GENDER BUDGET ISN’T SWELLING FAST

Nearly 5% of India's total Union Budget 2020-21 will be spent on schemes that benefit women, stated the Gender Budget fortheyear.amountingto~1.4trillion($19 billion) in 2020-21, the Gender Budget includes allocations made by different ministries for schemes that fully or partially benefit women.

Gender-responsive budgeting, along with supportive laws and other policy measures, could help governments track whether public funds are effectively allocated in furthering gender equality and empowering women. India was ranked 112th among 153 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index 2020.

India started releasing a Gender Budget along with the Union Budget in 2005-06. Many crucial sectors, such as health and education, are funded by both central and state governments. These are figures for the central government's Gender Budgets that feature schemes funded by the central government. Over the last 16 years, India's Gender Budget has increased from ~24,241 crore ($5.5 billion) in 2005-06 to ~1,43,462 crore ($19 billion) in 2020-21, a six-fold increase in absolute terms. However, in the last 13 years, the allocations as a proportion to the total Budget have stayed constant between 4.3% and 5.9%. The allocation was less than 5% of the total budget in five of the last six years.

The Gender Budget has two parts: Part A includes schemes with 100% allocation for women, such as the widow pension scheme, girls' hostel scheme, and maternity benefit scheme; and Part B with schemes allocating at least 30% of funds for women, such as the mid-day meals programme, the rural livelihoods mission and the biogas programme.

Since its inception, the Gender Budget has been dominated by allocations under Part B, accounting for at least two-thirds of the total Gender Budget.