Kerala budget 2017: Homemaker's choice

It’s time to look at Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac’s knack for statecraft and housecraft as he presents his eighth budget on Friday. Dr Isaac has generated a lot of expectations among women, who are relegated to the backyard and yoked by household burden despite the rhetoric of gender equality. Budget is an opportunity to stem this trend. Social reforms, education for girls and women empowerment policies and the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments, ensuring 50 per cent reservation to women in elected Local Self-Government Institutions have contributed towards improving the status of women in the State.

Kerala stands first in Gender Empowerment Index in the country but they have to make a long way to go towards a desirable level of Human Happiness Index, globally preferred to Human Development Index or Women Empowerment Index. Labour force participation rate of women is much below the all-India average. At the centre of each family is the homemaker. Tax proposals in the budget and the nature and size of social security payments have a bearing on household decisions.

Since India is adopting Goods and Services Tax on July 1, there is limited scope of manipulation with tax rates. However, goods like tobacco and alcoholic beverages being outside the GST net, finance ministers have the discretion. Kerala is a hub of tipplers. Most poor families rely on meagre earnings of housewives. Women will hail an out-of-the box budgetary idea to curb alcohol intake by their men.

The LDF poll manifesto committed to keep prices stable for five years. However, as the Consumer Price Index hovers over 3.6 percent in the country, prices of most of consumer items in the State are headed south. The PDS is in crisis, thanks to the inertia of the State Government. Hoarders and black-marketers are exploiting the situation. Prices of rice and sugar are sky-rocketing. In a month’s time, the price of rice shot up by 12 to 15 percent. Quick measures to rein in prices of rice, sugar, vegetables and provisions would shore up the domestic budget and keep the homemaker happy.

Two years of drought has ravaged the state. Demonetization aggravated farm sector price fall, especially in the plantation sector. The Centre has extended crop insurance coverage from 30 per cent of cropped area to 50 percent in the 2017-18 budget. The State budget may extend insurance coverage to 100 per cent cropped area. In natural calamity, only such protection would help farmers fight all-round deprivation. The rationing of essentials should be revamped and reinstated, targeting the marginalized. The LDF manifesto reiterates inclusive measures.

Women as professionals

The human capital investment in women is far less, compared to males. Economists, the latest being Amartya Sen, have analyzed this at length and advocated change but there has been very little in effect. Economic Review 2015 points out that female students in engineering colleges are 32 per cent while ITIs and polytechnics account for 31 per cent and 37 per cent respectively. Scholarship programmes may be introduced to fill the gap in capital investment. This gap is mainly responsible for the low labour force participation rate of women than men in Kerala.

Economic Review 2015 reports that workforce participation rate of female against male in the rural sector is 22.1: 56.6 and that in the urban sector is 17.7: 57.7. Since there is very little division of labour within the family in Kerala, professional women bear the brunt of multiple roles, which affect their productivity. This may be mitigated by opening kindergartens for children and daycare homes for the elderly and the disabled.

Security Concerns of Women

According to Crime Records Bureau, 2016 witnessed 14,061 crimes against women as against 12, 383 the previous year ( 1,644 rapes as against 1,263) . We should condemn CPM State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan for his statement that the heinous attack on the famous actress was an isolated case. This exposes the huge gap between poll rhetoric and governance. Recast the State’s Women’s Policy 2008 with a view to protecting the interests of women. Women’s Commission should be given judicial powers to settle case of atrocities without delay.

Gender budgeting

Woman empowerment is measured mainly on three indicators of women’s participation in economic, political and professional activities. Though women make up 51.8 per cent of the State’s population, her presence in the legislatures is insignificant. But like in many other states, women enjoy 50 per cent seats in elected local bodies. Gender Budgeting calls for a serious increase in the allocation of resources. Gender budgeting has been a part of the budget as far back as 1998 and mandated local bodies to allocate at least 10 per cent Plan funds for women (women component plan). Gender budgeting is about dovetailing woman- specific needs and realigning existing schemes into a gender responsive mode. Though it is mandatory for all departments to give due attention to gender budget, they handle it with apathy and lethargy.

Gender Budget may make allocations for

1. Measures to prevent atrocities against women

2. Steps to reduce maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate to the level of Millennium Development Goals.

3. National Family Health Survey 2005-6 reported that 33 per cent of women in the age group of 15 to 49 are anaemic which accounts for the birth of underweight children and stunted and wasted in the growth period. Nutritional standards and measures mentioned in the Food Security Act may be implemented without delay.

4. Sex ratio in the 0 to 6 age group is unfavourable to girls which needs serious intervention

5. Poor labour force participation of women calls for special skill training centres, startups and business incubation centers for women

6. Promotion of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) run by women, especially agro-based. This would also improve market and prices of agricultural commodities.

7. Kudumbasree micro enterprises may be raised to MSME by infusing more capital in them. Standardization of their products and Made in Kerala Branding would help them fetch global market.

8. Though women’s cell is constituted in government and quasi-government institutions, they are dormant. Online, confidential complaint filing system may be introduced.

9. Mobile labs to check pesticide contamination in vegetables and provisions per taluk

10. Mobile police cell in each police station to check violence against women as alternate arrangements so far proved toothless.

As the country switches to less-cash economy and GST, it is necessary to promote ICT through ‘smart classes’ for LSGIs and woman self-help groups so that they easily cope.

Department for Women

As promised in the election manifesto, women are awaiting to experience the thrill of a Women’s Department, headed by a female minister of calibre and brilliance. Ms Brinda Karat would be the best choice if not Dr Geetha Gopinath. Women do not want to see Assembly sessions end up as “mimic parades”. Let the Assembly be more responsive to electors.

(The author is a member of the State Expenditure Review Committee)