{"id":129021,"date":"2024-08-31T19:59:12","date_gmt":"2024-08-31T14:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/?post_type=current-affairs&#038;p=129021"},"modified":"2025-02-13T15:59:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T10:29:23","slug":"gender-budget-of-2024-25","status":"publish","type":"current-affairs","link":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/current-affairs\/gender-budget-of-2024-25","title":{"rendered":"Analyzing the Gender Budget of 2024-25"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Gender Budget 2024-25 has the highest financial allocation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for schemes designed to promote <\/span><b>women-led development<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> since 2005.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>About Gender Budgeting<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As per<\/span><b> OECD,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Gender Budgeting is <\/span><b>a tool that governments can use to help close gender gaps.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-129009 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/312-66d320a1ad236.webp\" alt=\"Gender Budget\" width=\"505\" height=\"241\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/312-66d320a1ad236.webp 928w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/312-66d320a1ad236-300x143.webp 300w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/312-66d320a1ad236-768x367.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 505px) 100vw, 505px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Refers:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It is a tool for <\/span><b>gender mainstreaming<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which uses the Budget as an entry point to apply a gender lens to the entire policy process.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Function: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is<\/span><b> a separate statement (not a separate budget) <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the Union budget, it provides <\/span><b>an estimate of budgetary allocations and expenditure targeted towards women and girls.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It covers analyzing <\/span><b>various economic policies of the Government from a gender perspective.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Rationale behind Gender Budgeting (GB):<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Equality and Efficiency:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Apart from the basic principle of promoting equality among citizens, GB can benefit the economy through efficiency gains.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Keep in Mind the Systemic Differences across Gender: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Men and women frequently have different priorities for budgetary policies and a Gender responsive budget can be of great help in addressing women&#8217;s concerns from a gender perspective.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Expectations: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When implemented effectively, gender budgeting <\/span><b>helps expose<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> how gender inequalities may have inadvertently become embedded in public policies so that resources can be <\/span><b>allocated more equally.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also <\/span><b>helps prioritise budget measures<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that will support the <\/span><b>achievement of key gender objectives.\u202f<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"vc_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pw.live\/batches\/upsc?utm_source=seo+upsc+batch&#038;utm_medium=seo+upsc&#038;utm_campaign=seo&#038;utm_id=upsc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enroll now for UPSC Online Course<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 99.8984%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"border-style: solid; border-color: #000000; background-color: rgba(184, 165, 217, 0.53); text-align: left; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%;\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-size: 16pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>Difference between Women-led development and Women-Centric Development<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Women-led development and women-centric development are<\/span><b> both approaches to development that focus on women, but they differ in their focus and approach:\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Women-led Development: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It focuses on <\/span><b>women taking on leading roles and actively participating<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in shaping the economic, social, and political progress of a community or society.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of its goals include<\/span><b> promoting education, skill development, and entrepreneurship, and bridging the gender digital divide.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Women-centric Development: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It focuses on<\/span><b> acknowledging women as an important force in society and integrating them into development programs.\u00a0<\/b><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of its goals include<\/span><b> improving quality of life, reducing hardship, and building capacity.<\/b><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Evolution of Gender Budgeting<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was first introduced in <\/span><b>1984 in Australia<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to evaluate the impact of the national budget on females and the approach was adopted by other countries including Canada, South Africa and Philippines etc.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-129010 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/313-66d320a1bc0a1.webp\" alt=\"Gender Budget\" width=\"347\" height=\"364\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/313-66d320a1bc0a1.webp 532w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/313-66d320a1bc0a1-286x300.webp 286w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 347px) 100vw, 347px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>United Nations Beijing Platform for Action: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In <\/span><b>1995<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">called for integrating a gender perspective into government budget processes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In<\/span><b> 2015<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">called for adequate resources and tools to track budget allocations for gender equality<\/span><b> (SDG 5).\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Addis Ababa Action Agenda for Development: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In<\/span><b> 2015<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">recognised the importance of tracking resource allocations for gender equality and strengthening capacity for Gender Budgeting.