- Why in news
- On 18 February 2026 the Ministry of Women and Child Development said the Gender Budget Statement for FY 2026-27 reports Rs. 5.01 lakh crore, up 11.55% from Rs. 4.49 lakh crore. The Union Budget was presented on 1 February 2026.
- What it is
- The Gender Budget Statement (GBS) is a part of the Union Budget documents. It reports how much of each Ministry's or Department's spending goes to women and girls. It is a tool for gender-responsive budgeting and tracks allocations, not outcomes.
- Share in Union Budget
- The GBS share rose to 9.37% from 8.86% in 2025-26.
- Part A
- Part A covers 100% women-specific schemes: Rs. 1,07,688.42 crore, 21.50% of the GBS.
- Part B and Part C
- Part B covers schemes with 30-99% allocation for women (72.54% of the GBS). Part C covers those below 30% (5.95%).
- Top reporter
- The Ministry of Women and Child Development reports the highest share of its own allocation in the GBS, at 81.73%, followed by Rural Development at 69.92%.
Don’t confuse with Part A vs Part B: Part A is for schemes wholly (100%) for women. Part B is for schemes where 30-99% of the allocation is for women.
Don’t confuse with Gender budget vs separate women's budget: The GBS is a statement within the Union Budget that tags women-related spending across ministries. It is not a separate budget.
Economy terms and data: 42 Prelims questions since 2013, rising in recent years; they test what a term or instrument means. In Mains, 12 news-triggered questions.
Why it matters
- Makes visible how much public spending reaches women and girls.
- Wider reporting by Ministries pushes gender-responsive planning across government.
Problems
- The GBS records allocations, not outcomes or actual spending.
- Most of the amount (72.54%) is in Part B, where the women's share within a scheme can be loosely estimated.
Way forward
- Link GBS allocations to outcome budgets and gender audits.
- Build ministry capacity to tag spending with consistent methods.
Put in your answer
GBS share trend: Share of GBS in the Union Budget rose from 8.86% to 9.37% between 2025-26 and 2026-27.
- 2016Mains GS3 · Q2Requirements and status of gender budgeting in the Indian context
- 2024Mains GS1 · Q8Distinguish gender equality, equity, empowerment; importance of gender concerns in programmes
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: Gender budgeting is a lasting syllabus topic. The release is routine annual data, so a question is unlikely.
Worth revising until Prelims 2027: most news questions come within two years of the event.