The interim budget has failed to make allocations for the third gender — transgenders, bisexual and intersex communities — said experts at a press conference in the capital on Saturday.The budget has failed to address the concerns of these “invisble” communities on the fringes of society, said Dalit women’s rights activist Beena Pallical. A gendered budget analysis shows that with systemic violence against Dalits and Adivasi women in the country, there is a need for more schemes for these women to have access to justice and adequate compensation, they said.

According to the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) ‘Dalit and Adivasi Budget Analysis 2019-20’, the Gender Responsive Budgeting reveals that wide gaps exist between the government’s goals and the ground realities that Dalit and Adivasi women face. Allocations under specific schemes for SC/ST children are also minimal, the analysis pointed out.

The NCDHR has come up with a slew of recommendations to move towards ‘inclusive’ development. Ahead of the elections, the coalition is planning to take up the issue with different political parties. “We will be communicating with different political parties on the list of recommendations that we have come up, in the coming months and start a dialogue on this,” Pallical said.

These include a special allocation for Dalit women under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe components, developing assessment-based allocation for children to prevent discrimination and violence in schools, adequate budget allocations for both punitive and pecuniary measures to prevent high incidence of violence and atrocities on Dalits and the urgent need for an ‘ombudsman’ to supervise the process of planning, financing and implementation of SC and ST welfare schemes, among others.

The coalition of Dalit rights body has also asserted the need for an empowered nodal ministry, which would be empowered to take action against ministries and departments failing to implement welfare plans for SCs and STs.