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>G20-Women (an official engagement group to the G20): <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In <\/span><b>2020<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it called for greater investment in Gender Budgeting to ensure that fiscal policies advance gender equality in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The eight MDGs to which the Government of India is a signatory which include <\/span><b>\u201cGoal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women\u201d.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>About Gender Budgeting in India<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The practice of issuing an annual Gender Budget Statement (GBS) as part of the Union budget began in <\/span><b>2005-06.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Components:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In India, Gender Budgeting comprises two parts:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Part A: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reflects <\/span><b>Women-Specific Schemes <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">i.e., those which have<\/span><b> 100% <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">allocation for women<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Part B:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Reflects <\/span><b>Pro-Women Schemes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> i.e., those where<\/span><b> at least 30% <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the allocation is for women<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Different Stakeholders: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are a range of different actors who can be involved in Gender Budgeting. Some of them are:-<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Ministry of Finance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (both at the Union and State levels)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Ministry of Women &#038; Child Development<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\/Social Welfare Department<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Comptroller and Auditor General of India<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\/Local Audit Departments<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Role:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The gender budgeting framework has <\/span><b>helped the gender-neutral ministries to design new programs for women.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the past two decades, India\u2019s GBS has <\/span><b>evolved into a comprehensive document <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that provides item-wise allocation and expenditure details in a clear, predictable format.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Gender Budgeting Cells (GBCs):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The Government has mandated the establishment of GBCs in all Ministries and Departments as an institutional mechanism to implement Gender Budgeting.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>charter<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on GBC to be set up across various ministries was<\/span><b> issued<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in<\/span><b> 2017.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Detailed guidelines <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to establish these calls at the level of the states were<\/span><b> issued in 2012-13.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>The Five-Step Framework for Gender Budgeting:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Step-1:<\/b> <b>Situation analysis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in relation to the condition of women.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Step-2: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An <\/span><b>assessment of the extent<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to which a particular sector&#8217;s policy addresses gender issues and gaps described in Step-1.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Step-3: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An <\/span><b>assessment of the adequacy of budget allocations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to implement gender-sensitive policies and programmes identified in Step-2.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Step-4: Monitoring<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> whether the money was spent as planned, what was delivered and to whom?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Step 5:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> An <\/span><b>assessment of the impact<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the policies\/programmes\/schemes and the extent to which the situation described in Step-1 has changed.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"vc_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.pw.live\/govt-entrance-exams\/upsc-books?utm_source=SEO&#038;utm_medium=PW+Live&#038;utm_campaign=UPSC+CSE+Books\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check Out UPSC CSE Books From PW Store<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 99.8983%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"border-style: solid; border-color: #000000; background-color: rgba(184, 165, 217, 0.53); text-align: left; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%;\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-size: 16pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>Why Emphasis on Gender?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Representation: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Women represent <\/span><b>nearly 49% <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the total population in the country.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Discrimination Facers:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Women face disparities in access to and control over services and resources.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Specific Needs:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> There are specific needs of women that need to be addressed specifically.<\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; color: #000000;\">Bulk of the public expenditure and policy concerns are in the Gender Neutral Sectors.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-size: 16pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>Difference between Gender Neutral and Gender Sensitive Sectors:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Certain sectors like <\/span><b>defence, power, transport, commerce,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> etc. are perceived as gender neutral, because of their<\/span><b> universal reach and the expenditure and revenue<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of these sectors cannot be partitioned on the basis of gender.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Traditionally, gender sensitive sectors are perceived as those sectors where the <\/span><b>target beneficiaries are visible and they are primarily women,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> e.g., <\/span><b>health, education, labour, rural development, etc.<\/b><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Highlights of Gender Budget 2024-25 in India<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-129011 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/314-66d320a099cb0.webp\" alt=\"Gender Budget\" width=\"506\" height=\"228\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/314-66d320a099cb0.webp 773w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/314-66d320a099cb0-300x135.webp 300w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/314-66d320a099cb0-768x346.