Women will get yet another exemption ofTk 25,000 in the income tax bracket for fiscal 2014-15, making their total tax-free allowance Tk 2.75 lakh.

The same exemption applies to senior citizens over 65.

In the last budget (2013-14), the income tax threshold for women was Tk 2.50 lakh, up from Tk 2.25 lakh in the previous year.

Donations to girls' schools and colleges, and vocational and technical education institutions through banking channels will receive a full tax exemption under the new tax provisions.

The allocation for women in the national budget has gone down by one percentage point to 26.6 percent. However, the total allocation is around Tk 5,000 crore more than last year's.

A National Work Plan has been developed for the implementation of Women Development Policy 2011, which outlines the activities of ministries, government

agencies, NGOs and private and international organisations.

This year's budget sees special allocations of Tk 100 core for women development and Tk 50 crore for children welfare.

Forty percent of female undergraduate students will continue to get stipends same as last year.

Preparations will be made to implement a draft child budget on pilot basis in the 2015-16 fiscal year, bringing hope for having a full fledged children sensitive resource allocation in future.

To encourage women to go to hospitals for healthcare, the budget continues an ongoing commitment from last year of turning 30 hospitals into women friendly hospitals by 2016. By changing the managements, 10 district hospitals and three upazila health complexes have already been turned into such facilities.

However, this initiative still falls short of ensuring that there are enough female healthcare givers for women patients. Women make up only around 25 percent of medical officers, and 35 percent of staff in healthcare facilities.