Budget 2024: What does this budget offer for women and girls

Budget 2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for 2024-25 on Tuesday, outlining several initiatives aimed at benefiting women and girls.

The Union Budget 2024 allocates over Rs 3 lakh crore for schemes benefiting women and girls. The government emphasises women-led development, aiming to increase women's participation in the workforce. This will be facilitated by setting up hostels, creating partnerships for women-specific skilling programs, and promoting market access for women Self Help Group enterprises.

The focus also includes the poor, youth, and farmers. The allocation for women's welfare and empowerment has seen a 218.8 percent increase from FY14 to FY25, highlighting India's commitment to shifting from women-led development to women's development.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised that increasing the participation of women in the workforce is a priority. This will be supported by setting up hostels and creating partnerships for women-specific skilling programmes and promoting market access for women Self Help Group enterprises.

"We need to focus on the poor, women, youth and farmers," she said.

"The growth is indicative of India's determination to shift from women-led development to women's development, as stated in the Economic Survey 2023–2024," the Finance Minister concluded. Read full speech.