Budget Signals Push For Women-Led Development, But Allocations Still Modest: IRRI Expert

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget on February 1, 2026, with a renewed focus on women-led development, announcing initiatives such as SHE-Mart and technology-driven skilling programmes to expand women’s economic participation.

The Budget also proposed measures aimed at strengthening grassroots entrepreneurship and improving access to education and employment opportunities for women. Experts say the initiatives could help boost women’s participation in the workforce, though the scale of allocations remains a key factor in determining their long-term impact.

The Union Budget’s emphasis on women-centric initiatives marks a positive step towards gender-responsive policymaking, though allocations remain modest compared to the scale of India’s challenges, according to Sugandha Munshi, Ph.D, Senior Associate Scientist and Lead Specialist at the Sustainable Impact Department of the International Rice Research Institute.

Munshi described the Budget as a “gender responsive budget” that attempts to create a supportive policy ecosystem for women’s development. “It was welcoming to see the focus of the budget creating a conducive space for achieving the goal of the women development agenda of the country,” she said.

One of the notable announcements is the SHE-Mart Mission, which aims to enable rural women to operate community-owned retail outlets. Munshi said the initiative could mark a turning point in grassroots entrepreneurship if implemented effectively.

“One of the striking innovations of new initiatives SHE Mart Mission, aiming at helping rural women move from being beneficiaries to business owners… is going to be a turning point in the field of women empowerment if it is implemented properly,” she noted. However, she cautioned that financial allocations alone do not guarantee meaningful outcomes.

“We need to remember ‘Allocation is not the same as effectiveness’, hence we need to be proactive in also analysing the budget expenditures,” she said.

Incremental Gains, But Challenges Remain

For 2026-27, the Budget has been allocated ₹28,183 crore to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, a 15.63 per cent increase from last year.

Munshi said the rise reflects a commitment to strengthening the women’s empowerment ecosystem but added that the allocation may still fall short of addressing India’s deep-rooted structural challenges.

“While the budget has made important incremental progress, the current allocations are still not sufficient, by themselves, to fully address India’s deep-rooted and multi-dimensional challenges related to women’s empowerment,” she said.

She added that the current step nonetheless signals an effort to bring women to the centre of the country’s long-term development vision.

“Looking at the deep-rooted issues, the allocation is still relatively small but creates a beginning for bringing women at the centre of developmental discourse of Viksit Bharat 2047.”

Focus On Grassroots Women

Among the initiatives announced, the government plans to expand the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ model and use the proposed SHE-Mart network to help five crore women earn at least ₹1 lakh annually.

The Budget has also proposed building girls’ hostels in every district to boost higher education participation, particularly in STEM fields where women currently account for about 43 per cent.
Munshi believes such initiatives could have a transformative impact on grassroots economic participation.

“These initiatives can be a game changer as far as women economic empowerment and long-term capacity building is concerned,” she said.

She emphasised that these policies recognise the role of rural women working through self-help groups.

“The best part is that these particular initiatives have not only thought for ‘women of India but women of Bharat’,” Munshi said, referring to women at the grassroots who have built strong economic networks through self-help groups.

According to her, strengthening women’s access to income can gradually help dismantle structural barriers. “When there is an effort towards strengthening women control and access to income leading to women economic empowerment, it also helps them to break the glass ceiling.”

Technology And Skills

The Budget has also introduced initiatives to train women as drone operators for agricultural use, alongside skilling programmes such as LED bulb assembly aimed at boosting employment in small-scale industries.

Munshi said these measures mark a shift towards including women in technology-driven sectors. “This is the first time when skill upgradation in a non-traditional sector for women of Drone technology has been thought upon at the grassroot level,” she said.

According to her, integrating women into emerging technologies could expand the scope of rural employment beyond traditional roles.

“Women capacity building on such scientific innovation will break traditional employment barriers, encouraging more women to enter tech-linked work,” she said.

Self-help groups could also play a critical role in scaling these interventions. “SHGs in today time in India [are] a conduit for any change we want to initiate whether social or economic.”

Long-Term Workforce Participation

The Economic Survey released in January highlighted that increasing women’s workforce participation to around 55 per cent by 2050 could be critical for sustaining India’s growth trajectory.

Munshi said the measures announced in the Budget could contribute to that goal, but only through sustained policy commitment.

“We must understand that any change does not come all of a sudden. There has to be an incremental effort which contributes to bring that change,” she said.

She also noted that gender budgeting has historically been a contentious issue in India. “In the last one decade we have seen a significant positive shift from the government prioritising budget in parallel to the vision on women led development.”

Ultimately, she said, long-term economic growth will require sustained investment in women. “Invest in women is the mantra for today to achieve equitable women workforce participation in future.”

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