An Analytical View of Gender-Responsive Budgeting in Pre- and Post-COVID-19 India

ABSTRACT Mitali Nikore Founder, Nikore Associates mitalinikore@gmail.com Geetika Malhotra Research Manager, Nikore Associates geetika.malhotra96@gmail.com Unmuktman Singh Research Associate, Nikore Associates unmukt8299@gmail.com Ashmita Chowdhury Research Associate, Nikore Associates ashmita1102@gmail.com The Government of India (GOI) defines Gender Budgeting as, “a process of identifying gender specific barriers across all sectors of development.” India has been producing an annual Gender Budget Statement (GBS) as part of the Union Budget since 2005-06 and has amongst the most transparent gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) processes globally, especially amongst developing countries. Having said that, time series analysis of the GBS shows that there has been a concentration of the Gender Budget in just 5-6 ministries and 10- 12 schemes over the last 17 years. Moreover, the uneven adoption of GRB at the State level has led to a need for enhancing gender-responsive initiatives post COVID-19. Moving forward, India needs to reprioritize GRB at both the Central and State levels through a phased approach focusing on five key priority areas, i.e., strengthening the process of formulating the GBS, gender disaggregated data collection of scheme beneficiaries, gender mainstreaming in program design, skill training and capacity building, and strengthening institutions responsible for GRB. KEYWORDS: Gender-Responsive Budgeting; Gender Mainstreaming; Public Financial Management; Governance; India; COVID-19; Budget