Budget 2024 focuses on empowerment with over Rs 3 L Cr for schemes benefitting women

In her Union Budget Speech in Parliament on Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated the government’s commitment to “the all-around, all-pervasive and all-inclusive development of people, particularly farmers, women, youth, and the poor.”

With the government’s vision of transforming India into ‘Viksit Bharat’ (a developed nation) by 2047, it has continued to emphasise the importance of naari shakti (women power) in a growth-led economy.

In Union Budget 2024, FM Sitharaman announced that more than Rs 3 lakh crore will be allocated for schemes benefitting girls and women to enhance their role in economic development.

“We also seek to organise women-specific skilling programmes and market access for Self Help Group (SHGs enterprises,” she said.

To encourage greater participation of women in the workforce, the government also proposed to set up working women hostels in collaboration with industries and also establish creches.

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 requires every establishment having fifty or more employees to have the facility of a creche within a prescribed distance.

While the initiative is welcome, Amit Kishore Prasad, Founder & MD, SatNav Group, points out, "Women in the workforce will get a major boost with the FM's assurance that creches will be set up to help them. This is already a part of the Maternity Act 2017, and just needs to be implemented with a sense of much greater urgency in government departments, PSUs, and private companies."

"What needs to be kept in mind is that the spirit of the law needs to be adhered by giving an onsite or nearby solution to young mothers and fathers, not just follow the letter of the law. Some organisations have been setting up dormant facilities, citing lack of usage or doing generic city-wide tie-ups which are not helpful," he added.

Prachi Kaushik, Founder & Director, Vyomini Social Enterprise, believes that the significant inclusion for women in the Budget through the Rs 3 lakh crore funding for schemes is encouraging.

"Also, public-private collaborations improve ecommerce and help MSMEs. Schemes such as Lakhpati Didi, Mudra Yojna, Ayushman Scheme for ASHA, and Anganwadi continue to help women seek job opportunities and thrive. The purpose is to foster female participation in the workforce," she added.

In the interim budget presented in February this year, the Finance Minister had announced an increased focus on women’s health, with various schemes under maternal and childcare to be brought into a comprehensive programme for synergy in implementation. She also said that the government will encourage vaccination for girls in the age group 9-14 years to prevent cervical cancer.

She had also detailed that 83 lakh self-help groups with nine crore women had helped one crore women become "Lakhpati Didis", or Self-Help Group members who earn an annual household income of Rs 1 lakh or more.