Exercise 2

Directions: Read the passage carefully and answer the questions given below.
During the 2014 national and State elections, for the first time women’s safety and
empowerment were topics of debate, marking a significant shift in how gender concerns are
viewed by the political class as well as by voters in India. In the two years since, policy focus
and public scrutiny on persistent gender inequality has grown exponentially. In 2015, 194
member states, including India, adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. Gender equality
is one of the 17 goals to “transform our world”. This year, India ratified the Paris Agreement.
The direct link between empowering women and alleviating poverty, increasing productivity,
and combating climate change is well-recognised. However, the lack of targeted resources is
often stated to be the biggest reason behind the sluggish progress in furthering the gender
agenda. Therefore, it is important that India’s budget priorities reflect its commitment to
invest in women and girls.
Last year, the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap Report ranked India 87
in terms of gender equality in economy, education, health, and political representation.
Women’s declining labour participation, under-representation in Parliament, skewed child
sex ratio, and prevalent gender-based violence are recognised challenges. To bridge these
gaps, India formally adopted Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in 2005. The rationale
behind GRB is that policy outcomes are not as gender-neutral as commonly believed, and can
reinforce or exacerbate exiting hierarchies. Hence, gender budgeting initiatives aim to
integrate critical gender concerns into fiscal policies and administration to address disparities.
Every annual budget since 2005 has included a statement that lists out two parts. There is Part
A, which reflects ‘Women Specific Schemes’, namely, those which have 100 per cent
allocation for women, and Part B, which reflects ‘Pro Women Schemes’, namely, where at
least 30 per cent of the allocation is for women. Over the years, India has stood out for its
implementation of gender budgeting, and with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) playing the
central role, it has managed to successfully institutionalise the concept at both the national
and State levels (16 States have embraced the exercise). Studies substantiate the positive link
between GRB and improved indicators for women. For instance, a recent International
Monetary Fund study found that States that employ GRB also show better female to male
school enrolment ratios. Further, it was observed that GRB also has a positive impact on
infrastructure spending.
 Despite the successes, better implementation and planning are needed to ensure that these
policies percolate right down to the last woman in the most remote parts of the country. In
recent years, allocations have either remained stagnant or have been on the decline. For
instance, Budget 2016-17 was widely considered to be a mixed bag for women. While the
Ministry of Women and Child Development and National Commission for Women saw
nominal increases, the scheme meant for implementing the Domestic Violence Act did not
receive any allocation. Further, there was a decline in the number of ministries and
departments that fall under GRB. The budget also initiated the decentralisation of funding in
GRB, thus shifting the onus for budgeting and implementation from the Central Ministry to
State counterparts. While this did empower the States to come up with women-specific
policies as per their respective challenges, the obvious downside was the risk that States
could choose to not prioritise gender in their budgeting. In this way, the intent of
universalising the process, so that it equally benefits women in all States, was lost in the
pragmatism of the move and for it to be truly effective, GRB must be viewed as an essential
tool to tackle societal inequality that hinders progress instead of a symbolic exercise for
pleasing the emerging women constituency.
1. Which one of these words is similar to the word ‘percolate’ highlighted in the given
passage?
A. consider B. target C. spread gradually D. assimilate E. congregate
2. Which one of these words is opposite to the word ‘exacerbate’ highlighted in the
given passage?
A. Illustrate B. Aggravate C. Justify D. Topple E. Ameliorate
3. Which one of these words is similar to the word ‘onus’ highlighted in the given
passage?
A. sufferings B. position C. responsibilities D. directions E. roles
4. Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?
1. Gender is a key dimension for analysis of the impact of climate change.
2. Requirement of funds in the Ministry of Women and Child Development has always been
met.
3. No concrete action has been taken towards women empowerment before 2005.
4. India’s current rank in the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap report is
satisfactory to some extent.
5. None of these
 5. According to the author, India’s marking a significant shift in the outlook of
the political class and that of the voters towards gender concerns is best
illustrated by the fact that:
1. India’s political class and the mass have become aware that a comprehensive growth can’t be
achieved without bringing gender equality to the system.
2. The issues regarding women’s safety and empowerment have been discussed during the 2014
national and State elections for the first time.
3. The government has recently taken a lot of sincere steps to curb corruption that exists in the
women empowerment policy making body.
4. Indian government has recently built and strengthened its targeted resources in furthering the
gender agenda.
5. None of these
6. What idea, according to the passage, does the author clearly want to convey?
1. Indian government must work towards bringing more number of women welfare policies and
development programmes the floor.
2. Gender responsive budgeting must be seen as an essential tool to tackle societal inequality
instead of a symbolic change.
3. India must shift its focus from Digitalization to core problem areas like ‘Women
empowerment’ and ‘Gender inequality’.
4. Both A and B
5. None of these
7. Which of the following argument/arguments supports the author’s mentioning the
term ‘Gender-neutral’ with reference to adoption of GRB?
1. The benefits of a policy are not reaching every single woman of the country.
2. The gender discrimination existed is not letting one gender bear the equal benefits of a policy
over the other and hence creates disparity.
3. A few policies that have been formalized with a view to benefit both the genders equally have
actually created a neutral effect so far on either of the genders.
4. Both A and B
5. None of these
8. Which of the following steps with reference to the passage was not supported by the
author completely?
A. Ratification of Paris Agreement by India
B. Integration of critical gender concerns into financial policies through GRB. C.
Institutionalisation of GRB at both the national and State levels.
D. Decentralisation of funding in GRB
E. None of these

9. Which of the following statements is/are not true in the context of the
passage? If all the statements are false, mark option E as your answer.
A. In the List B under GRB at least 30% of the fund allocation is for women working in
unorganised sector.
B. In Budget 2016-17 there was an increase in ministries and departments that fall under
GRB. C. The planning commission has been playing the Central role as far as implementation
of GRB is concerned.
D. Implementation of GRB had a positive impact only on one area – Infrastructure spending.
E. All are false
10. What does the statement “Budget 2016-17 was widely considered a mixed bag for
women.” express?
A. The decisions taken for women in the Budget 2016-17 were both positive and not so
positive in nature.
B. The government has announced various policies targeting women of India.
C. Though the fund allocation has been raised yet a number of ministries were taken out.
D. A lot of policies that government has brought forward in the Budget seem to be giving
mixed results.
E. None of these