impact on women's health and labor.
- Engendering Gender-Neutral Ministries: Ministries like Urban Development, Power, and Corporate Affairs incorporate gender concerns into their schemes for better planning and resource prioritization.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development have facilitated the gender neutral Ministries like the Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Information Technology, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation for engendering their schemes and programmes for better planning and resource prioritisation.
Delhi’s Case:
- In the last few years, Delhi has witnessed a significant drop in the share of education in the Gender Budget.
- In 2017-18, education accounted for 54% of the gender budget, but this share has dropped to 27% in 2024-25.
Way Forward: Prioritise Education over Freebies
- Targeted Investment in Education:
- While cash transfers provide temporary relief, long-term empowerment requires targeted investment in women’s education and technical training.
- Education and technical training are major pillars for sustainable long-term growth.
- Increasing budget allocation to Education:
- Increasing the education budget would lead to a more skilled female workforce, reduced gender gaps in employment, and better representation in high-paying jobs.