Hyderabad, Feb. 1 -- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2026-2027 on Sunday, February 1, broadening the Nari Shakti vision with Rs 4.49 lakh crore women-centric schemes, a 37 per cent increase in gender-focused funding.

These are the key takeaways:

Education and STEM

For safe and affordable accommodation for young girls and women studying or working in different cities, one girls' hostel will be set up in every district in the country. The hostels will be built in collaboration with state governments and the private sector.

According to Sitharaman, India's female enrollment constitutes 43 per cent of total enrollment in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses, which is one of the hig...