Budget 2023: 5 things that women want from FM

Women contribute only 18% to India’s GDP. The figure just highlights the massive potential that still remains untapped.

Women form a crucial part of India's explosive growth story. While we’ve seen the government implementing a number of progressive schemes and policies over the last few years, there is still a long way to go.

We are still reeling from the consequences of the pandemic and Union Budget 2023 would be a great opportunity for the Finance Minister to focus on empowering women with adequate growth opportunities that may bridge the gender gap in the economy.


Here are 5 areas where women want Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to focus on in this Budget:

Safety, education and healthcare:
The Budget must make provisions for better access to education, healthcare and safety for women in addition to the several schemes that the government is already running, such as the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and the National Rural Livelihood Mission. Increased funding for these programmes could help improve their implementation and reach.

Asset ownership and access to credit:
We hope that the Finance Minister introduces more fiscal incentives for women that will help narrow the gender gap in the economy.

Women-specific fiscal incentives could include tax reliefs on the purchase of assets such as property, vehicles. This will encourage them to own more assets thereby enhancing their economic independence.

Women-centric preferential schemes for housing, personal, vehicle and business loans will prove to be a massive boost to the economy.

Maternity and childcare:
Schemes for pregnant women and new mothers can do a lot more good with greater financial support from the government. This includes expanding the reach of programmes like the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana. Furthermore, the FM can look at better access to affordable childcare — one of the biggest barriers to women’s long-term employment. This will enable women to balance work and family responsibilities.

Pension schemes:
This is a known fact that women tend to live longer than men and often outlive their spouses. Thus, they need larger retirement corpus and a higher pension to support themselves in their old age.

The government could consider increasing the pension amount for women or providing pension schemes for those not in the possession of any other such scheme.

Women entrepreneurship:
A major challenge that requires attention is access to finance for women entrepreneurs. We are hopeful for better access to loans and subsidized credit for women-owned businesses - along with tax exemptions and seed capital grants for women entrepreneurs.

These will continue to fuel businesses and create stronger economic impact of women-run enterprises. More women will be encouraged to start businesses, women entrepreneurship will get the much needed impetus.

Conclusion
Overall, we hope Budget 2023 will focus on inclusive growth for women, providing more access to education, healthcare, safety, asset ownership, and financial stability.

Additionally, creating more avenues for women to reach their economic potential, through entrepreneurship and employment, can benefit both individual women and the entire economy.

(The author is CEO & Co-Founder, Basis - India's Financial Services Destination for Women)

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)