Gender Budget 2024-25: Key Insights, Impact, and Future Directions

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• Gender Budget in India
• The Gender Budget of 2024-25

Why in News?

In the 2024-25 Budget, the Finance Minister emphasized women-led development, highlighting a strong commitment to women's empowerment. 

This dedication is evident in the Gender Budget Statement (GBS), which reported that the Gender Budget has reached 1% of GDP estimates for the first time. The overall budget allocations for pro-women programs now exceed ₹3 lakh crore, reflecting a significant investment in initiatives aimed at advancing gender equality.

Gender Budget in India

• About
  • Gender budgeting is a policy strategy that integrates a gender perspective into the budgetary process. 
  • It aims to assess how government spending and resource allocation impact men and women differently. 
  • The goal is to promote gender equality by ensuring that public resources are distributed in a way that benefits all genders equitably.
  • Basically, Gender Budgeting is a tool for gender mainstreaming, applying a gender lens to the entire policy process. 
  • It involves gender-sensitive formulation, resource allocation, and continuous monitoring to address vulnerabilities faced by women throughout their life cycle.
• Need for Gender Budgeting
  • Despite India's progress in various sectors, significant gender disparities persist in areas such as education, health, employment, and political participation. 
  • Gender budgeting is necessary to address these disparities and to ensure that women's specific needs are considered in policy formulation and implementation. 
  • It also promotes accountability in achieving gender equality goals.
• Introduction of Gender Budgeting in India
  • Gender budgeting India introduced in 2005-06. 
  • The Ministry of Women and Child Development spearheaded this initiative, which was supported by the Ministry of Finance. 
  • The Indian government began by identifying and classifying budgetary allocations into three categories:
    • Part A: Schemes where 100% of the budget is allocated for women.
    • Part B: Schemes where at least 30% of the budget is allocated for women.
    • Part C: Schemes that allocate up to 30% of their funds to women 
• Implementation of Gender Budgeting
  • Nodal authorities, including the Ministry of Women and Child Development at the central level, spearhead gender budgeting implementation. 
  • Departments of Women and Child Development/ Social Welfare, Finance or Planning Department are also responsible for gender budget implementation in states and Union territories. 
  • District subs for Empowerment of Women are also active in states and Union territories to coordinate and fulfil the objectives of schemes. 
  • These hubs are also required to have at least one gender specialist.

The Gender Budget of 2024-25

• About
  • The GB reached 1% of GDP estimates in 2024-25 for the first time, and overall allocations currently stand at more than ₹3 lakh crore for pro-women programmes.
  • Since its introduction in 2005-06, the Gender Budget Statement (GBS) has consistently accounted for an average of 5% of total budgetary allocations, with minor fluctuations. 
  • However, in 2024-25, the share of allocations to pro-women schemes has risen to approximately 6.8% of the total budget expenditure.
• Reason for the increase
  • This increase is driven by two main factors. 
  • First, the introduction of Part ‘C’ in the GBS, which includes schemes with less than 30% allocation for women.
    • E.g., the PM Kisan scheme in the agriculture sector, which now reports ₹15,000 crore, or 25% of its total outlay, under this category. 
  • Second, the rise in Part A allocations, which cover schemes with 100% allocation for women. 
    • Previously, Part A constituted 15-17% of GBS allocations, but this has surged to nearly 40% since 2023-24. 
    • This change is largely due to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) — both rural and urban — being reclassified from Part B to Part A.
• Issues of both over-reporting and under-reporting
  • The GBS for 2024-25 highlights issues of both over-reporting and under-reporting in gender-related allocations. 
  • Over-reporting is evident in schemes like the PM Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), where 40% of the total ₹920 crore allocation was reported without explanation. 
  • Conversely, under-reporting deflates the actual spending on women’s needs. 
  • For instance, the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) is now correctly reflected in Part A of the GBS with 100% allocation for women, which was underreported in previous years. 
  • Additionally, while increased allocations for the Ministry of Electronics & IT have been correctly reported, pro-women allocations in schemes like PM Vishwakarma, SVANidhi, and Stand-Up India were omitted.
  • In another example, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), despite women constituting 59.3% of all person-days under the scheme, only has 33.6% of its budget reflected in Part B of the GBS. 
    • This discrepancy suggests that the actual benefits to women under MGNREGA are not fully captured in the GBS.
• Way forward
  • To minimize anomalies in the Gender Budget Statement (GBS), it is essential to include explanations for budgetary entries. 
  • Providing these rationales would enhance accounting accuracy, facilitate gender audits, and lead to better gender outcomes in government programs. 
  • The recent inclusion of a third part in the GBS reflects years of advocacy by experts for improved reporting. 
  • However, the persistent anomalies indicate that the GBS still lacks a scientific and systematic approach.
  • While efforts to reduce misreporting and improve the GBS quality are evident, more progress is needed. 

Q.1. What is the significance of the Gender Budget 2024-25? 

The Gender Budget 2024-25 marks a historic milestone, reaching 1% of GDP for the first time, with over ₹3 lakh crore allocated to pro-women programs, reflecting a strong commitment to gender equality. 

Q.2. Why is accurate reporting important in the Gender Budget Statement? 

Accurate reporting in the Gender Budget Statement is crucial to reflect the true impact of allocations, facilitating better gender audits, and ensuring that women's needs are effectively addressed in government programs.

Source: Analysing the Gender Budget of 2024-25 | Explained | India Budget | Business Standard