New Delhi: Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday expressed her disappointment at the budget saying decreasing participation of women in the labour market was not addressed.
The expectations from this year’s Budget were high because of the economic survey that indicated recovery from Covid-19 impact, Chaturvedi said.
Speaking after the economic survey on Tuesday, Chaturvedi had said, “As a woman parliamentarian, I am also concerned about the efficacy of the Budget from a gendered lens. As former UN Secretary General Kofi Anan rightly observed, "Gender equality is more than a goal in itself". It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance. In a society where incidents like Bulli Bai, Sulli Deals, Bilkis Bano case, etc, are received with a selective bias, women-led development can play a key role in overall social upliftment of the society.”
OPINION | Priyanka Chaturvedi Writes: Urgent Need To Use Budget As A Tool To Increase Women's Participation In Labour Force
“According to a World Bank report released in June 2022, Indian women’s labour force participation – proportion of the population over the age of 15 that is economically active – has been steadily declining since 2005 and is at a low of 19 per cent in 2021. In the light of women of various age groups grappling with several disadvantages, the Budget needs to not just increase investment in women-centric programmes but also financial commitment to tackle existing behavioural and implementation barriers in the society,” she further said.
Speaking further on the states that received support in this year’s Union budget, the Shiv Sena MP said Maharashtra received nothing in the budget, while the two neighbouring states, Gujarat and Karnataka, received major support. Priyanka Chaturvedi further said that Surat, a flourishing market for lab-made diamonds, got support in the budget.
“GIFT city is a city crushing under the weight of gifts received from centre yet not living up to the hype,” Chaturvedi said.
In 2008, the then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi first announced that the state government would build a ‘Nano city’ and the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City at Gandhinagar.
Addressing ‘Invest Gujarat’ summit organised by Assocham, PM Modi said that the land between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar would be developed as a Central Business District with office spaces, residential apartments, schools, hospitals, hotels, retail and other recreational facilities.