Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, in her eighth consecutive budget, has highlighted the focus on four important groups to drive India’s progress, with women or “nari,” being one among them. The role of women in India’s growth strategy is laid out in the Gender Budget Statement (GBS) 2025-26, through women-specific allocations across various ministries.

This year, the GBS accounts for 8.89% of the total budget allocations, the highest recorded since the inception of the GBS. In a welcome move, the Minister announced a new scheme that provides term loans up to Rs. 2 crores to first-time entrepreneurs, with a special focus on women, and members from the SC/ST communities.

GBS accounting is carried out in three sections: Part A represents schemes with 100% allocation to women and girls; Part B represents schemes with 30-99% allocation; and Part C represents schemes with less than 30% allocation. With an allocation of Rs. 4.49 lakh crores, the GBS 2025-26 witnessed an increase of 37.25% from that of the previous year.

This increase is partly attributed to the joining of 12 additional ministries in the GBS, raising the total contributors to 49 Ministries/Departments and 5 Union Territories, from 38 Ministries/Departments and 5 UTs in FY 2024-25. This marks the highest number of ministries recorded since the GBS was introduced.

A closer analysis of Part A, Part B and Part C will give a better understanding of the type of allocations and the share that each item in the gender budget accounts for.

Budget allocations exclusively benefitted by women and girls – Part A

Part A witnessed a decrease of 6.1% in allocation in comparison to 2024-25. Approximately Rs. 1,05,000 crores (23.50% of total GBS allocation) have been reported by 17 Ministries/Departments and 5 UTs in Part A.

Following past trends, the highest allocation in Part A of the GBS is allotted for the PM Awaas Yojana (PMAY) Rural. The Department of Rural Development has received a total allocation of Rs. 75863.99 crores, including PMAY (Rural), signifying an increase of 3000 crores from last year. In the scheme’s second phase, which began in 2024, it has been made mandatory for the house ownership to be in the name of the woman, or to be held jointly with a man.

Currently, 74% of the houses built under the scheme are owned by women, either solely or jointly. Increased women’s asset ownership will empower them with economic security, access to credit, and enhance freedom to undertake decisions within the household.

With an allocation of approximately Rs. 27000 crores, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has a 15.98% increase compared to the previous year. A significant portion of this surge is directed to the Samarthya sub-scheme under Mission Shakti, with a 145% increase in funding compared to last year. Samarthya comprises a range of women-empowerment schemes such as Shakti Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, Palna (National Creche Scheme), Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, National Hub for Women Empowerment, Gender Budgeting, Research, Skilling, Training, Media, etc.

The hike reinforces the government’s commitment to women-led development. However, it is to be noted that the Sambal sub-scheme has not received a proportionate increase in funds, with the same Rs. 629 crores being allocated this year as well. Sambal includes schemes that prevent violence against women and girls, such as the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), One Stop Centre, 181 helpline and Nari Adalat.

The BBBP campaign, which marks ten years since its launch in 2025, figures under Sambal. Ever since BBBP was subsumed under the broad umbrella of Mission Shakti, there is a lack of clarity regarding data on specific allocations and fund utilization for the scheme.

The Namo Drone Didi scheme, launched by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, endeavours to empower 15,000 selected women-led Self Help Groups (SHGs) by providing financial access for agricultural drones. Allotted with Rs. 950.85 crores, the scheme offers up to 80% subsidy, impelling rural prosperity and empowerment of women’s SHGs. Beyond economic empowerment, the initiative promotes precision farming, facilitates agricultural mechanisation, builds the capacity of rural women and fosters women’s participation in modern agriculture.

Under Part A, the allocation to the Department of Police has significantly reduced, with the funds for training and capacity building lowered by 51% from last year, despite increased public demands for enhancing the gender sensitisation of police officers. Despite several cases of female tourists being assaulted gaining media traction in the previous year, the Centre has reduced the allocation for ‘Safe tourist destinations for women’ under the Department of Tourism from Rs. 5.27 crores to Rs. 0.01 crores.

However, there is a 300% increase in the Nirbhaya Fund allocation to the Department of Police, a welcome move considering that several states lack a robust infrastructure for women’s police stations and related services.

Schemes where 30-99% budget allocations address women and girls – Part B

Moving onto Part B, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) has allocated approximately Rs. 1,08,000 crores (approx 53% of total allocation), a key move considering the central government’s promise to tackle malnutrition in India.

