West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya presented a ₹3.89 lakh crore budget for 2025-26. It is the last full-fledged Budget of the Mamata Banerjee government ahead of the 2026 state elections.CompanyValueChange%ChangeThe government unveiled a series of infrastructure and agricultural development projects while allocating significant funds for rural connectivity, river erosion control, and agrarian support initiatives.The state government allocated a major chuck of ₹1,18,294.89 crore for gender-specific schemes in the 2025-26 budget. The allocation has increased by approximately 38.48% compared to the actual expenditure in 2023-24.
Also, the allocation for child-specific schemes rose by 17.75% over the same period to ₹59,000.13 crore in 2025-26, up from ₹50,107.64 crore in 2023-24.In the budget for gender-specific schemes, the allocation includes ₹34,958.62 crore for schemes exclusively benefiting women and ₹83,336.27 crore for initiatives focussing on women’s development and empowerment.The government announced ₹200 crore scheme to provide smartphones to ASHA workers and a ₹150 crore fund for Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to set up stalls for their businesses.How much have other states allocated for women in their BudgetsThe Maharashtra government in its Budget 2024-25 allocated ₹46,000 crore. Finance Minister Ajit Pawar announced a financial assistance scheme ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana’ entailing a monthly allowance of ₹1,500 to eligible women in the age group of 21 to 60 years.The Tamil Nadu government allocated ₹13,720 crore in its Budget 2024-25 under under the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam. Under the scheme, ₹1,000 per month is being directly deposited in the bank accounts of 1.15 crore women heads of households.The Stalin government allocated ₹370 crore for the Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Puthumai Penn Thittam for girl students studying in government-aided schools in Tamil medium.The Karnataka government allocated ₹86,423 crore for women-oriented schemes and ₹54,617 crore for children-oriented schemes in its Budget 2024-25. The ₹3.71 lakh crore budget saw many allocations, with ₹52,000 crore allocated for the five guarantees.
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