Skip to main content

Welfare, empowerment of women suffer due to poor Budgetary support


By Bharat Dogra
Recent times have been extremely difficult for weaker sections in India due to not just the pandemic but several highly adverse policy decisions as well. Within weaker sections it is often the women who suffer more and face the most difficulties and distress in managing essential household expenses at times of eroding livelihoods and income on the one hand and increasing price of essential goods on the other hand. In the middle of such difficulties, various women’s welfare and empowerment schemes and programs of the government can make an important contribution to reducing the problems of women but unfortunately these have not been receiving adequate budgetary support with the result that their reach as well as their potential to help women has been adversely affected.
In 2013 the National Food Security Act made available certain maternity benefits to Indian women. Section 4 of ths law stated that every pregnant and lactating mother shall be entitled to ( nutritious food and )maternity benefit of not less than Rs. Six Thousand, in such instalments as may be prescribed by the Central Government. On the basis of assuming a population of 132 crore, a birth rate of 20 per thousand and an effective coverage of 90%, it has been estimated by experts that the annual budget needed for implementing this legal commitment is Rs. 14,000 crore ( one crore+=10 million).
However when we look at the actual expenditure on this, then what is needed for one year (Rs. 14,000 crore ) was actually spent over a period of seven years ( or probably even less than this was spent). The actual availability has been just around Rs. 2000 crore per year for the Pradhan Mantri Vandana Yojana scheme under which this legal commitment has been operationalised in a half-hearted sort of way after limiting this to just the first birth. Due to various implementation problems, even the limited benefits fail to reach several very needy mothers, or reach them only after a lot of difficulties and delay.
Allocations of many important schemes are not just indequate but in addition face heavy cuts later at the time of preparing revised estimates (RE) or on terms of actual exenditure. In financal year 2014-15, for example, the original allocation or Budget Estimate (BE) for the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme was Rs. 3189 crore but the actual expenditure was only Rs. 1877 crore. One can imagine the distress this cut must have caused among a very vulnerable section of our society.
The importance of curbing trafficking cannot be over-emphasized, yet the budget of Ujjwala scheme devoted to this important work was cut drastically in financial year 2018-19 from Rs. 50 crore (BE) to Rs. 20 crore (RE). During the same year the budget for Swadhar Greha (rehab of distressed women) was cut from Rs. 95 crore to Rs. 40 crore.
Around this time employment prospects of women, most of whom work in the unorganized sector, had suffered a lot due to the overall crisis in the sector caused by the double hammer impact of demonetisation and GST, and an important scheme which could have checked this harm was that of Mahila Shakti Kendras ( National Mission for Empowerment of Women). However even the budget for this faced a cut during 2018-19 from BE of Rs. 267 crore to RE of just Rs. 115 crore.
During the next year 2019-20 even the overall budget of the Ministry of Women and Child Development suffered a cut from Rs. 29165 crore (BE) to Rs. 26185 crore (RE). Sabla, the most important scheme for improving health and nutrition of adolescent girls specifically faced a drastic cut from Rs. 300 crore (BE) to Rs. 150 crore (RE).
Clearly these cuts and low spendings, on top of inadequate allocations to start with for important programs, had an adverse impact of the welfare and empowerment of women. In the case of some programs like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao the emphasis generally speaking was on media publicity and promotion rather than actual work.
The important task of improving welfare and empowerment of women needs much better and stronger budgetary commitments.

The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include 'India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming' and 'Healthy Food and Protecting Earth for Children'

Comments

TRENDING

Eight years of empowering tribal communities through water initiatives in Chhattisgarh

By Gazala Paul*   In the heart of Chhattisgarh, amidst the echoes of tribal life, a transformative journey has unfolded over the past eight years. The Samerth organization has diligently worked to elevate the lives of indigenous communities in the Kawardha district through the project, "Enabling Baiga Community to access safe drinking water." 

Martin Crowe played instrumental role in making New Zealand a force in world cricket

By Harsh Thakor* Late Martin Crowe was the perfect manifestation of how mere figures could not convey or do justice to the true merit of a batsman. Crowe was arguably the most complete  or majestic batsmen of his era or the ultimate embodiment of batting perfection, or the classical batsmen. He perished 7 years ago, due to a rare and aggressive form of cancer, follicular lymphoma, which originated in 2012. In September, we celebrated his 60th birthday but sadly he left for his heavenly abode.

