‘Nari tu Narayani’: Do Union Budgets account for empowering women?

There are issues of differential pay gaps, uniform taxation, condition of women in the labor force and the condition of single mothers among others.

• The pay differential at work-place, a much prevalent issue, is not countered by differential tax slabs for women currently.
• India being a nation that bears the tag of low female labor force participation rate, in 2021 reported only around 20% of women as working.
• With many optimistic schemes running such as Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna, it has only by far observed a little above one crore account openings.

On the freezing cold morning of January 26 (Republic Day) in Delhi, roars of ‘nari shakti’ echoed across the length and breadth of the nation from Kartavya Path. Be it the all-women CRPF marching contingent or the gleaming tableaus, the message of empowerment was loud. However, the question that now holds much value is whether these roars will be heard in Parliament on February 1 as well where the union budget 2023-24 will set the financial fate for a large number of women for the upcoming year. Where on one hand, a number of schemes are running to uplift the condition of women in the country, the reality can be seen by not only looking at the budget figures but certain other related facts as well. These include differential pay gaps and uniform taxation, condition of women in the labour force, the condition of single mothers and unpaid care work among other things. In this article, we will briefly analyse these aspects and attempt to explain what the budget must do to empower women.

The anticipated union budget for the current fiscal year is not only expected to bring relief to the middle class, but replicate the efforts to empower our female population as well. Digging the surface a bit deeper, the picture becomes much clear about how well the budget and fiscal policies are assisting women. The pay differential at work-place, a much prevalent issue, is not countered by differential tax slabs for women currently. After the removal of separate tax rates for men and women in 2012 through the Finance Act, the burden of net tax payments fell much harder on the latter. Even though it can be counter argued that women are given the provision to opt for concessional tax regimes where a certain amount is rebated, it is not as helpful as it seems. First, the concessioned amount increases as the taxable income rises for a female. Whereas, it only makes sense to reverse the same and give higher concessions to the lower earning women as opposed to those falling in the higher income bracket. Secondly, the system is not as bestowed. Females who opt for such concessional tax rates, are not eligible to prevail exemptions under 80C, 80TT etc. Further the health and education cess of 4 percent applicable on all taxpayers to fund government schemes on health and education are not really helping the lower income earning females and is rather making their financial stance even weaker.

Where the question of differential tax slabs for women is relevant, it is only a sequel to getting them into the job market first. India being a nation that bears the tag of low female labour force participation rate, in 2021 reported only around 20 percent of women as working. NSSO has shown that more than 70 percent of women are engaged in the agricultural sector in rural India. The stark reality reveals that out of this figure only 12.9 percent of women hold land overall. Not much encouragement for women upliftment. Where on one hand, the figures speak for themselves, it shows how the current systems are not habitable for a full-fledged empowerment dream. Having less representation in the labour force means that the majority of women are dependent on their male counterparts for their financial needs. In such scenarios having schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna that provides special interest rates to women for housing loans does succeed but only up to an extent. Women who are not salaried or cannot provide hard evidence for the same are at a much disadvantaged front. The bottom line being, where such schemes are necessary for empowerment, it must be clubbed with a prerequisite to bring women on an equal footing with decent paying jobs and financial independence in the first place followed by bringing higher percentage of women in the labour force, both first-time workers and those who exited the workforce.

Such exits not only cost their financial freedom but also makes them subject to unpaid care work with no financial rewards. It has been established that bringing women back to the labour force will immensely boost the economic growth, however the care work given by her at home is left invisible to the eye. It is estimated that such work is equivalent to almost 3.1 percent of the nation’s GDP. Investing hundreds of minutes a day against the male counterpart, such contribution of women often goes unrecognised. The situation gets even worse when it comes to below poverty households. All gates for a woman to get empowered are shut when looked through education, formal decent work, pay parity, availing government schemes etc. Further, India is home to 13 million households headed by single mothers. This implies that they are not left with a choice but to juggle between house care and jobs simultaneously. With less to no provisions in the budget for women under such scenarios, the efficacy of efforts to empower women is put under scrutiny.

Finally, at this point, it can only be stated that the steps taken towards empowering women are far from fetching groundbreaking results. The facts seen above do reveal that there is a lot of ground yet to be covered in this direction. With many optimistic schemes running such as Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna, it has only by far observed a little above one crore account openings. Where on one hand, the path is progressive to empower women but the path itself is a long one. The union budget this fiscal year is expected to address these and many similar issues by taking relevant actions. The issue of differential pay gaps and uniform tax rates can be solved by adopting differential tax slabs, this would help women to not only have additional funds in hand but also would act as a great incentive to get back in the labour force. Another major issue that needs attention is unpaid care work where the government can carve out a chunk of funds under the Gender Budget to assist women gaining financial freedom and to be independent. On the bright side, we can see many lucrative schemes such as Annupama, Bhartiya Mahila Bank Business Loan, Orient Mahila Vikas Yojna etc as major steps to empower women through entrepreneurship. However, many such efforts are due to empower women from the youngest age till they are capable of claiming an equal footing in the society.

Article Credits: News Nine