#Budget2017: Why Women Should Be Finance Minister's Key Focus

In a country where they are expected to let go of their rights in their ancestral property following rituals such as Haq Tyag (relinquishing of rights, a ritual popular in Rajasthan), it is hard to bring up the number of women real estate owners in India.  By making an amendment in the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the government gave women inheritance rights equal to those of men in their ancestral property.

And then there are other ways, too, in which authorities are trying to increase property ownership among women.

Women home buyers pay lower stamp duty in most states. As a result, more and more homes in urban areas are registered in the name of the women of the house. Most banks also offer cheaper loans to women borrowers. This also pushes property ownership among women. Going a step further, the Central government recently directed states to allot land in the name of women member of homeless families for providing funds for construction of homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). However, much is wanting before women, who form 48.17 per cent of India's total population according to World Bank estimates, get their fair share in matters of property.

What can the government do to financially empower Indian women in the upcoming Budget?

• When the Centre rolls out the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime from July this year, it should provide women home buyers concession on home purchase. Keeping women home buyers under a lower tax slab, for instance, could be a great idea to start with.

• High stamp duty charges are acting as a drag on real estate and an announcement on their reduction is expected when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents the Union Budget-2017 on February 1. This also calls for reducing them further for women. In most states, women pay two per cent less as stamp duty; this should be reduced further.

• By providing incentives on registering properties in the name of the women of the house as far as government schemes are concerned, the Centre will push the women empowerment agenda in the right direction.

• Women home owners should also be provided with reduced rates while paying property taxes.

• In most cases, the target of registering the property under a women's name is to save on stamp duty charges or home loan interest paid. This means women play the part of only signatories in property transactions. Measures have to be introduced to make the ownership more real.