NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on Tuesday, underscored the significance of empowering women in driving the country's development. Despite this emphasis, the budget allocation for the Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry for the fiscal year 2024-25 increased slightly by 2.5 per cent.
Presenting her seventh straight Budget, Sitharaman said, "To promote women-led development, the budget allocates more than Rs. 3 lakh crore for schemes benefitting women and girls. This signals our government's commitment to enhancing women's role in economic development."
The total budget for the ministry stands at Rs 26,092 crore, up from the previous year's revised allocation of Rs 25,448 crore.
A significant portion of the ministry's budget is directed towards centrally sponsored schemes, which received Rs. 25,848 crore.
Sitharaman also announced that, in collaboration with industry, the government will establish working women's hostels and creches to facilitate higher participation of women in the workforce.
The partnership will also seek to organize women-specific skilling programmes and promote market access for women's SHG enterprises.
At the beginning of her budget speech, Sitharaman said the government's focus, as mentioned in the interim Budget, is on four major categories, the poor, women, youth, and farmers.
"Our government is committed to all-round, all-pervasive and all-inclusive development of people, particularly farmers, youth, women and the poor. To achieve social justice comprehensively, the saturation approach of covering all eligible people through various programmes, including those for education and health, will be adopted to empower them by improving their capabilities," she said.
In the Budget, the WCD Ministry received higher allocations for its flagship schemes, such as Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0, Mission VATSALYA, and Mission Shakti. The aim is to continue the ministry's efforts in improving nutrition, child protection, and women's empowerment.
The SAMARTHYA sub-scheme, which supports projects such as women's hostels, Swadhar Greh, and the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (a maternity support scheme that promotes healthy behavior practices among pregnant women), has been allocated Rs. 2,516 crore, a slight increase from the previous revised Budget of Rs. 2,325 crore.
This year, significant focus has been given to Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0, which have been allocated Rs. 21,200 crore, to combat malnutrition and support early childhood care.
Mission VATSALYA, focusing on child protection services and welfare, will receive Rs. 1,472 crore, matching its previous allocation, while Mission Shakti, divided into SAMBAL and SAMARTHYA sub-schemes, has been allocated Rs. 3,145 crore. The SAMBAL sub-scheme, which includes significant initiatives like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and One Stop Centres for women's safety, has been allocated Rs. 629 crore.
Additional funds have been provided to the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) and the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA). The NIPCCD, tasked with research and training in child development, will receive Rs. 88.87 crore, while CARA, responsible for overseeing child adoptions, has been allocated Rs. 11.40 crore.
The Nirbhaya Fund, supporting initiatives aimed at enhancing women's safety and security, received Rs. 500 crore in funding.
