Page 43 - Forbes - India (January 2020)

gender

inDia coulD aDD more Gender Gap in India According to Eapen, most states
than 18 Percent to itS find it difficult to pursue gender
budgeting effectively because of a
gDP SimPly By giving India ranks 122 disconnect between the finance,
among 153 countries
equal oPPortunitieS when it comes to women and child development,
and other departments. “In Kerala,
gender gap
to women. it might Be Labour Force the Planning Board acts as a nodal
key to Becoming a Participation Rate (%) 24.8 81.6 agency that ensures gender-related
policies exist across sectors.
$5 trillion economy Literacy Rate (%) 65.8 82.4 It is important that individual
Estimated earned
income (intl $1,000) 2.3 11.1 departments integrate gender
Women in Parliament 14.4 85.6 components in the planning process
(%) itself, rather than an afterthought.”
FrOm PaPer tO Practice Years of female / Economist Nikore says the
An April 2018 report by the McKinsey male head of state 19.5 30.5 government should not centralise
(last 50)
Global Institute says India could Legislators, senior provisions. “Decentralised
add more than 18 percent (up to officials and 13.7 86.3 expenditure will lead to inclusive
managers
$770 billion) to its GDP simply by spending. Central schemes like
Source 2020 Global Gender Gap report, World economic
giving equal opportunities to Forum ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ must
women. Legislators and party be more participative, with
representatives suggest this might state governments having more
also be key to India’s goal of GRB: Global Best Practices autonomy in implementing them.”
becoming a $5 trillion economy. Make it Legal: Austria, Bolivia and Rwanda It is also important for the
“The government must increase fair mandate gender budgeting in their constitutions. government to conduct and publish
Binding with legal status will ensure that GRB
participation of all three genders remains a priority surveys offering insights on gender
in budget preparation. Often, it is Align with global goals: Align budgetary goals development periodically, says 43
more men in the bureaucracy who with national gender equality plans or the UN’s Krishnaswamy. “The current
Sustainable Development Goals. Countries like
work on the budget.” says Apsara Morocco and Afghanistan are examples government, from 2014 to date, has
Reddy, national general secretary, Revenue and taxation: Finland, Ireland and Spain dialled down on surveys. So it is
All India Mahila Congress, who have committed to undertake studies to look at the becoming impossible to know, even
believes that gender narratives gender aspects of revenue and taxation policies at the state level, what the accurate
must be mainstreamed into public Total government involvement: Uganda has numbers are in order to measure
“Local Budget Clubs” where citizens discuss
finance management on priority. expenditure priorities and hold government the impact of programmes,” she
Implementation of gender accountable for equitable spending right from says. “And where we have data,
budgets at the district and state the local level it is not collected and interpreted
level is a half-baked story, given Budget analysis: The UK and Canada conduct properly. The whole notion of
thorough annual, gender-sensitive analysis
the lack of capacity, shortage of of the Budget data-driven governance with a
funds and absence of accountability Source World economic Forum systematic, scientific mindset has
mechanisms. For example, Kerala— not caught up in India at all.”
one of the early-adopters of the State Planning Board. The impact In order to get out of this
gender budget along with Odisha, assessment will involve, she says, vicious circle of low socioeconomic
Karnataka, Gujarat, Himachal evaluating women’s welfare institutes, opportunities leading to less
Pradesh, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and making schemes like the National budgetary allocations for women,
Bihar—faces problems ranging from Rural Employment Guarantee Act it is important to politicise and
lack of gender disaggregated data to (NREGA) more female-friendly by talk about gender, Krishnaswamy
no dedicated gender budget cells. ensuring equal wages, sanitation believes. “Right now, the gender
“We have not been able to evaluate and child care facilities for women, budget feels like a checkbox that
the impact of gender allocations increasing security and workforce the government is not even serious
so far for various reasons, ranging participation. “For example, Kerala’s about. There is a complete dearth
from lack of funds to low gender Startup Mission was supposed of imagination and innovation as
rights awareness among people. to put aside 10 percent of the `70 far as fiscal policies are concerned.
We’ll pursue it aggressively after crore they received for women- You cannot magically reach the
the upcoming Budget,” says Dr led startups. We will follow up if $5 trillion economy mark without
Mridul Eapen, member, Kerala they have done that,” she says. empowering your women first.”

january 31, 2020 • forbes india