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 506px) 100vw, 506px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Women-led development<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> remains at the core of announcements that was reflected in <\/span><b>Budget allocations to pro-women programmes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as reported by the Gender Budget Statement (GBS).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Rise in Allocation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The GB reached <\/span><b>1% of GDP<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> estimates in 2024-25 for the<\/span><b> first time,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and overall allocations currently stand at more than<\/span><b> \u20b93 lakh crore<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for pro-women programmes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Gender Budget at a Glance: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the FY 2024-25, the GB has<\/span><b> increased by 38.6% .<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Budget Share: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The GB&#8217;s share of the total union budget<\/span><b> increased from 5% in 2023-24 to 6.5% in 2024-25.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>43 Ministries\/Departments\/UTs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have reported a total of Rs. 3.09 lakh crore in the Gender Budget Statement\u00a0 2024-25 (Budget Estimates), as compared to Rs. 2.23 lakh crore in 2023-24.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>38 Ministries\/Departments and 5 UTs reported in either Part A or Part B<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">22 Ministries\/Departments and 5 UTs reported in Part A (100% women specific schemes)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-129012 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/315-66d320a05dccd.webp\" alt=\"Gender Budget\" width=\"376\" height=\"268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/315-66d320a05dccd.webp 765w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/315-66d320a05dccd-300x214.webp 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 376px) 100vw, 376px\" \/><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">31 Ministries\/Departments and 4 UTs reported in Part B (30-99% budgetary allocation for women)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>87% of this increase<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Gender Budget over last year is owing to <\/span><b>increased allocations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for women and girls by 7 Ministries\/Departments:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ministry of Home Affairs<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ministry of New and Renewable Energy<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, and<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Department of Rural Development<\/span>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li><b>The Ministry of Power and Ministry of Civil Aviation reported for the first time in the Gender Budget Statement\u00a0 2024-25.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Change in the Reporting:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) \u2014 rural and urban \u2014 started getting reflected in part A instead of part B.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year the <\/span><b>share of allocations to pro-women schemes stands at approximately 6.8% <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the total budget expenditure for 2024-25, which is way above the usual trends and <\/span><b>marks a positive departure from status quo.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Part B of the GBS<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reports programmes with allocations of<\/span><b> 30-99%<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for women. Hence, only a part of PMAY was reported earlier.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beginning last year, the entire allocation of \u20b980,670 crore in PMAY for 2024-25BE has been reported under part A <\/span><b>thus driving the up allocations.\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"4\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such reporting of PMAY <\/span><b>may not be entirely accurate as not all beneficiaries are women.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Significance of Gender Budgeting<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gender Budgeting approach leads to <\/span><b>better informed policy choices<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and helps in making the policy makers more aware of the potential impact of policy decisions on gender.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Better Utilisation of Resources: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GB can support efforts to not only design, but re-design fiscal policies, and leads to better utilization of resources to address persistent gender gaps.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Gender Equality Goals: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An<\/span><b> IMF Working paper<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the impact of Gender Budgeting in G20 countries notes that <\/span><b>GB leads to more programmes incorporating gender related goals.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Wider Societal Outcomes: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are many other factors that impact the achievement of gender equality, including\u00a0 societal attitudes and behaviours and GB practices can make a difference in the way governments consider policy in respect to gender and lead to more conscious and better-informed decision making.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Combat the Problem of Gender Neutrality in the Budgets:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Gender-neutral budgets ignore the gender specific impacts of budgetary policies. However, GB involves looking at all the significant components from the point of view of women as beneficiaries.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Ensuring Transparency and Accountability: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GB ensures transparency in the budgetary allocation for women and accordingly enhances accountability in the utilisation of such allocations.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"vc_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.pw.live\/govt-entrance-exams\/upsc-books\/upsc-textbooks?utm_source=SEO&#038;utm_medium=PW+Live&#038;utm_campaign=UPSC+Textbooks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check Out UPSC NCERT Textbooks From PW Store<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Challenges with the Gender Budgeting<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year for the first time the <\/span><b>entire allocation to the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) is reflected in part A <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the GBS, which should have been done earlier. However, in<\/span><b> 2023-24BE, only 50% <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the scheme\u2019s total outlay used to be reflected in part B of the GBS.