The Union Budget 2024, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, 2024, has made significant strides in addressing the needs and aspirations of women across the country. This year, Rs. 3 lakh crores have been allocated to helping women and girls. It strongly empowers women, focusing on their economic participation, health, education, and overall well-being.
Sitharaman states:
Our government is committed to all-round, all-pervasive and all-inclusive development of people, particularly farmers, youth, women and the poor. For achieving 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 capabilites.
The budget has proposed an increase in the allocation for schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to ensure more women-headed households receive housing benefits. There is also a continued emphasis on sanitation programs, including the construction of toilets, to improve the living conditions and health of women. To safeguard the interests of women in the unorganized sector, enhanced social security measures have been included, such as the extension of insurance schemes and pension plans to ensure financial stability for women workers.
Education and Skill Development
Education and skill development have also received substantial attention in the Union Budget 2024. The allocation for scholarships for girl students has been increased to ₹3,000 crore to promote higher education among women, with a special focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education. Institutions that achieve significant enrollment of female students in these fields will receive special incentives totaling ₹500 crore. Additionally, ₹2,000 crore has been earmarked for vocational training and skill development programs specifically for women, equipping them with the skills needed for the modern job market, including digital literacy and technical skills.
Gender-Based Violence
Women’s safety has been prioritized in the budget with ₹2,000 crore allocated for initiatives aimed at reducing gender-based violence. This includes setting up more women’s help desks in police stations and enhancing the infrastructure of existing women’s shelters. Additionally, to ensure that women have access to justice, the allocation for legal aid services has been increased, particularly to support women from marginalized communities who may not have the means to seek legal redress.
Women and the Health Sector
In terms of health and nutrition, the budget has significantly increased funding for women’s health initiatives. The Samarthya sub-scheme, which supports initiatives like Women Hostels, Swadhar Greh, and the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, has received an allocation of Rs 2,516 crore. This represents a modest increase from the previous revised Budget, which allocated Rs 2,325 crore. New women-specific healthcare centers will be established in underserved areas to ensure accessible and quality healthcare services. Furthermore, a comprehensive nutritional support scheme targeting women and children has been introduced to tackle malnutrition, particularly among pregnant women and new mothers, through the provision of fortified foods and nutritional supplements.
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