(Sample Material) Gist of IIPA Journal: Gender Budgeting to Gender Mainstreaming Shalini Rajneesh

(Sample Material) Gist of Important Articles from IIPA Journal

Topic: Gender Budgeting to Gender Mainstreaming Shalini Rajneesh

INTRODUCTION

Amartya Sen makes a compelling case for the notion that societies need to see women less as passive recipients of help and more as dynamic promoters of social transformation. The education, employment and ownership rights of women have a powerful influence on their ability to control their environment and contribute to economic development.

The economic participation of women - their presence in the workforce in quantitative terms-is important not only for lowering the disproportionate levels of poverty among women, but also as an important step toward raising household income and encouraging economic development.

Recognizing that women can leverage their strength increase bargaining power and enhance capacities and skills through joint action the approach the government has been to’ organise women into groups and channel resources to these groups. Women Self-Help groups (SHGs) are implementing a large number of developmental initiatives including watershed development social forestry and employment oriented initiatives.

Providing women with access to savings and credit mechanism and institutions through micro credit schemes and various micro finance initiatives have gathered momentum in the recent years.

Initiatives, by Government of Karnataka

The Government of Karnataka, has taken up the theme of women’s empowerment as one of the strategies to tackle the socio-economic poverty. As a pioneer in gender budgeting of public expenditure, the state undertook earmarking resources for women in most sectors. Karnataka has achieved a high degree of progress in gender related indicators on literacy, healthy employment etc. through introduction .of several successful gender related programmes (especially through the SHG movement).

Given the multitude of schemes and programmes for women, spread across various Departments and Ministries of the Government, one approach towards empowerment of women is seeking convergence of these interventions, mostly through SHG s or women cooperatives.

Government of Karnataka in the year 2007-08 has categorised budget allocations as A and B, Category A has 100 per cent budget allocations for women, whereas Category B has more than 30 per cent allocations. This budgetary allocation is monitored by Women and Child Development Department through a scheme called Karnanata Mahila Abhivrudhi Yojana. Under this scheme, Women and Child Developmer Department steers the implementation of 33 percent reservation of fund in 25 departments of the Government. The gender specific benefit which can be given by each department is identified, various departments which are implementing gender budgeting are agriculture, watershed, sericulture, industries and commerce, handloom 7 textiles, forest, youth services and sports welfare of disabled and senior citizens backward classes welfare, Social Welfare Department. Backward Classes Development Corporation, Minorities Development Corporation, Scheduled Tribes Welfare Development Corporation, animal husbandry; horticulture etc.

It is important to address improvement in women related macro indicators like literacy, maternal morality rate (MMR) etc. through focus on coverage of women in following sectors:

Social Empowerment: To create an enabling environment through various affirmative developmental policies and programmes for development of women besides providing them easy and equal access to all the basic minimum services so as to enable them to realise their full potential. This has been largely possible through formation of SHGs at the village level called “Stree Shakthi” groups and formation of federations at the Taluka and District levels.

Economic Empowerment: To ensure provision of training, employment and income generation activities with both forward and backward linkages with the ultimate objective of making all potential women economically independent and self-reliant. This has been possible through SHG’s micro-credit and under various schemes for income generating activities.

Gender Justice: To eliminate all forms of gender discrimination and thus, allow women to enjoy not only the de-jure but also the de-facto rights and fundamental freedom on par with men in all spheres, viz. political, economic, social, civil, cultural, etc.

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