- The central government has introduced a specialized online resource called the Gender Budgeting Knowledge Hub
- The hub's goal is to encourage gender-responsive budgeting and planning throughout India
- It supports stakeholders and policymakers by offering data, resources, and best practices
The Ministry of Women and Child Development held a National Consultation on Gender Budgeting in New Delhi, a unique initiative aimed at strengthening gender-responsive governance. Union Minister Annpurna Devi inaugurated the event and launched the Gender Budgeting Knowledge Hub, a digital portal for policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders to integrate a gender lens into planning and budgeting.
In order to make every stage of planning and budgetary decision-making at the federal and state levels gender-inclusive, the initiative aims to provide policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders with a single source of crucial resources, including policy briefs, best practices, and gender-disaggregated data.
The portal was launched at a national consultation conference, which was attended by participants from various central ministries, 20 states, international organizations such as UN Women and the Asian Development Bank, and leading national institutions. The conference was for the construction of debate and stimulating innovative approaches to gender budgeting.
Women and Child Development Minister Annpurna Devi spoke at the launch and commended gender budgeting for helping to realize the ‘Viksit Bharat @2047’ vision. "With the launch of this Knowledge Hub, we are not just establishing a resource center—we are laying the foundation to make every financial choice have gender equality, so that no woman or girl is left behind," she said.
Officially, they pointed out that the portal will be used as a one-stop platform to disseminate evidence-based resources so that gender considerations can be more effectively integrated into the country's economic planning and policies.
The WCD Minister underlined in her keynote address that since 2005–06, gender budgeting has been a crucial component of India's development agenda. It began as a financial reporting system but has since evolved into a crucial governance strategy to support women's empowerment and gender equality.
She said that the government's strong commitment to integrating gender equity in public finances and policy is demonstrated by the ₹4.49 lakh crore approved for the gender budget for the fiscal year 2025–2026, a 37 percent increase over the previous year. She also pointed out that the gender budget expenditures have grown four times over the past eleven years, from ₹0.98 lakh crore in 2014–15 to ₹4.49 lakh crore in 2025–26.
