Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
Gender Budgeting
"A fiscal tool that analyses government budgets through a gender lens to ensure that public expenditure and revenue policies address gender gaps and advance women's empowerment."
Gender budgeting (GB) is not a separate budget for women but an analytical approach that disaggregates mainstream budgets by gender to assess how government spending and taxation affect men and women differently. It identifies gender disparities in public resource allocation, integrates gender perspectives into budget processes, and uses fiscal instruments — targeted schemes, subsidies, tax relief — to systematically close gender gaps in economic participation, health, education, and safety. The theoretical foundation of gender budgeting lies in feminist economics and the recognition that fiscal neutrality is often fictitious: taxes and expenditures that appear gender-neutral in design frequently have asymmetric outcomes because of pre-existing social, economic, and legal inequalities. For example, indirect taxes like GST are regressive for women who disproportionately purchase essential commodities; public transport investment differentially affects women's labour force participation; and investments in care economy infrastructure (creches, maternity facilities) directly enable women's economic engagement. India introduced gender budgeting in the Union Budget of 2005-06, when the Finance Ministry began publishing a Gender Budget Statement alongside the main budget. This statement presents allocations under two parts: Part A (100% schemes for women — e.g., Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Mahila Shakti Kendra) and Part B (schemes where at least 30% of allocations are earmarked for women — e.g., MGNREGS, PMAY). Gender Budget allocations in Union Budget 2024-25 stood at Rs. 3.27 lakh crore — approximately 6.8% of total budget outlay. Gender Budget Cells have been established in 56 central ministries and all state finance departments to institutionalise the practice.
Tested in GS Paper 2 (Social Justice — women's issues, governance) and GS Paper 1 (Society — gender inequality, women in development). UPSC Mains asks candidates to explain the concept, evaluate India's implementation, and discuss limitations. The Economic Survey and Union Budget Speech are annual reference documents. Also relevant to GS Paper 4 (Ethics) in discussions on inclusive governance and affirmative action. Linked to India's performance on the Gender Inequality Index (GII) and Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI).
- 1 Introduced in India: Union Budget 2005-06 — first Gender Budget Statement published alongside the main Union Budget.
- 2 Two-part statement: Part A (100% women-specific allocations) + Part B (30%+ earmarked for women).
- 3 Gender Budget 2024-25: Rs. 3.27 lakh crore — ~6.8% of total budget outlay.
- 4 Gender Budget Cells: established in 56 central ministries and all state finance departments.
- 5 Australia (1984) was the first country to introduce a gender-responsive budget — India's 2005 initiative followed international best practice.
- 6 Key schemes in Part A: Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Mission Shakti (merged umbrella scheme for women), Mahila Shakti Kendra.
- 7 Criticism: 'tokenism' concern — gender budget statement is often a post-hoc categorisation of existing schemes rather than a genuine gender-diagnostic redesign of the budget.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) mandates that at least one-third of beneficiaries must be women. Consistently, women account for 57-59% of MGNREGS workers (FY2023-24 data), making it India's largest gender-responsive programme in practice. The MGNREGS allocation falls under Part B of the Gender Budget Statement, and its gender-disaggregated data is used by the Ministry of Rural Development to track progress on women's economic inclusion — a textbook example of how gender budgeting links fiscal allocation to measurable gender outcomes.