What the Union Budget does — and doesn’t do — for women

Nari Shakti has agelong been a precedence country for the Narendra Modi government, present successful its 3rd term. How bash the Budget numbers bespeak this focus? How does the Budget study connected allocations for women and girls?

For latest updates connected the Union Budget, click here.

The Gender Budget Statement

Since the Financial Year (FY) 2005-06, the Government of India (GoI) has been releasing the Gender Budget Statement (GBS) on with the Union Budget.

The GBS includes schemes crossed Union ministries and departments with afloat oregon portion allocations for women and girls. It is important to enactment that the GBS is not a abstracted fund for women, but a reporting oregon accounting workout for existing schemes.

For instance, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) states that it volition warrant astatine slightest a 3rd of its allocation for women, and historically astir fractional of the workers person been women. The GBS, thus, reports 47% of the full MGNREGS fund for women this FY.

Till FY 2024-25, the GBS had 2 parts: Part A which includes schemes that supply 100% allocations for women and girls, and Part B with 30-99% strategy allocations. Since past FY, the GoI has travel up with a 3rd part–Part C–which includes 1-29% strategy allocations for women and girls.

Trends successful GBS implicit time

The GBS reports a full allocation of Rs 4.49 lakh crore successful FY 2025-26, a invited 37% summation from FY 2024-25. While trends successful GBS allocations and expenditures amusement variations, determination has been an wide implicit summation successful prioritisation for women and girls implicit the years. In FY 2019-20, the GBS was 5% of full expenditure. It has steadily risen since then, and stands astatine 9% of full expenditure successful FY 2025-26.

However, a person look astatine the part-wise investigation indicates stagnation of Part A allocations implicit time. (See Figure 1)

Figure 1: Schemes with 30-99% allocations represent a highest proportionality of the GBS crossed years. (Note: Figures are Actuals, oregon GoI releases to states and UTs, till FY 2023-24. FY 2024-25 are REs and FY 2025-26 are BEs. Source: https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/)

This could connote 2 things.

One, that ministries and departments are progressively trying to incorporated a sex lens successful the strategy allocations, due to the fact that of which Part B and C allocations person gone up. On the different hand, it could besides suggest that ministries and departments are arbitrarily allocating, oregon misallocating, schemes with components for women and girls.

Examples from societal assemblage ministries

To recognize these nuances, we look astatine immoderate schemes from societal assemblage ministries.

The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), a flagship strategy of the Ministry of Jal Shakti launched successful 2019, acknowledges the clip women spend, and the carnal toll it takes fetching h2o by providing functional pat connections to each agrarian household.

JJM features successful Part B of the GBS this year, with a 31% allocation earmarked for women. This is contempt the information that successful the erstwhile 2 FYs, allocations and spending for women were some astatine 49%, reflecting the government’s intent and the programme’s palmy women-focussed implementation. The JJM has been extended to 2028, but the diminution successful allocations for women suggest a deficiency of long-term, focussed committedness towards addressing the load connected women.

Additionally, the fund estimation for JJM was inexplicably missing from the GBS successful FY 2023-24, suggesting an arbitrariness successful the reporting of gender-focussed allocations.

The Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana–Grameen (PMAY-G), which is nether the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), aims to physique pucca houses with basal amenities for the agrarian poor. The strategy explicitly prioritises women, by ensuring ownership is successful women’s names.

PMAY-G is successful Part A of the GBS, meaning that 100% of the allocations are directed towards women, and suggesting that each houses are constructed successful women’s names. However, since the strategy began, authorities information amusement that lone 23% of houses person been allotted to women (as connected February 1, 2025). The scheme’s stated goals and its accounting successful the GBS, therefore, bash not align with its implementation.

Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, the erstwhile Integrated Child Development Services strategy nether the Ministry of Women and Child Development which focuses connected promoting affirmative wellness and nutrition outcomes for women, features successful some Part A and Part B of the GBS.

First, if a strategy is successful Part A of the GBS, it automatically means that 100% of that scheme’s allocations are directed towards women. There is nary mentation for wherefore it features successful some parts, oregon which circumstantial sub-schemes are meant for Part A oregon Part B.

Second, erstwhile the Mission was restructured successful FY 2021-22, a fig of sub-schemes were nary longer separately mentioned successful the Budget. PM Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), an entitlement of large and lactating women, has vanished from the Budget and 1 tin nary longer spot its full allocations. Such restructuring is not uncommon crossed societal assemblage schemes; it makes schemes opaque and their monitoring difficult.

That said, immoderate positives indispensable besides beryllium mentioned. Last year, the government’s absorption connected Self-Help Group led empowerment for women was intelligibly reflected successful its accrued allocations for the MoRD-run National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), and successful the GBS. NRLM has shifted from Part B to Part A of the GBS since FY 2024-25. This determination indicates that the authorities has the quality to prioritise allocations, and reporting based connected existent programme objectives and implementation.

Further country for improvement

The summation of Part C reflects that each Union ministries and departments indispensable person a sex lens.

However, the wide ambiguity connected however and wherefore ministries study schemes successful the GBS is telling. If reporting allocations for women are arbitrary and ever-changing, it is hard to clasp the authorities accountable to its promises for prioritising women done its budget. It would beryllium good advised for the methodologies and rationales utilized successful drafting the GBS to beryllium made public.

Moreover, lone an accounting workout that highlights allocations for women and girls is inadequate to present connected the committedness of ‘Nari Shakti’. It indispensable beryllium accompanied by measures specified arsenic gender-oriented audits conducted regularly crossed ministries. This volition alteration the authorities to spell beyond the low-hanging effect of reporting allocations for women and girls, and genuinely bespeak their committedness towards empowering women.

Tanya Rana and Laavanya Tamang are Senior Research Associates astatine the Foundation for Responsive Governance