New Delhi:  For all the tokenism around International Women's Day, numbers tell a very different story. The government's per capita allocation for women-centric schemes is less than Rs 1,200 per woman per annum with a majority of allocations restricted to health and education, leaving areas like economic and political participation neglected.

According to the gender budgeting statement analysis by Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), per capita allocation increased from Rs 410 in 2007-2008 to Rs 1,000 in 2009-2010. This rose by 16% in this year's budget to Rs 1,190.

An issue of greater concern is that the largest allocations are restricted to education (31.62%) and health (27.28%) with economic and political participation garnering less than 1% of the resources. While sectoral allocation for political participation -- including awareness programmes -- is 0.07%, economic participation in the form of skill development or creation of resources for women is 0.49%.

While there is an increase in allocation for women-centric schemes, rights' activists feel that the real test is the impact such schemes have on the ground. CBGA programme officer Bhumika Jhamb said, "The increase in outlays for women should translate into improved outcomes for women."

Activists believe that women's empowerment is never seen as a holistic issue of development but relegated to the ministry of women and child development and to its specialised schemes. All economic policies have direct and indirect gender-differentiated impacts, and efforts must be made to ensure that fiscal policies are sensitive to this.

Measures to restrict food price increase, access to social security, healthcare and education can improve the condition of women and girls. Skill generation and access to opportunities are proactive measures that need to be considered.

Activist Madhu Kishwar said, "I don't believe that the government should give out `kherat' to the marginalised. If I were a poor person I would never send my child to a government school where they would be lumpenised and end up unemployed. The government should provide basic infrastructure and access to opportunities. The quality of healthcare and education is abysmal. If that is taken care of, I think the rest will follow." It is time the government put its money where its mouth is.