Gender Responsive Budget Analysis in Water and Sanitation: A Study of Two Resettlement Colonies (Jhuggi Jhopri Clusters) in Delhi, 2012.
Gyana Ranjan Panda; Trisha Agarwala
Following the methodology of Budget Analysis and PETS, the paper studies the Gender Responsive Budgeting in the fields of urban water and sanitation in Delhi region, with a focus on two resettlement colonies as primary areas of inquiry, in order to ascertain the hypothesis that the budgeting and planning significantly and disproportionately impacts the lives of women and girls as compared to men and boys. The study finds that various policies and schemes pertaining to urban water and sanitation in India can be categorised as ‘gender blind’ since these do not recognise the gender-based disadvantages in accessing safe water supply and also accessing sanitation, sewerage and drainage.
The analysis of Budget of Delhi suggests that though the State Government has recognised water and sanitation services in the region as the most prioritised area of government interventions after transport in its Five Year Planning, however, its budgetary allocations in the real sense have gone down over the years. It is also observed that the overall budgetary allocation for water and sanitation in the resettlement colonies and for Jhuggi Jhopri (JJ) clusters is grossly inadequate and not in sync with the needs and effective level of
service delivery in the urban settlements. Inadequacy of funds for these areas is surely a cause of concern.
The problem is also compounded due to ownership and accountability issues pertaining to the development of water and sanitation facilities in the relocation colonies of Bawana and Bhalaswa. There is utter confusion and the lack of effective collaboration and consultation among various implementing agencies on the level of service delivery. Finally, the paper finds that the efforts of bringing out a ‘Gender Responsive Budgeting’ in India have been a cosmetic exercise so far.
