In India, as part of progress in gender budgeting, a Gender Budgeting Knowledge Hub has been launched. The purpose of the hub is to improve the understanding and functioning of the gender budgeting processes in various sectors. The launch occurred at a national consultation in New Delhi, indicating the government’s commitment to gender equal governance.
Gender Budgeting
Gender budgeting is an approach to budget making that incorporates gender into the budget process in a way that resources can be allocated based on gender equity. Gender budgeting was initially seen as a fiscal process within the budget process; but has transitioned into a means of policy making. This indicates a recognition of the significance of women’s empowerment to national development.
Launch of the Knowledge Hub
The Gender Budgeting Knowledge Hub is a digital repository, which brings together all materials regarding gender budgeting that central and state ministries and departments, and other actors would/have need for. The hub is also intended to provide access to resources and best-practices and instruction as well as encourage partnerships between various stakeholders in the process of gender budgeting.
Financial Allocation
In the Financial Year 2025–26, the Government of India allocated ₹4.49 lakh crores for their initial gender budgeting. This represented a 37 per cent increase allocation from the previous Year which was ₹3.21 Lakh crores. The gender budget allocation in the last eleven years has increased by over 4 times, going from ₹0.98 lakh crores in 2014–15, demonstrating the government’s commitment to spending for gender equality.
Highlights of the National Consultation
The national consultation was an exciting and important event. The consultation brought together senior officials from 40 central ministries and 19 states and representatives from UN Women and the Asian Development Bank. The focus of discussions at the consultation was both on actions to strengthen gender budgeting processes as well as concrete examples of successful initiatives and good practices in implementing gender budgeting from across schemes.
Training manual development
The consultation included discussion of the draft Training Manual on Gender Budgeting. The training manual is intended as a capacity building tool, containing practical guidance on gender budgeting within the Indian context. It is envisaged that the Training Manual will provide practical support for officials to navigate the complexities of gender-sensitive budgeting.
Achievements and Challenges
At the consultation, we reflected on the journey of gender budgeting as a process that has evolved over the past 20 years. There have been accomplishments, but there are also challenges, including the need for effective implementation and monitoring of gender budgets across sectors. Continued engagement and cooperation will be needed to address these challenges.