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Technical Challenges: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Implementation of GB faces several challenges like lack of guidance, coordination, expertise among personnel and low quality of gender impact assessments.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Absence of Gender Disaggregated Data:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Lack of such data makes it difficult to formulate effective policies and also limits the ability to accurately measure the effectiveness of the GB policies and initiatives.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As per the <\/span><b>IMF paper,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> due to lack of budget classifications or failure to incorporate gender classifiers in the financial management information systems (FMIS), governments miss on the implementation part.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Skewed Implementation: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many sectors\/schemes that can have impact on women, do not practice GB.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Example: NITI Aayog paper on Gender Mainstreaming (June 2022)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has noted that only 62 out of 119 centrally-sponsored schemes are practising GB.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Costly: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In resource-constrained settings, gender budgeting can be costly and may not have guaranteed returns.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Lack of Accountability:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> There is <\/span><b>no mandate to have a minimum allocation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with respect to GB. In the absence of any accountability mechanisms regarding Gender Budgeting,<\/span><b> monitoring and implementation continue to be inadequate.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Over-Reporting:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It impacts severely such as the PM Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), which aims to assist entrepreneurs in setting up micro businesses in the non-farm sector. The <\/span><b>GBS reported an allocation of \u20b9920 crore or 40% of the total allocation to PMEGP, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">without providing any explanation for such reporting.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Under-Reporting: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The GB does not take into account some of the major schemes that benefit women and also, there is lack of clarity on the way schemes allocate at least 30% of their funds for women.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Examples: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has the third highest allocation among schemes for women in the GBS, is currently reported under part B with \u20b928,888.67 crore which is 33.6% of its total outlay.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, women constituted 59.3% of all person days under MGNREGA as of December 2023, and should have received commensurate wages from the total MGNREGA budget, yet <\/span><b>only 33.6% <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gets reflected in the GBS.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The GBS this year has<\/span><b> also correctly reported increased allocations for the Ministry of Electronics &#038; IT.<\/b> <b>But it missed out<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reporting pro-women allocations in the schemes for women entrepreneurs such as <\/span><b>PM Vishwakarma, SVANidhi, and Stand-Up India.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gender responsive budgeting is <\/span><b>a powerful tool to close the gender gaps <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in an economy. Following are few suggested measures in this direction:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Incorporation of Explanations for Allocations:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Various anomalies can be minimised by incorporating explanations for the entries made in the GBS.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It would not only ensure accounting accuracy but will<\/span><b> help in gender audits and provide pathways for improved gender outcomes <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in government programmes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It would <\/span><b>help in women\u2019s development<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by ensuring actual spending for women in all government programmes, that are well planned and designed to include women\u2019s needs from its inception.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Inclusiveness:<\/b> <b>NITI Aayog <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has recommended that a <\/span><b>Gender Budgeting Act<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can mainstream gender-based budgeting across all Ministries and States\/UTs.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Act can also mandate all data collecting institutions to analyse and publish gender-disaggregated statistics.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Increase of Allocation: NITI Aayog<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has also recommended that the Ministry of Women &#038; Child Development (MWCD) should encourage State Governments to increase budgetary allocation towards women and child development, protection and welfare schemes to ensure improved fund availability and utilisation of schemes.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Uniform Guidelines:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> As per the IMF survey, without guidelines or a common methodology for impact assessments, it is difficult for line Ministries to implement a common approach to GB analysis.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Better Data Collection: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The tools to monitor implementation and collect data must be improved. Better data can <\/span><b>help in deeper analysis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that can help in accurate measurement of outcomes and designing targeted initiatives for gender equality.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Bridge the Gaps:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The IMF recommends that <\/span><b>fiscal policies should focus on areas where gender gaps persist.\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gender Impact Assessments should be undertaken to help understand the gender impact of current and alternative policies that can be utilised to better redesign the policy interventions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"vc_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pw.live\/batches\/upsc\/pw-only-ias?utm_source=seo+upsc+batch&#038;utm_medium=seo+upsc&#038;utm_campaign=seo&#038;utm_id=upsc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enroll now for UPSC Online Classes<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 99.9297%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 137.824%; 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