{"id":67166,"date":"2026-02-20T18:06:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=67166"},"modified":"2026-02-20T18:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:37:26","slug":"gender-budget-india-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/20-02-2026\/gender-budget-india-2026","title":{"rendered":"Gender Budget Allocation Rises in Union Budget 2026\u201327"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS1\/Society; GS2\/Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>An allocation of 5.01 lakh crore rupees has been earmarked for the <strong>welfare of women and girls<\/strong> in the <strong>Gender Budget Statement for the current financial year.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This is an increase of Rs. 11.55% over the GBS allocation of Rs. 4.49 lakh crore in FY 2025-26.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is Gender Budgeting (GB)<\/strong><strong>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>GB <\/strong>is an approach that<strong> integrates gender equality into government\u2019s planning<\/strong> and budgeting processes and analyses how budgets can <strong>promote gender equality and the empowerment of women.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It was first introduced in <strong>2005-06.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"987968\" data-has-transparency=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"758\" height=\"472\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-109.png\" alt=\"gender budgeting\" class=\"has-transparency wp-image-67167\" style=\"--dominant-color: #987968; width:401px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-109.png 758w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-109-300x187.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 758px) 100vw, 758px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Legal Framework for Women Empowerment in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Indian Constitution guarantees gender equality through provisions in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, and Directive Principles of State Policy.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Article 14<\/strong> ensures equality before the law, while <strong>Article 15 <\/strong>prohibits discrimination based on sex.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Article 51(a)(e) <\/strong>encourages citizens to renounce practices derogatory to women\u2019s dignity.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Directive Principles,<\/strong> particularly Articles 39 and 42, emphasize equal livelihood opportunities, equal pay, and maternity relief.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need for Gender Budgeting<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Disparities: <\/strong>Despite constitutional guarantees under Articles 14 and 15, women continue to face disparities in literacy, workforce participation, wages, health, and access to assets.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gender budgeting helps correct these systemic imbalances.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Correcting Invisible Bias in Budgeting: <\/strong>Gender budgeting ensures that schemes in sectors like agriculture, MSMEs, infrastructure, and transport consider women&#8217;s specific needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic Growth &amp; Demographic Dividend: <\/strong>Enhancing women\u2019s economic participation boosts GDP growth.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Studies show that increasing female workforce participation can significantly raise national income levels.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Initiatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Mission Shakti<\/strong> is a women empowerment programme launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) for the period 2021-2025.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It aims to strengthen interventions for women&#8217;s welfare, safety, and empowerment, making women equal partners in nation-building.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Initiatives like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram, and PM Matru Vandana Yojana <\/strong>have also contributed to significant improvements in the welfare and empowerment of women and girls.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 programmes<\/strong> focus on improving women&#8217;s health beyond just calorie intake and improving overall health and immunity with proper micronutrients.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Women in Science and Engineering-KIRAN (WISE KIRAN) program <\/strong>has supported nearly 1,962 women scientists from 2018 to 2023.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nari Shakti Puraskar: <\/strong>Recognizes the contributions of women in various fields, celebrating achievements and inspiring others.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017:<\/strong> Provides for 26 weeks of paid maternity leave for women working in the private sector and government.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsonair.gov.in\/gender-budget-allocation-rises-to-rs-5-01-lakh-crore-in-union-budget-2026-27-registers-11-55-increase\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>AIR<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> An allocation of 5.01 lakh crore rupees has been earmarked for the welfare of women and girls in the Gender Budget Statement for the current financial year. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> What is Gender Budgeting (GB)? <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> GB is an approach that integrates gender equality into government\u2019s planning and budgeting processes and analyses how budgets can promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> It was first introduced in 2005-06. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/20-02-2026\/gender-budget-india-2026 \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67166"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67170,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67166\/revisions\/67170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}