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India's quiet welfare shift: cash for women
In a central Indian village, Premila Bhalavi receives 1,500 rupees ($16) each month-no strings attached. The government payment covers medicine, groceries, and her son's school fees, offering predictability and a measure of independence.
Scale of the experiment
India now delivers unconditional cash transfers to 118 million adult women across 12 states, making it one of the world's largest social-policy trials. Unlike traditional subsidies for grain or fuel, these payments recognize women's unpaid labor and electoral influence.
Eligibility varies by state: some exclude families with government jobs, cars, or large landholdings, while others set age or income thresholds. Transfers range from 1,000 to 2,500 rupees ($12-$30) monthly-modest sums but a lifeline for recipients.
How women use the money
With 300 million women now holding bank accounts, direct deposits are seamless. Most spend the funds on household essentials: children's education, cooking gas, medical emergencies, or small debts. Some invest in gold or personal comforts, while others gain financial autonomy for the first time.
"The money restores dignity to women who otherwise depend on husbands for every expense," says Prabha Kotiswaran, a law and social justice professor at King's College London.
Political momentum
Goa pioneered unconditional transfers in 2013, but the model surged before the 2020 pandemic when Assam launched a scheme for vulnerable women. Since then, cash transfers have become a political juggernaut, with states framing payments as recognition of unpaid care work.
Tamil Nadu calls its program a "rights grant," while West Bengal's scheme acknowledges women's domestic contributions. In 2024, pledges of women-focused transfers helped parties win elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Odisha, Haryana, and Andhra Pradesh.
In Bihar's recent elections, the government deposited 10,000 rupees ($112) into 7.5 million women's accounts weeks before polling. Critics called it vote-buying, but the strategy worked: women voted in higher numbers than men, securing a landslide victory for the ruling coalition.
Do the transfers work?
Evidence is mixed but revealing. A 2025 Maharashtra study found 30% of eligible women didn't register due to documentation issues or self-sufficiency. Among recipients, nearly all controlled their bank accounts, with 90% in West Bengal deciding how to spend the funds.
Most used the money for food, education, and healthcare-hardly transformative, but the regularity provided security. In Tamil Nadu, women reported reduced marital conflict and newfound confidence, while Karnataka beneficiaries ate better and gained more household decision-making power.
"The transfers are useful for meeting immediate needs and restoring dignity, but they don't reduce women's unpaid workload or discourage paid work-the two big feminist concerns."
Prabha Kotiswaran, King's College London
Challenges and future steps
Critics argue the schemes strain state finances, with 12 states spending $18 billion this fiscal year. Half of these states run revenue deficits, borrowing to fund payouts without creating assets. Yet proponents see the transfers as a step toward recognizing women's economic contributions.
India's Time Use Survey shows women spent nearly five hours daily on unpaid care work in 2024-7.6 times more than men. This imbalance helps explain persistently low female labor-force participation.
Researchers recommend simplifying eligibility rules, emphasizing women's rights in messaging, and pairing transfers with financial literacy and job opportunities. "Cash alone can't undo structural inequities," Kotiswaran notes, "but coupled with recognition of unpaid work, it could disrupt gendered labor divisions when paid jobs become available."
A revolution in progress
India's cash transfer experiment is still unfolding. Small, regular payments to women are shifting power dynamics in subtle but significant ways. Whether this becomes a path to empowerment or political patronage depends on what India builds around the money.
