Ambiguity over women’s share in budget

Bangladesh spends around one-third of its national budget on the development of women, yet their economic progress remains sluggish.

An analysis on the previous budgets revealed that thousands of billions of takas have been spent on women's development over the last 12 years. In the fiscal year 2023-24, the government has earmarked over Tk 2.5 trillion as the gender budget to spend on women's development under the current budget.

However, there is a question regarding whether the entire allocation is indeed being spent for its intended purpose. Economists believe that there is ambiguity over the allocations.

The actual size of the gender budget in the current fiscal is Tk 2.61 trillion, with a total of 44 ministries and directorates set to utilise the funds. Besides, some private entities invest in women alongside the government.

Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said there is no doubt a slow pace exists in women's development. Despite one-third of the budget being allocated for women's development, there is ambiguity over how the allocations are being used. Moreover, there is no review of the developments resulting from such significant allocations.

Questioning the utilisation of the gender budget, she provided an example: "A big bridge is constructed, and men and women equally use the infrastructure. If half of the construction cost is included in the gender budget, will it be fair to consider it as women's development?"

She suggested that there should be target-based allocations to facilitate the true development of women.

According to finance ministry sources, a fund of Tk 24.06 billion has been allocated as development and operation costs at the election commission secretariat, where the share for women is Tk 13.01 billion, or 54 per cent.

In the latest gender budget report, allocations of some general sectors have been mentioned as women's development spending. For instance, half of the total 119.2 million voters in the country are women, and the authorities have provided them with identity cards. But the expenses have been included in the gender budget.

In a separate instance, the housing ministry constructed some 744 flats for government officials in the capital's Mirpur and Malibagh areas. It mitigated the housing crisis for officials, including females. Since the project addressed the housing crisis for women, it has been added to the gender budget.

The energy and mineral resources ministry geared up gas extraction activities and increased imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to ensure an uninterrupted supply to the national grid. Surprisingly, this cost has also been shown under the gender budget, citing that increased gas supply brought comfort to women in households.

An analysis of allocations over the past one and a half decades revealed that the size of the gender budget increased tenfold throughout the time. Now, one-third of the total budget is spent on women's development.

According to finance ministry sources, the total budget for women was only Tk 272.48 billion 14 years ago in the fiscal year 2009-10, which was 25 per cent of the total budget. The allocations rose gradually in the following years, as did the share of women in the budget.

Now, the figure crossed the threshold of 2.5 trillion in the current fiscal year. The current budget is sized at Tk 7.61 trillion, with the gender budget at 2.61 trillion, or 34.37 per cent.

The government spends the allocations through 44 ministries and directorates mainly on three purposes -- empowerment of women and enhancement of social status; greater participation of women in production, the labour market, and income-generating activities; and increasing women's access to government services.

In the gender budget, there are allocations for development and operation. Under the operation cost, various expenses, including salaries and allowances of government officials, are included.

The women and children affairs ministry is the top government agency to work for the development of women. The annual development programme (ADP) for the current fiscal year showed that the ministry is implementing some 14 projects – worth Tk 43.28 billion – under the running budget.

But only two of those are directly involved with the development of women. The projects are -- climate change adaptation enhancement with an allocation of Tk 2.77 billion and women’s economic empowerment with Tk 4.28 billion. The cost of development projects directly related to women's economic empowerment is only 16 per cent of the ministry’s total development budget. Its other projects include construction of buildings and hostels, youth clubs, child day care centers, and swimming facilities.

Tania Haque, a professor of the women and gender studies department at Dhaka University, observed that the development of women is somewhat slow here. The number of women beneficiaries is low, and the quality of service is also not up to the mark.

The issue of women's development is now in an unstable condition. The authorities should remove the barriers and develop a women-friendly working environment and comfortable transport system, she said.

The professor also stressed ensuring women’s easy access to bank loans, funds, and timely entrepreneurship training.

* This report first appeared in the print version of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Misbahul Haque.