What is a Gender Budget?
A Gender Budget is a financial plan that outlines government spending and policies aimed at promoting gender equality and addressing women's needs.
It tracks allocations for programs specifically benefiting women and girls.
Its goal is to ensure that budgetary allocations are effectively supporting women's empowerment and addressing gender disparities.
Gender Budget Statement (GBS) was first introduced in the Indian Budget in 2005-06
The Five-Step Framework for Gender Budgeting
Step 1: An analysis of the situation for women and men and girls and boys (and the different sub-groups) in a given sector.
Step 2: An assessment of the extent to which the sector’s policy addresses the gender issues and gaps described in the first step.
Step 3: An assessment of the adequacy of budget allocations to implement the gender-sensitive policies and programmes identified in step 2.
Step 4: Monitoring whether the money was spent as planned, what was delivered and to whom.
Step 5: An assessment of the impact of the policy/ programme/scheme and the extent to which the situation described in step 1 has changed.
Components of the Gender Budget Statement (GBS)
Part A: Reports expenditures with 100% allocation for women, such as specific women-focused programs.
Part B: Covers programs with 30-99% of their budget allocated for women, reflecting partial support.
Part C: Includes schemes where less than 30% of the allocation is for women, highlighting indirect benefits.
Instances of Missing Allocations
Programs like PM Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) show higher allocations for women without clear explanations.
The Gender Budget Statement (GBS) has missed reporting pro-women allocations in certain schemes, such as PM Vishwakarma, SVANidhi, and Stand-Up India.
For example, MGNREGS shows only 33.6% of its budget as benefiting women, despite women constituting a larger percentage of beneficiaries.
Rectifying Anomalies
Ensure detailed explanations for allocations to improve accuracy and transparency in reporting.
Refine reporting mechanisms to better reflect actual spending and benefits for women.
Develop a more scientific approach to gender budgeting, ensuring comprehensive and precise documentation.
Conduct regular gender audits to verify that budgets are effectively addressing women's needs and contributing to gender equality
COMMENTS