Engendering Local Development Plans: Gender Budgeting Initiative by a Local Government Institution in Kerala, India

Abstract

Sustainable economic growth and social development is greatly influenced by the gender setting of a society. This understanding created the idea of gender budgeting as a tool for ensuring equitable resource allocation. This case study is based on the experience of engendering development plans using gender budget principles, by a Local Self-Government Institution in India in a rural setting. The special context of gender mainstreaming in decentralization and in local planning in the state of Kerala makes it conducive to such a process. The paradoxical situation in Kerala of higher developmental indices of women’s development co-existing with lower social agency and autonomy for women has been a central debate for years. This exercise brings a shift in approach by putting women’s economic development, safety, mobility and their right to protect themselves at the central concerns of planning for development.