Now Reading: Delhi women’s cash scheme launched as study shows wider household benefits
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Delhi women’s cash scheme launched as study shows wider household benefits
Delhi women’s cash scheme launched as study shows wider household benefits
Livemint reports that the Delhi government on 1 August launched the Delhi Lakshmi Yojana, giving ₹2,500 a month to eligible women. Over 15 states now run similar unconditional cash transfer schemes costing…
The Story in Brief
Livemint reports that the Delhi government on 1 August launched the Delhi Lakshmi Yojana, giving ₹2,500 a month to eligible women. Over 15 states now run similar unconditional cash transfer schemes costing roughly ₹2.68 lakh crore and reaching about 12 crore women. A recent working paper by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister examined Maharashtra’s Ladki Bahin Yojana and Odisha’s Subhadra Yojana. It found that male relatives of beneficiaries saw their month-end bank balances rise 23 per cent and their spending fall 49 per cent. Experts quoted by Livemint point to evidence that cash transfers improve food security, income, savings and children’s school enrolment.
Pankhuri Shah of Project DEEP told Livemint that the study shows how women’s independent income shifts household finances, while Akshay Modi of Sattva Consulting cited over 100 studies linking unconditional transfers to better well-being. The paper recommends sustaining these schemes with ‘cash-plus’ components like capacity-building and self-help group linkages.
The Indian Opinion
The familiar cry of ‘freebie’ misses what the data shows: cash transfers change real household behaviour, not just election math. Male relatives saved more and spent less, suggesting women’s income eases pressure on the whole family. But the debate must shift from whether to transfer cash to how well these schemes are designed. The EAC-PM study advises linking transfers to voluntary training and targeting improvement. The real test will come when states face tighter budgets, will they keep payments, or build the complementary services that make cash work long-term?
Source: livemint.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
