The ‘Gender Budget’ allocation has seen a sharp increase, reaching ₹4.49 lakh crore in this year’s Budget, a 37.5 per cent rise from last year’s allocation, the Women and Child Development Ministry said on Sunday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the ‘Gender Budget’ made up 8.86 per cent of the total Budget. Last year’s allocation was ₹3.27 lakh crore, which was 6.8 per cent of last year’s total Budget.
This year’s Budget also witnessed a record number of ministries and departments reporting allocations under the Gender Budget Statement (GBS). Forty-nine ministries and departments, along with five Union territories, have included gender-focused allocations, up from 38 ministries and departments in the previous year. Twelve new ministries and departments have been included in the GBS for the first time, the Ministry said.
