Gender Budgeting National budgets impact men and women differently through the pattern of resource allocation. Women, constitute 48% of India’s population, but they lag behind men in many social indicators like health, education, economic opportunities, etc. Hence, they warrant special attention due to their vulnerability and lack of access to resources. The way Government budgets allocate resources has the potential to transform gender inequalities. In view of this, Gender Budgeting, as a tool for achieving gender mainstreaming, has been adopted by the Government of India in 2005. Gender Budgeting is not an accounting exercise but an ongoing process to ensure that benefits of development reach women as much as men. It entails incorporating a gender perspective at all levels and stages of the budgetary process - planning/ policy/ programme formulation, assessment of needs of target groups, allocation of resources, implementation, impact assessment and prioritization of resources. The MWCD along with the Ministry of Finance has since been pursuing with all Ministries/ Departments and State Governments to promote Gender Budgeting. The first step in this direction was the establishment of ‘Gender Budgeting Cells’ in 57 Ministries/Departments at Union level. Besides states like, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tripura,

Gender Budgeting

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Gender Budgeting

National budgets impact men and women differently through the pattern of resource allocation. Women, constitute 48% of India’s population, but they lag behind men in many social indicators like health, education, economic opportunities, etc. Hence, they warrant special attention due to their vulnerability and lack of access to resources. The way Government budgets allocate resources has the potential to transform gender inequalities. In view of this, Gender Budgeting, as a tool for achieving gender mainstreaming, has been adopted by the Government of India in 2005.

Gender Budgeting is not an accounting exercise but an ongoing process to ensure that benefits of development reach women as much as men. It entails incorporating a gender perspective at all levels and stages of the budgetary process - planning/ policy/ programme formulation, assessment of needs of target groups, allocation of resources, implementation, impact assessment and prioritization of resources.

The MWCD along with the Ministry of Finance has since been pursuing with all Ministries/ Departments and State Governments to promote Gender Budgeting. The first step in this direction was the establishment of ‘Gender Budgeting Cells’ in 57 Ministries/Departments at Union level. Besides states like, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli are also undertaking various Gender Budgeting initiatives. The adjoining map1 depicts the current status of adoption of GB by the states.

Another important step taken in the direction of Gender Budgeting in the country was the incorporation of the Statement 20 as a part of the Expenditure Budget Document, Vol.I. The Statement is an important tool for reporting allocations for women and provides an indication of the funds flowing to them. The number of Ministries reflecting their schemes and programmes in the Gender Budget Statement has increased from 9 in 2005-06 to 27 in 2016-17 and the magnitude of gender budget has also increased from 2.79% to 4.58% during the same period. The total allocation reported in the GB Statement in 2016-17 has been Rs. 90,624.76 crores.

1 Map prepared by Dr. Paramita Majumdar, based on the information available with the Ministry of WCD