Regretful: Kapil Dev retired not leaving Indian cricket with integrity he upheld

By Harsh Thakor  Kapil Dev scaled heights as an entertainer and a player upholding the spirit of the game almost unparalleled in his era. In his time he was cricket’s ultimate mascot of sportsmanship On his day Kapil could dazzle in all departments to turn the tempo of game in the manner of a Tsunami breaking in. He radiated r energy, at a level rarely scaled in his era on a cricket field. Few ever blended aggression with artistry so comprehenisively. Although fast medium, he could be as daunting with the ball as the very best, with his crafty outswinger, offcutter, slower ball and ball that kicked from a good length. Inspite of bowling on docile tracks on the subcontinent, Kapil had 434 scalps, with virtually no assistance. I can never forget how he obtained pace and movement on flat pancakes, trapping the great Vivian Richards in Front or getting Geoff Boycott or Zaheer Abbas caught behind. No paceman carried the workload of his team’s bowling attack on his shoulders in his eras muc

How the slogan Jai Bhim gained momentum as movement of popularity and revolution

By Dr Kapilendra Das*  India is an incomprehensible plural country loaded with diversities of religions, castes, cultures, languages, dialects, tribes, societies, costumes, etc. The Indians have good manners/etiquette (decent social conduct, gesture, courtesy, politeness) that build healthy relationships and take them ahead to life. In many parts of India, in many situations, and on formal occasions, it is common for people of India to express and exchange respect, greetings, and salutation for which we people usually use words and phrases like- Namaskar, Namaste, Pranam, Ram Ram, Jai Ram ji, Jai Sriram, Good morning, shubha sakal, Radhe Radhe, Jai Bajarangabali, Jai Gopal, Jai Jai, Supravat, Good night, Shuvaratri, Jai Bhole, Salaam walekam, Walekam salaam, Radhaswami, Namo Buddhaya, Jai Bhim, Hello, and so on.

Towards 2024: Time for ‘We the People of India’ to wake up before it is too late

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*  It is Constitution Day once again! We, the people of India, gratefully remember 26 November 1949 when the Constitution of India was passed and adopted by the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly comprised women and men of distinction, who were able to represent the heart and soul of the people of India without fear or favour. They gave of their best, so that we may a visionary Constitution, which would be the mainstay for and of democracy in India!

Ceasefire a tactical victory for Palestinian resistance, protests intensify across globe

By Harsh Thakor*  The Zionist leadership and Netanyahu’s government were compelled to concede the defeat of their first attempt after almost 50 days of daily fighting in the Gaza Strip.  Netanyahu was forced to concede that he was unsuccessful in suppressing the Palestinian Resistance; and that the release of the prisoners was only plausible because they accepted Hamas’ terms.

Odisha leadership crisis deepens: CM engages retired babus to oversee depts' work

By Sudhansu R Das  Over decades, Odisha has lost much of its crop diversity, fertile agriculture land, water bodies, employment potential, handicraft and handloom skills etc. The state has failed to strike a balance between the urban and rural sector growth; this leads to the migration of villagers to the urban areas leading to collapse of the urban infrastructures and an acute labor shortage in rural areas.  A large number of educated, skilled and unskilled Odia people have migrated to other states for higher education, quality jobs and for earning livelihood which plummet the efficiency level of government departments. Utmost transparency in the recruitment and promotion in the state government departments will improve governance mechanisms in the state.  "No near and dear one approach" in governance mechanisms can only achieve inclusive growth for the state on payment basis. This is a moral hazard. When so many educated young people seek employment outside the

1982-83 Bombay textile strike played major role in shaping working class movement

By Harsh Thakor  On January 18th, 1982 the working class movement commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Textile Workers Strike that lasted for 18 months, till July 1983. It was landmark event that played a major role in shaping the working class movement. With more than 2.5 lakh workers from 65 textile mills joining in this strike for almost two years, this strike became one of the most significant strikes in terms of scale and duration All democrats should applaud the mill workers’ united battle, and their unflinching resilience an death defying courage continues to serve as a model for contemporary working-class movements. Many middle class persons harboured opinions that the Textile workers were pampered or were a labour aristocracy, ignorant of how they were denied wages to provide for basic necessities. The Great Bombay Textile Strike is notably one of the most defining movements in the working class struggles in Post-independent India. Bombay’s textile industry flourished in

Massive tropical deforestation: Big finance's $307 billion go to forest-risk commodities

A note on report by Forests & Finance coalition -- Rainforest Action Network, TuK Indonesia, Profundo, Amazon Watch, Repórter Brasil, BankTrack, Sahabat Alam Malaysia and Friends of the Earth US: *** A new report released on ‘Finance Day’ at COP28 by the Forests & Finance Coalition , provides a comprehensive look into the role big finance plays in driving deforestation, biodiversity loss, climate change and human rights abuses in tropical forest regions. The report reveals that since the Paris Agreement, banks have pumped over $307 billion into high risk forestry and agriculture companies linked to tropical deforestation, proving that the policies of major global banks and investors are failing to prevent continued widespread forest and biodiversity loss.

20% of Indian businesses have no emission plan in place despite climate emergency: Report

By Jag Jivan   New research underlines urgent need for strategies and transition plans to combat climate change, remain successful and meet stakeholder expectations.