The increased allocation would prove fundamental for the 7th Poshan Pakhwada and the Suposhit Gram Panchayats, announced for 2025. As stated by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, the percentage of women aged 15-49 who are anaemic has climbed to 57%. The distribution of pulses, grains and fortified rice under PMGKAY would prove essential to tackle this challenge.

The introduction of the Prime Minister Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PM FME), under Part B of the GBS, is a welcome step for the economic progress of women entrepreneurs in the industry. Easier access to credit and lower interest rates for women entrepreneurs and farmers would prove significant in promoting women’s participation in the economy. This budget has outlined the potential for empowering rural women to become agents of change in transforming the nutrition sector in India.

The IndiaAI Mission, with an allocation of Rs. 660 crores, integrates women into the nation’s pursuit of transforming artificial intelligence into the building blocks of the technological revolution. The Mission has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft in January 2025, which would train 500,000 individuals, including women entrepreneurs, by 2026.

The DISHA programme for women in science and technology, restructured as WISE-KIRAN, lacks any budgetary allocation in FY 2025-26. There is a lack of clarity whether this scheme, which was intended to attract women into STEM, has been discontinued by the Centre.

Schemes that allot below 30% allocations for women and girls – Part C

The increase in the number of ministries within Part C shows the government’s commitment to integrating a women’s lens into possible schemes and programmes, staying true to its promise to the ‘nari’ of India.

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan), a scheme that financially assists small and marginal farmers, has been allocated Rs. 15000 crores, the highest in Part C. 2.41 crore female farmers across the country will receive direct financial assistance under the scheme through its 19th installment release on February 24, 2025.

Analysis of GBS 2025-26

Though there are several positive developments in this year’s GBS, there are a few anomalies as well. The Pradhan Mantri Cha-Shramik Protshan Yojana aims to provide improved access to better education, health, and improved working conditions for 10 lakh workers across 1,210 tea gardens of Assam & West Bengal. Though the scheme doesn’t exclusively address female workers, it has been reported under Part A.

The Mission Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 benefits approximately 10.12 crore eligible beneficiaries, viz., children aged 0-6 years, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls. The beneficiaries of the scheme comprise women and all children, irrespective of gender. By this logic, the scheme is to be included only in Part B, and not Part A. The rationale for the scheme being reported under both, Part A and Part B, is unclear. The increase in allocation in the gender budget for the scheme compared to last year is Rs. 1300 crores.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREG) Scheme has increased its allocation to Rs. 40,000 crores under the GBS, with its general allocation being Rs. 86,000 crores. Though the share has increased within the GBS from last year, the total allocation within the General Budget 2025-26 does not reflect an increase.

It is to be noted that this amount is insufficient to cover all, considering that the number of active workers enrolled in the scheme amounts to 13.49 crores. The rough estimates for paying all active workers is approximately Rs. 4 lakh crores. The wage expenditure for the scheme is centrally funded, however, the material expenditure is divided by the centre and state in the ratio of 75:25. Those who have registered but have not been allotted work, amounting to about 11.98 crores, are eligible for an unemployment allowance. However, the current allocation fails to account for this.

The scheme requires an impact analysis and revision based on the same, as it costs heavily on the annual budget statements. Larger public allocations without on-ground delivery prove to be detrimental to the beneficiaries, as well as larger growth of the economy.

The consistent increase in allocations for women, especially within the rural areas, has been reflected in a 5% increase in rural women’s labour force participation rate, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (2023-24). Though the GBS has been steadily increasing over the years, it is equally important to analyse the impact of the fund allocation and develop a strategy to allocate future funds based on an impact analysis.

An outcome analysis based on the revised estimates to understand the lapse in fund usage and the outputs achieved with the fund spent has to be studied in detail. Continued allocation for a certain scheme must be grounded in reason and rationale to ensure that the essence of the GBS is secured.

A clarity on the agendas intended to be met via the budget would help streamline allocations, and reveal gaps that need to be further worked over. In the absence of the annual census survey, decentralised, local-bodies-driven household surveys could be utilised to collect gender-segregated data to analyse the impact of the GBS. Gender-disaggregated data and tracking are key to analysing whether schemes and allocations reach the intended beneficiaries.

Kerala has incorporated transgender allocations into the state’s gender budget statement. Considering that India has legally recognised transgenders, it is unfortunate that they have been excluded in the broader frameworks of the GBS. Targeted funding allocations addressing vital concerns of the transgender population are key to ensuring their empowerment, strengthening the inclusivity component, and staying true to the title of the budget statement being for ‘gender’.

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Eliza Jo Varghese is a Research Assistant at the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), Kochi.

Views expressed by the authors are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of the Centre for Public Policy Research.