The National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) has criticised the Union Budget 2024-25 introduced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, despite the fact that the finance minister herself is a woman.
NFIW argues that the budget falls short in addressing women’s needs, contradicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claims of women driving national development, said All Manipur Nupi Marup in a statement.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, the budget undermines Modi’s assurances about advancing women’s empowerment. The report highlights India’s low ranking at 129th out of 146 countries, indicating degrading conditions for women, it added.
The budget fails to address crucial areas like basic education and healthcare for women, despite ongoing socio-economic and political challenges, it mentioned.
All Manipur Nupi Marup noted that the New Education Policy 2020 has not significantly benefited female students and the number of female students in higher education is still low.
The disparity in healthcare access is evident, with women facing inadequate treatment in major hospitals compared to primary health centers, which suffer from shortages of doctors and improper facilities. NFIW has called for increased budget allocation for women’s health and education, it added.
Crimes against women and children are alarmingly high with a low conviction rate in the country. While the involvement of high-profile individuals in such crimes often deters victims from seeking justice. The budget fails to reflect a commitment to enforcing new criminal laws effectively but a policy to save the Modi government, it criticised.
The statement further said that the budget shows that the Central government sees Manipur as a prosperous state without needing any special package.
Highlighting a lack of special provisions despite ongoing crises, including a severe shortage of LPG, the nupi marup demanded adequate availability of LPG at affordable price
