Pro-women Budget next year, says FM

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the budgeting process had become gender-sensitive, and from the next fiscal year, all ministries would be required to include substantial outlays for women in their schemes.

"In the fiscal year 2006-07, it is proposed to direct all ministries through a budget circular to incorporate in their schemes substantial outlays for women, so that the Budget clearly reflects ministry- and department-wise allocations, outlays and schemes for women," Chidambaram said during his intervention at the Commonwealth finance minister's meeting in Barbados.

Chidambaram said the government had constituted a sub-group to suggest a classification mechanism to ascertain actual pro-women spending on composite and residual schemes.

"The sub-group will study the feasibility of introducing a separate head of account for pro-women expenditure, and how to track such expenditures down to states/local levels of government," he said.

The minister said gender-budgeting in the Indian context had a three fold objective - to attain effective targeting of public expenditure, to ensure women had improved access to public resources, and to monitor the impact of budget and public service delivery on women.

"The gender-budgeting initiative in India is built on government's strong commitment to pro-women policies," he added.

Chidambaram emphasised that activities related with gender-budgeting were being monitored and implemented at a fairly senior level. Identified departments had been asked to assess field-level situation about the efficacy of various schemes.

The minister pointed out that during the Ninth Five year plan, about 42.9 per cent (or approximately $11 billion) of gross budgetary resources of 16 ministries and departments, including the department of women and child welfare, were spent on women-centric programmes.