IMPACT OF GENDER BUDGETING ON GDI AND GENDER EQUALITY TOWARDS ACHIEVING SDG 5 IN INDIA

Societies from all across the world have been witnessing the propagation and undertaking of countless detriments and pessimistic practices since time immemorial, that have been seriously hindering their development. The practice of Gender discrimination is one such practice that has been latching onto the roots of societies for a substantial while now. It is severely hindering the overall upliftment and empowerment of Women from all across the globe. Of late, Numerous attempts are being made to curb this challenge, one prominent illustration being the adoption of this ideology of eradication as a Sustainable development goal, i.e., SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls). The achievement of the goal may be facilitated by a diverse range of approaches, while this study focuses upon one such effective approach; Gender Budgeting. Gender Budgeting inculcates a number of aspects, of which, the crucial ones are shortlisted for analysis, viz., Health, education and employment. With the objectives of evaluating the various aspects of Gender Budgeting and their impact on the changing GDI and the significance of these approaches in fostering the attainment of SDG:5, this paper simultaneously utilizes quantitative approach and data driven research to extract requisite observations citing optimistic ramifications with regards to expenditure trends. Subsequently, the trend of Gender Development Index is simultaneously analysed to obtain appropriate conclusions citing a non-reflective situation, wherein the impacts of incremented expenditures levy minimal impact on the GDI. In termination, relevant suggestions are outlined to address the observed challenges.