https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y9ez3kzrdo
“In a village in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, a woman receives a
small but steady sum each month - not wages, for she has no formal job, but an
unconditional cash transfer from the government.
Premila Bhalavi says the money covers medicines, vegetables and her son's
school fees. The sum, 1,500 rupees ($16: £12), may be small, but its effect -
predictable income, a sense of control and a taste of independence - is
anything but.
Her story is increasingly common. Across India, 118 million adult women in 12
states now receive unconditional cash transfers from their governments, making
India the site of one of the world's largest and least-studied social-policy
experiments.
Long accustomed to subsidising grain, fuel and rural jobs, India has stumbled
into something more radical: paying adult women simply because they keep
households running, bear the burden of unpaid care and form an electorate too
large to ignore.
Eligibility filters vary - age thresholds, income caps and exclusions for
families with government employees, taxpayers or owners of cars or large plots
of land.
"The unconditional cash transfers signal a significant expansion of Indian
states' welfare regimes in favour of women," Prabha Kotiswaran, a professor of
law and social justice at King's College London, told the
BBC.
The transfers range from 1,000-2,500 rupees ($12-$30) a month - meagre sums,
worth roughly 5-12% of household income, but regular. With 300 million women
now holding bank accounts, transfers have become administratively simple.
Women typically spend the money on household and family needs - children's
education, groceries, cooking gas, medical and emergency expenses, retiring
small debts and occasional personal items like gold or small comforts.
What sets India apart from Mexico, Brazil or Indonesia - countries with large
conditional cash-transfer schemes - is the absence of conditions: the money
arrives whether or not a child attends school or a household falls below the
poverty line.”
Via Muse, who wrote "BINGO!!!".
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
