Mumbai, March 26 (IANS) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, on Wednesday presented a Gender Budget Statement and Child Budget Statement for 2025-26 in the state Assembly.
Of the total expenditure worth Rs 7,57,576 crore the gender budget is to the tune of Rs 64,008 crore which comes to 8.45 per cent.
The child budget is Rs 100,605 crore which is 13.28 per cent of the total expenditure.
According to the Gender Budget Statement, the allocation for 2025-26 has been reduced to 8.45 per cent from 8.63 per cent in the revised budget of 2024-25.
In the case of the child budget, it has been increased to 13.28 per cent in 2025-26 against 12.99 per cent in the revised budget of 2024-25.
Ajit Pawar explained that Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) provides a tool and mechanism to close the gender gap in public finance, assuming that these economic policies affect women, men and others alike.
“It is an innovation in public finance that helps to mainstream and prioritise gender equality and related issues,” he said.
He clarified that GRB does not mean a separate budget for women or a separate provision for women in the budget, but a broad sense of implementing gender equality, sensitivity and awareness of women’s issues in the entire budgeting process on the income and expenditure side.
“It includes not only strengthening administrative processes and setting targets in the budget for the uplift of women, but also gender scrutinizing, the financial provision made, evaluating its impact and restructuring the provision made,” he said.
Ajit Pawar on March 10 presented the annual budget for 2025-26 with an estimated revenue deficit of Rs 45,891 crore and fiscal deficit of Rs 136,000 crore.
The finance minister has estimated revenue receipts of Rs 560,963 crore and revenue expenditure of Rs 606,855 crore.
He claimed that the government has been successful in keeping the fiscal deficit below 3 per cent of the gross state domestic income under the Fiscal Responsibility and Fiscal Management Act.
Also, Maharashtra’s revenue deficit has been consistently less than 1 per cent of the gross state income.
–IANS
sj/rad
