Press Release
Divya Kherajani
The IMPRI Gender Impact Studies Centre (GISC), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi, hosted an insightful panel discussion and critically examined how the Union Budget addresses women, children, marginalised communities; highlighting expansions in gender allocation and areas of stagnation in welfare and care-related spending on “Gender, Social Inclusion and Union Budget 2026-2027” on February 6, 2026 (Friday) at 3:00 p.m. IST under IMPRI’s 7th Annual Series of Thematic Deliberations and Analysis of Union Budget 2026-2027, as part of IMPRI.
The Chair and the Moderator of the session, Prof Vibhuti Patel, Visiting Distinguished Professor, IMPRI; former Professor, TISS, stimulated a thoughtful discussion within the volatile global macroeconomic context and a domestic economy marked by rising inequality, stagnant tax revenues, and massive underutilization of funds. She stressed that fiscal consolidation is being pursued alongside the shrinking social sector budget, “none of the suggestions of the social sector have been included, and basic needs of citizens at the bottom of the pyramid are ignored in the budget despite promised allocation in the previous budget”. Prof Patel underlined the need for employment-intensive growth, gender responsive budgeting, and rights-based social protection covering all the cardinal aspects of the overall discussion.
Gender Budgeting and Fiscal Prudence
Prof Paramita Saha, Professor of Economics at Tripura University, Tripura, unpacked the Union Budget 2026-2027 with a focus on fiscal discipline and gender responsive allocation, normative frame, noting the government’s success in capping the fiscal deficit. She also cautioned against ‘jugglery of figures’ in calculations and stressed the need for robust implementation to address the gender gaps. She also analysed the economic survey and discussed the growth initiatives such as Biopharma SHAKTI, India Semiconductor Mission 2, Building capital good capability, and MSME support. She concluded the discussion by highlighting the need for inclusion of Special Groups and state-specific schemes and allocations
Architecture of the Social Sector
Prof Neha Shah, Associate Professor, L. J. University, Ahmedabad, unpacked the discussion with the importance of the social sector and ‘normative frame’ of the Budget, noting its emphasis on capability building and “Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas”. She further questioned whether the mainstream growth strategies truly integrate and are inclusive of weaker sections. Prof Shah also shed light on Gender and Child Budget, showcasing that while nominal allocations have risen, implementation gaps, mid -year revisions, budget cuts, and under-utilisation still exist in the country. She concluded with acknowledging the role of the care economy, a graph of social sector expenditure showing stagnation, and left the audience pondering over the simple question, “Is Budget analysis relevant?”
Misalignment Between Intent and Impact
Ms Supriya Jan, Grassroot leadership and knowledge building, CORO INDIA, highlighted the unspent budget from previous years and the lack of questioning behind the underspent budget. She further added how the underutilization of the budget reflects the structural exclusion of certain communities and sections of society by those who made the budget. Due to the weak outreach and the lack of inclusion of the socially challenged tribal communities, the budget remains underspent. She also highlighted the centrality of rural women’s work and self-help groups within the Gender Budget architecture.
She pointed out that women’s economic participation is visible but that policy documents still tend to describe women as SHG members as ‘beneficiaries’ rather than as full economic powerholders. She argued that the Budget does not adequately recognise women as entrepreneurs, employers, or decision-makers in value chains connected to MGNREGA and allied schemes, and called for explicit measures to strengthen women’s asset ownership with leadership roles.
Community Perspective and Implementation Deficits
Ms Neeta Hardikar, Director of ANANDI, Gujarat, underlined how these budgetary provisions translate or fail to translate into change on the ground for Dalits, Adivasis, women, and other marginalised groups of the society. Speaking from a grounded social action perspective, she stressed the allocations for the SC and ST welfare, which remain inadequate in proportion to their population share. They are often accompanied by displacements and loss of land rights due to infrastructure and mining projects, which are given more importance. Ms Hardikar accentuated that budgeting processes remain largely non-consultative, biased, and with very limited inputs from women’s groups and frontline workers. She called for an institutionalised participation to ensure that government schemes respond to actual community needs.
Gender Based Violence, Mission Shakti and Safety Gaps
Ms Arohi Damle, Senior Researcher, Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes, Mumbai, examined the Union Budget 2026 through the lens of gender-based violence and safety. She mapped two major components of Mission Shakti: SAMBAL (safety and security), which includes Women helpline, One Stop Centre, Nari Adalat, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao andSAMARTHYA (empowerment), which includes Shakti Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, PM Matru Vandana Yojana, Palna, and Sankalp.
She further emphasised how budget estimates are repeatedly revised onwards, with significant gaps between sanctioned amounts. Ms Damle also flagged the reduction of Safe City allocations (from 215 crore to 125 crore) and the lack of dedicated funds this year for cybercrime prevention against women and children. She concluded by saying, “Safety for women cannot be reduced to more cameras and control rooms”.
Social Sector Spending, Care Economy, Mental Health and Employment
Dr. G. Uma, Associate Professor at the School of Gender and Development Studies, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, focuses on strengthening the Care Economy, promoting women’s workforce participation, encouraging women’s entrepreneurship, supporting Self-Help groups, addressing mental health, Enhancing Child wellbeing, and advancing girls’ education, as well as ensuring safe infrastructure facilities.
She examined the reasons why social sector spending is macro critical and argued that it strengthens the production function by building human capital, providing an internal engine of growth, and sustaining demand. She showcased how social sector expenditure has declined and stagnated over recent years. She also warned that fiscal consolidation is falling “harder on the social sector” than on other heads. She also stressed the wage problem and stated, “Without decent wages, secure contracts and social security, care work will remain informal and undervalued.”
Conclusion:
The panel illuminated systematic gendered gaps in India’s social sector and care economy. Experts critiqued the budget’s neglect of informal workers, stagnant wages, decline in the safety budget, and inadequate social security, stressing that while the gender budget has expanded in scale and the care economy has gained visibility, these gains are nested within the overall fiscal framework, which continues to under-prioritise core social sectors and employment-intensive welfare.
Across interventions by several dignitaries, a clear consensus emerged that meaningful inclusion requires genuine effort, which demands sustained public investment in health, education, safety, social protection, and livelihoods with consultative implementation, which recognises women, Dalits, Adivasis, and several other marginalised groups as workers, producers, and decision makers rather than passive beneficiaries. Without the urgent inclusive measures, the country risks deepening distress rather than delivering transformative growth.
IMPRI’s 7th Annual Series of Thematic Deliberations and Analysis of Union Budget 2026-27
IMPRI 7th Annual Series of Thematic Deliberations and Analysis of Union Budget 2026-27
Gender, Social Inclusion and Union Budget 2026-27
Acknowledgement: This article is written by Divya Kherajani, IMPRI Research Intern.
