UPSC Mains Answer: Women empowerment in India needs gender budgeting. What are the requirements and status of gender budgeting in the Indian context?

Difficulty Level: Medium

Pre-requisite: Understanding of India’s fiscal policy framework, including the Union Budget process, and familiarity with gender-related policies such as the National Policy for Empowerment of Women (2001) and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005). K

Sub-category: Social Justice and Empowerment (GS-III)

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Women empowerment in India has been a long-standing goal, yet systemic inequalities persist. Gender budgeting emerges as a critical tool to address these disparities by integrating a gender perspective into fiscal policies and resource allocation. Introduced in India in 2005-06, gender budgeting aims to ensure that public expenditure and revenue generation promote gender equality and women’s development.
The requirements for effective gender budgeting in India include: (1) Institutional Mechanisms: Establishing dedicated cells in ministries, such as the Gender Budgeting Cells (GBCs) in key departments, to monitor and evaluate gender-sensitive allocations. (2) Data Disaggregation: Collecting and analyzing sex-disaggregated data to identify gaps in resource distribution, such as in healthcare, education, and employment. (3) Capacity Building: Training officials and policymakers to design and implement gender-responsive budgets. (4) Legislative Backing: Strengthening legal frameworks, like the National Policy for Empowerment of Women (2001) and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005), to mandate gender budgeting. (5) Civil Society Participation: Engaging NGOs and women’s groups to ensure accountability and grassroots feedback.
The status of gender budgeting in India reflects both progress and challenges. The Union Budget allocates funds under two parts: Part A (100% women-specific schemes, e.g., Beti Bachao Beti Padhao) and Part B (30-99% allocation for women, e.g., Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme). While the gender budget has grown from ₹24,241 crore in 2005-06 to over ₹2.23 lakh crore in 2022-23, its share in the total budget remains around 5-6%. Implementation gaps persist due to inadequate monitoring, lack of awareness, and bureaucratic inertia. States like Kerala and Karnataka have pioneered gender budgeting at the sub-national level, but many others lag behind.
To strengthen gender budgeting, India must enhance transparency, improve data systems, and foster political will. Aligning it with global frameworks like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 5) can further amplify its impact. Ultimately, gender budgeting is not merely an accounting exercise but a transformative step toward achieving substantive equality and empowering women in India.