Centre launches portal on gender budgeting
Gender Budgeting has been a core element of India's development strategy since 2005–06. Initially introduced as a fiscal reporting mechanism, it has evolved into a key governance instrument for achieving gender equality and women empowerment, Union Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi said at a National Consultation on Gender Budgeting here.
Senior Officers from 40 Central ministries and departments and 19 States, Representatives of UN Women, Asian Development Bank and Experts from National level Institutes participated in the day-long event.
The consultation, the first of its kind, was organised with the key objectives of deliberating on measures to strengthen gender budgeting processes across all sectors and sharing initiatives and good practices on gender budgeting by Central Ministries/Departments and States under their specific schemes, a senior official of the ministry said.
The Union WCD Minister also launched a web portal named 'Gender Budgeting Knowledge Hub', developed by the Ministry. The Hub is a digital repository of all information related to gender budgeting processes, intended for use by Central and State government ministries and departments, as well as other stakeholders.
The portal's primary aim is to empower policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders with a centralised repository of tools — including policy briefs, best practices, and gender-disaggregated data — to support the integration of a gender lens into all stages of planning and budgeting, both at the Central and State levels.
Ms. Devi said gender budgeting has moved from being a fiscal exercise to becoming a strategic instrument for inclusive governance. 'Gender budgeting is not just a policy tool—it is our collective commitment to ensuring that every rupee spent carries the promise of equity, dignity, and opportunity for all.'
She said that for the financial year 2025–26, the Gender Budget allocation of ₹4.49 lakh crore — a 37% increase over the previous year allocation — underscores the government's strong commitment to advancing gender equality through both policy and public finance.
Deliberations were also held on a draft 'Training Manual' on Gender Budgeting, which has been developed by the Ministry as an important capacity-building tool and practical guide to understand various aspects of Gender Budgeting in India.
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