Budget 2022: Women seek equal opportunities and financial inclusion

Better job opportunities, tax benefits and
financial inclusion are some of the expectations that women entrepreneurs and
employees have from finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s upcoming Union Budget
2022-23.

According to the government’s latest Periodic
Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the unemployment rate among women during the
January-March 2021 period was 11.8%, higher than 10.5% in the corresponding
period of 2020.

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The pandemic has forced more women to move to
casual labour, the figure is 9.3% in January to March 2021 as compared to 7.7%
in January to March 2020, said Poshak Agrawal, Co-founder & CEO of Florence
Capital.

She added that the
upcoming budget 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, health and other
issues that are key for women.

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According to the National Institute of Public
Finance and Policy, gender budgeting for the Union Budget 2021-22 was only
about 5% of the total budget. Agrawal said budget 2022-23 should prioritize
spending on gender budgeting to help reduce inequalities.

Shreya Sabharwal, Founder, and CEO of
Squarefork and Growify Worldwide, said that the government should promote women
entrepreneurs with relaxation in tax and offer funds that can help brands to
sustain themselves in these challenging times.

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She added that the
government should consider offering exceptional or extra Section 80C advantage
to women for two to three years which will encourage them to save. 

According to Devi Kondapi, CEO of MSRcosmos,
more support is required for women-led enterprises and better educational
opportunities so that women can have the skills they need to start their
businesses or choose career paths outside of traditional women-dominated fields
like education or healthcare. The budget should accommodate skilling for women
for technology-based jobs.

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Kondapi highlighted that
women are paid 10% less than their male counterparts. Salaries have to be
reformed as do inclusive policies and other benefits.

“Opening incubation centers where networking
opportunities are made available will create an ecosystem for women from
inception through maturity stages,” Kondapi said.

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She highlighted that budget 2022 can introduce
additional incentives for employers who support their workforce in upskilling
and hiring more women as part of the workforce. It would create a huge
opportunity for increasing women’s participation in the workforce.