Budget 2022: Will govt announce fresh measures to empower women?

Budget 2022: The demands range from better job opportunities to tax benefits and better financial inclusion. 

Women employees and entrepreneurs have a number of expectations for the upcoming Union Budget 2022-23 on February 1, given the Covid-19 pandemic’s adverse impact on their lives over the past few years.The demands range from better job opportunities to tax benefits and better financial inclusion.

MORE JOB OPPORTUNITIESThe government's latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) shows the unemployment rate for women during the January to March 2021 period was 11.8 per cent, even before the second wave of the pandemic hit. This is higher than 10.5 per cent in the corresponding time in 2020.

Poshak Agrawal, Co-founder & CEO, Florence Capital, said the pandemic has forced more and more women to move to casual labour -- 9.3 per cent in January to March 2021 as against 7.7 per cent in January to March 2020.

The upcoming Union Budget 2022-23 needs to not just reverse the trend, but create the ground for better formal sector job opportunities for women. This requires work from the ground up, including higher capital expenditure on education and health and other issues that are key for women.GENDER BUDGETINGA recent paper by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy found that the gender budgeting for the 2021-22 Union Budget was only about 5 per cent of the total budget."We hope that the Budget 2022-23 will prioritise spending on gender budgeting to help reduce inequalities. We are hopeful that 2022-23 will be a year of greater financial inclusion and easier access to credit for more Indians at a personal and enterprise level," Poshak Agrawal said.RELAXATION IN TAXTax relaxation is another key demand for women. “The government should promote women entrepreneurs with relaxation in tax and offer funds that can help brands to sustain themselves in these challenging times,” said Shreya Sabharwal, Founder and CEO, Squarefork and Growify Worldwide.The government must consider offering women exceptional or extra Section 80C advantage for two to three years which will urge them to save. Another choice is to offer women a better quality derivation office for a time of two years with the goal that the lower assessments can give them a spending power help, Sabharwal noted.MORE SUPPORT FOR WOMEN-CENTRIC BUSINESSESThere needs to be more support for women-led businesses and stronger educational opportunities so that women have the skills they need in order to start their own companies or career paths outside of traditional women-dominated fields like education or healthcare, said Devi Kondapi, CEO MSRcosmos.

The Union Budget should accommodate skilling for women, keeping in mind that the scope has now shifted to technology-based jobs, Kondapi added.Devi Kondapi highlighted that women are paid 10 per cent less than their male counterparts. Salaries have to be reformed as do inclusive policies and other benefits.

“In 2022, the budget needs to up its game by investing in mentoring and financing. Opening incubation centers where networking opportunities are made available will create an ecosystem for women, from inception through maturity stages,” Kondapi said."For corporations and institutions that led the charge in terms of employability, the budget 2022 can provide additional incentives for employers who support their workforce in upskilling, hiring more women as part of the workforce. It would create a huge opportunity for increasing women's participation in the workforce," Kondapi noted.

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