Gender Budget Expenditure and Women's Development in Bihar

Gender budgeting has evolved into a major policy tool for promoting gender equality. Women do not enjoy equity with men politically, economically or socially. The government is trying to improve the status of women through gender budgeting. The present article examines the relationship between gender budget expenditure and women’s development in Bihar. Using data from the Economic Survey of Bihar, the study examines the trends in gender-responsive budgeting across key departments from the period 2019-20 to 2022-23. The study highlights that there is a concentration of spending in few social sector departments, particularly education, rural development and social welfare. The government should focus on other sectors also such as industry, agriculture etc. to achieve better and more balanced result.