Budget '06: What women want

Mumbai: Working women have to manage dual fronts, as homemakers and professionals. This gives them a wider view of all that impacts their life.

Same is with the Union Budget. When we spoke to some women, this is how they expressed their opinion on the Union Budget:

Ratna Ganguly, a teacher by profession, says: "The deduction of Rs 5,000 has been removed. Although the exempt slab has been raised to Rs 1,35,000, this does not result in much benefit. It should be increased to Rs 1,50,000 at least."

Investment advisor S P Tulsian, appears to agree. "Threshold exemption level for women and senior citizens should be raised to Rs 1.80 lakh."

Another concern for these ladies is FBT. Shalini Nair, working with The Indian Express, says: "The Fringe Benefit Tax is proving to be a heavy load. It reduces the benefits we avail at work place."

Nirmal Jain of India Infoline, says, "There is no rationale behind FBT if it is to collect more taxes it should be done in a straight forward manner."

Parul Lal, working in an ad agency, feels, "The government should follow its commitment to present a gender based budget, i.e., there should be a separate women component in the plans. Also, the provisions for new women entrepreneurs must be made liberal. I wish to establish my own agency but I am facing problems in the finance processing."

Anjali Goyal, Director, Department of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, in a presentation made in November 2005, stated that the 10th Plan aims at initiating immediate action in tying up the two effective concepts of Women Component Plan (WCP) and gender budgeting to play a complementary role to each other, and thus ensure both preventive and post-facto action in enabling women to receive their rightful share from all the women-related general development sectors.

The framework for gender budgeting includes quantification of allocation of resources for women and gender audit of policies of the Government.”

As working women are more concerned about their kids, so a common demand by them is that there should be some rule under which the employer will provide crèches or boarding facility.

Says Ganguly: "There must be more allocation and easy loans for education of children. There should be a provision for proper security of women working at late hours."

Tax Expert Subhash Lakhotia says: "Presently Rs 100 per month per child the Education Allowance is exempted. Similarly, Rs 300 for a child per month for maximum two children for Hostel Allowance is exempted. The exemption in this respect should be the realistic value of the expenses so incurred. These exemptions are just illusionary, for country’s realistic development of the education of the children the amount of exemption should be Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,000 pm respectively for Education & Hostel expenses."

Adding to her wishlist Nair says, :The rules for equal wages should be followed without any gender bias. Some special programme for skill enhancement of women should be introduced. The FM must emphasize on increasing our asset base for future security."

Lastly, like all women they are also worried about rising gas prices and want them to be slashed.

Whether FM heeds to their demands or not is a question to be answered on the Budget day.