Hyderabad, Feb.2 (RAHNUMA): The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) on Monday slammed the Union Budget 2026-27, accusing the BJP-led NDA government of showing “no real concern for women” despite repeated mentions in the Finance Minister’s speech.
AIDWA President P.K. Sreemathi and General Secretary Kaninika Ghosh said the budget for the Ministry of Women and Child Development has sharply declined, while the ‘Gender Budget’ has fallen from 1.61% to 1.38% of GDP in real terms, exposing the government’s lack of commitment to women’s welfare. Primary health care has been neglected, particularly anemia of women which is a prevalent health problem identified in NFHS data. Hence, the relief which has been declared for the cost of drugs of cancer and diabetes which nonetheless is not a real relief in terms of morbidity of women in the country, they noted.
They flagged cuts or stagnation in key schemes such as “SAMBAL, ICDS, MGNREGA, PM POSHAN and food subsidies”, warning that women workers, particularly in agriculture and the informal sector, would be worst hit. Besides, there is no increase in allotment of strengthening of PDS scheme. This is a blow to the huge number of women who are engaged as self-employed in agriculture according to PLFS data. There has been no increase in budgetary allocation in ICDS, Asha and the other schemes employing women, they remarked.
Terming the Budget “anti-women and anti-poor”, AIDWA announced plans to mobilise protests nationwide against the Union Budget 2026-27.
