By implementing the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai scheme, Tamil Nadu will become the third State in the country to have a basic income scheme for women.
West Bengal was the first to implement the concept two years ago with the scheme, ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’, under which ₹500 a month is being transferred to women of the general category and ₹1,000 a month is given to women of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. As many as 1.86 crore beneficiaries are being covered under the scheme. This year, the budgetary provision for the scheme is around ₹7,406 crore.
Madhya Pradesh, which was the next State to follow, came up with ‘Ladli Bahna Yojana’, covering women of lower and middle classes and providing them with ₹1,000 each a month. Launched in March this year, The scheme has been allocated ₹8,000 crore for 2023-24.
For Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai, ₹7,000 crore has been allocated. According to an estimate, the authorities may receive 1.5 crore applications. The number of beneficiaries is likely to be more in rural areas, with relaxed conditions for landholding size and inclusion of village panchayat ward members.
In Karnataka, the recently formed Congress government has proposed to take up the ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ scheme, entailing a monthly payment of ₹2,000 to every woman beneficiary. The approximate annual expenditure is put at ₹30,000 crore.
