What Is Gender Budgeting?

Gender budgeting is the process that can tackle concerns such as sexism, abuse, humiliation, assault, abandonment, and manipulation, among others. It commences with the budget and incorporates a range of different approaches to the entire policy process. Gender budgeting is a crucial instrument for achieving gender integration and assuring that progress benefits males and females equally.

It principally aids in the minimisation of gender disparities. Gender inequalities persist in modern society, reflecting in areas such as entrepreneurship potential, labour force participation rate, income, literacy, survival rates, administration, and senior management employee involvement.

Aspirants can learn about the key highlights of Union Budget 2022-23 at the linked article.

Overview of Gender Budgeting

The article’s premise is that the cost estimate is more than just an annual accounting of revenue and costs. It is a mechanism for the institution to fulfill its responsibilities and, therefore, a political expression of its resource allocation priorities. Gender budgeting schemes are ultimately politicized declarations as well as fiscal policy mechanisms.

Gender-sensitive budgeting analyzes how budgets address the concerns of females and males, regardless of whether they are youngsters, adolescents, or grownups. Analysis on Gender budgeting is crucial for revealing violence against women and releasing resources between two groups. This sort of research aids in determining alternatives to gender discrimination by emphasising the independence demoralisation of two separate groups: men and women. Gender budgeting investigated the concept of gender on all laws and projects, not just female appropriations or policies.

Gender Budgeting UPSC includes the following topics:

• Policies, organizations, and gender-sensitive initiatives.
• Gender-based utilization of resources.
• From a gender perspective, investment and delivery of public services are monitored.
• Evaluating and assessing the impact of initiatives and schemes on women.
• Preventative step to address gender imbalances in the future.

Current Issue

Gender Budgeting in India accounted for 4.8 percent of the total financial outlay in 2005-06, but its share of the budget has remained relatively constant throughout time, maintaining around 5%. The Gender Budget totaled Rs 1,43,462 crore in the previous fiscal year or 4.72%.

The government’s gender-sensitive response to COVID caused a spike in real expenditure to Rs 2,07,261 crore.

Women continue to be disproportionately affected by the post-pandemic circumstances. However, the Gender Budget as a fraction of the Union Budget has plummeted to 4.4 percent in 2021-22, which is Rs 1,53,326 in relative terms.

As per statistical information from the 75th National Sample Survey (NSS) undertaken in 2017-18, 12.8% disclosed being allowed to navigate a computer compared with 20 per cent of males, and 14.9% disclosed being able to access the internet vs that of 25 per cent of males. In India, compared to 71% of men possessing mobile phones or digital devices, only 38% of women do. Interestingly, we see that even though a household owns a smart device and has internet service, the male participants are more likely to use the systems for education or work.

Also, IAS aspirants can refer to the following links:

Gender Budgeting – Context with India

Several foreign consultations have been coordinated, with the opportunity to revolutionize the reality of women’s lives. Several of these meetings have led the Government of India to pledge to act immediately to improve the condition of Gender Budgeting In India. Some of these commitments are:

• The Symposium on the Abolishment of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), India approved in 1980 and enacted on July 9, 1993.
• The Protocol on the Child’s Rights entered into force in 1990, and India enacted it in 1992.

India’s Gender Budgeting Scheme is divided into two parts, A and B, respectively. Part A of the Gender Budget encompasses schemes with 100% redistribution for women, such as the widow provident fund, girls’ accommodation scheme, and pregnancy benefit scheme, and Part B includes methods with at least 30% allocation for women, such as the mid-day meals program, rural alternative livelihood mission, and biogas initiative.

The deployment of GRB by the Central and state governments was inarguably a momentous occasion to strive for gender equality. Still, it is also favourable for the framework to evolve in parallel with the advancement of feminist scholars.

Gender Budget 2022

Since 2005-06, India has just come out with its 17^th Gender Budget, which earmarks initiatives and/or expenditures to promote gender equality and eradicate gender inequality. Overall, the gender budget has increased in terms of numbers to 1,71,006.47 crores (2022-23 Budget Estimates1), contributing 4.3 percent of the entire spending plan.

According to an analysis by the All India Democratic Women’s Association, the Gender Budget has declined from 0.71 percent of the Gross domestic product in the fiscal years for 2021-22 to 0.66 percent in the prediction for 2022-2023.

Way Forward

Although the Indian government’s experience with gender budgeting is widely used as a frame of reference for other gender budgetary control initiatives, there seems to be a visible framework gap between what was originally intended and what has been accomplished under the false pretence of gender budgeting.

However, the gender budgeting scheme is not merely intellectual. It must be strongly implemented on a theoretical level. Today, substantial improvements can be seen in women’s empowerment, reproductive freedom, general wellbeing, and non – discrimination, but much more remains to be improved.

For the best preparation strategy for competitive exams candidates can visit the linked article and get detailed study material and preparation tips to excel in the examination.

To get the latest exam updates, study material and preparation tips, visit BYJU’S.