(The Gist of Kurukshetra) Budget 2020-21: Rural Economy and Rural Women [APRIL-2020]

(The Gist of Kurukshetra) Budget 2020-21: Rural Economy and Rural Women

Special focus accorded to the agricultural sector and initiatives to strengthen infrastructure with emphasis on implementation with scale and speed have the potential to kick-start a virtuous cycle of investment, inclusive growth and employment.
The budget has announced a wide spectrum of interventions through a robust 16-points action agenda, to revitalise the sector and empower farmers, especially rural women.
The proposed 16 action points will help 1.5 million farmers, especially rural women.

The Government announced setting up of a task force to recommend steps to lower maternal mortality rate, look into the of age of motherhood and measures for improving in nutrition levels. The task force will submit its report within six months.
Categorising women and children under the larger budgetary theme of “Caring Society”, the Finance Minister announced an allocation of Rs. 35,600 crore for nutrition-related programmes.
The gross enrolment ratio of girls across all levels of education is now higher than boys.
At elementary level, the enrolment level for girls is 94.32 per cent as against 89.29 per cent for boys, while at secondary level it is 81.32 per cent for girls as compared to 78 per cent for boys and at higher secondary level girls have achieved a level of 59.70 per cent as compared to 57.54 per cent for boys.

A sum of Rs.28,600 crore has been set aside for programmes specific to women for the next fiscal in the Budget.
A 14 per cent increase has been seen in the year’s Budget allocation as compared to previous year’s budget allocation in the amount allocated to the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare.
The total amount allocated for the social services sector, which includes nutrition and social security and welfare, has been increased from Rs. 3891.71 crore in 2019-21.
The Poshan Abhiyan, which aims to bring down stunting of children in the age group of 0-6 years from 38.4 percent to 25 per cent by 2022, has been a key focus area in the ministry. The allocation for the ‘One step Centre’ scheme saw a major boost.

The following programmes especially rural women and child development have been given a boost in this Budget:

Rashtriya Poshan abhiyan
‘One stop Centre’
Matru Vandana Yojna
Pregnant and lactating women
Bal Suraksha seva
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojna
Mahila Shakti Kendra
The announcements relating to the ‘Blue Economy’ especially fisheries will benefit rural women due to their significant participation in the sector.

Rural women are the key agents for achieving the transformational economic, environmental and social changes required for sustainable development.
But limited access to credit, healthcare and education are among the many challenges they face, which are further aggravated by the global food and economic crises and climate change.
Budget 2020-21 has initiated empowerment programmes for rural women that provide a foundation to nurture the inner strength and self-esteem for the rural women.
With a strong determination, commitment and involvement of people and organisations with philanthropic motive and a rational outlook, this problem can be solved and hurdles can be overcome for promoting empowerment of rural women.