The Paradox of Gender Responsive Budgeting

The web version of this article corrects a few errors that appeared in the print edition.

Despite the steps towards gender responsive budgeting, the budgetary allocations for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment show a decline. Not only has the magnitude of the gender budget as a proportion of the total expenditure of the Union Budget decreased, but the projected gross budgetary support for the “women and child development” sector for the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period also shows a decline from the Eleventh Five-Year Plan if the allocations for Integrated
Child Development Services are not factored in. Will this affect the government’s ambitious gender agenda?