Budget 2023: FM urged to boost women entrepreneurs, increase outlay to gender-focussed programs

With an eye toward the 2030 deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, The Strategic Plan 2022-2025, details how UN Women will catalyse urgent and sustained action to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls with 4 vital impact areas – ending violence against women, women’s economic empowerment, governance and participation in political / public life, and women, peace and security. India has aligned itself to the global goals. In fact, this year’s Budget will be even more important in the context of India assuming the G-20 leadership. ‘India will give priority to women-led development in its G20 agenda.’ was a statement was made by the Prime Minister while taking charge of the G20 in Bali, Indonesia. With India’s population projected to overtake China’s next year coinciding with India’s G20 leadership for 2023, the focus of the world will be on our country. India is grappling with huge disadvantages for women across all life stages. Adolescent girls, especially from marginalised communities, face more challenges than others. Gender Budgets have come to be recognised as a fiscal tool to rectify gender inequities and ensure women have access to socio-economic benefits. With this aim in mind and in my view, to help women contribute more to our national economy as productive members of the workforce, India began issuing gender Budgets in 2005. Key reforms needed for sustainable growth India’s gender Budgets have succeeded in drawing attention to pressing gender issues. Now, given the adverse impact of COVID-19 on women and girls, gender-responsive budgeting has become the need of the hour. My hope is that this year’s Budget is able to provide a long-term strategic direction and trigger key reforms that are crucial for a sustainable economic growth especially given this is the last full Budget before the general elections. From boosting the startup ecosystem to providing tax relief on raw materials used to make menstrual products, for instance, to further the ‘green’ policies, there are a lot of expectations from the central Government. For example, the support extended to the MSMEs under the Atmanirbhar Bharat has helped the nation to safeguard itself from pandemic. Provide I-T benefits for women-led startups Women deserve to be supported equally for their startup initiatives and new ventures. Women-led businesses require more support and encouragement in order to help India raise the bar in the world of business. Most important is to make tax and regulatory compliance hassle-free and transparent. The Budget must provide clear income tax benefits for women-led startups. Gandhiji once famously said, the soul of India lives in its villages. I would urge the Government to look at women led agro-based (including agro tech) businesses to look at changing their status. Alternatively, given the tax benefits this sector enjoys, one may also look at the tax net widening, especially for farmers who travel abroad and have expensive cars and financial investments above a certain threshold. Strong educational opportunities and support must be provided to women in sectors such as STEM, AI, etc. other than the traditional women-dominated sectors to widen their horizons and enhance opportunities. Catch ‘em young, provide biz skills Women should be motivated to hone new skills from an early age. Incubation centers need to be set up for women in order to provide them with an environment where they learn everything from the ideation stage of the business, inception to maturity stage through networking forums and mentoring. While it is vital to allocate funds for women’s schemes, it is equally important to ensure greater expenditure of funds allocated to women’s programs, and more equitable implementation of central schemes across states. As a society, investing in women and the girl child creates long-term social and economic benefits for everyone, across all levels. (The writer is a serial entrepreneur and CEO, Great Place To Work® India) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.