Budget 2018: It's a fair deal for gender component

Free gas connections aside, the gender component in the Budget went up by 7.09%. As per the gender budget statement, total gender budget allocation rose to Rs 1,21,961 crore in 2018-19 from Rs 1,13,311 crore in 2017-18. The total outlay for the Ministry of Women and Child Development increased by 12% from Rs 22,095 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 24,700 in 2018-19.

Allocations for some individual schemes under the WCD Ministry saw a decline, with maternity benefits programme, the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana seeing a decline of Rs 300 crore from Rs 2,700 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 2,400 crore in 2018-19.

Nirbhaya Fund, however, saw an additional allocation of Rs 550 crore and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao saw a boost of Rs 80 crore. A new component under gender budgeting and research, publication and monitoring, got an allocation of Rs 8 crore.

Prominent in the Finance Minister's speech, apart from extending the beneficiaries under Ujjwala scheme to 8 crore, was the projection that loans to be taken up by women Self-Help Groups in organic farming will rise to Rs 75,000 crore by March 2019. Another key feature was the reduction of the government contribution to EPF for women employees from 12% to 8% for the next three years.