Policy Update
Karanvi Shende
BACKGROUND
Mahtari Vandan Yojana is a women-centred social-protection scheme of the Chhattisgarh government. Launched on 1 March 2024, it provides monthly financial assistance of ₹1,000 to eligible women through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The official scheme portal states that the programme seeks to promote women’s economic self-reliance, improve health and nutrition, reduce gender-based inequality and strengthen women’s decisive role within the family.
The scheme is part of a wider shift in welfare policy towards transferring resources directly to individual beneficiaries. In principle, this design has two advantages. It gives women a predictable source of financial support and reduces the scope for leakages associated with cash-handling intermediaries. It may also strengthen women’s relationship with formal banking and public institutions.
Mahtari Vandan Yojana was introduced as part of Chhattisgarh’s broader women-centred welfare approach, which seeks to combine financial assistance with improvements in nutrition, health and household wellbeing. Its design places the woman, rather than the household as an undifferentiated unit, at the centre of benefit delivery by transferring assistance directly into her bank account. This makes the scheme relevant to wider debates on gender-responsive budgeting, financial inclusion and women-led development. The programme also reflects the growing use of DBT by governments to deliver social-protection benefits at scale.
Figure 1: Objectives of the Mahtari Vandan Yojana
Source: Official Mahtari Vandan Yojana portal, Government of Chhattisgarh.
FUNCTIONING
Mahtari Vandan is a targeted social-protection scheme. The official scheme information identifies eligible married women as the main beneficiaries, while government-linked descriptions also include widows, divorcees and deserted women. The scheme is generally described as covering women aged 21 years and above who meet the prescribed eligibility conditions.
The application and verification process requires beneficiaries to provide personal, identity and banking details. Once approved, the monthly assistance is credited to the beneficiary’s bank account through DBT. The administrative logic is straightforward: the state identifies the eligible woman, links her to a verified account and transfers the money without the need for repeated physical distribution.
The transfer is not tied to a narrowly specified expenditure. This is a positive feature. Women can use it according to their circumstances—on food, medicines, transport, education, children’s needs, personal expenses or savings. Flexible assistance is often more responsive than a benefit that assumes all households have identical needs.
At the same time, ₹1,000 per month is supplementary support rather than a complete income-security measure. It cannot replace employment, pensions, healthcare, nutrition services or livelihood opportunities. The scheme’s design should consequently be viewed as one component of a larger welfare system.
PERFORMANCE
Coverage and disbursement
Mahtari Vandan has maintained a regular monthly disbursement system since its launch, indicating that the scheme has moved beyond an announcement-based initiative to an established welfare mechanism. The 24th instalment, released on 30 January 2026, transferred ₹641.34 crore through DBT to 68,39,592 eligible women. The 25th instalment, released on International Women’s Day, was reported to have reached approximately 69 lakh women through their bank accounts.
The gradual variation in beneficiary numbers across instalments should not, by itself, be interpreted as a decline in performance. It may reflect routine verification, deaths, duplicate registrations, changes in eligibility, temporary payment holds or banking-related failures.
According to the Women and Child Development Minister, 70.27 lakh applications had been received, 70.09 lakh women received the first instalment and 68.54 lakh continued to receive benefits as of June 2026. Rather than treating the difference as an administrative irregularity alone, it should be used to examine how verification and payment systems affect continuity of access.
Figure 2: Disbursement of instalments
Source: Author’s compilation based on reported Chhattisgarh government disbursement announcements.
Budgetary commitment
The scheme has become an important component of Chhattisgarh’s welfare architecture. The state’s Budget 2026–27 allocated ₹8,200 crore to Mahtari Vandan Yojana. The budget also provided ₹2,320 crore for Anganwadi and nutrition-related schemes, ₹11,000 crore for Women and Child Development and ₹2,000 crore for the National Health Mission. These allocations are relevant because the impact of a cash transfer depends partly on whether it is supported by accessible public services (Government of Chhattisgarh, Finance Department, 2026).
These allocations show that Mahtari Vandan operates within a broader network of welfare interventions rather than as an isolated cash-transfer programme.
Mahtari Vandan’s long-term impact will depend on its integration with healthcare, nutrition, livelihoods, financial inclusion and childcare. The Time Use Survey 2024 found that women aged 15–59 spent around 140 minutes daily on unpaid caregiving, compared with 74 minutes for men (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation [MoSPI], 2025). NFHS-5 also recorded anaemia among 60.8% of women aged 15–49 in Chhattisgarh (International Institute for Population Sciences [IIPS] & Ministry of Health and Family Welfare [MoHFW], 2021). These conditions show that cash can provide immediate relief, but lasting empowerment requires stronger public services and economic opportunities.
Figure 2: Beneficiary Coverage under various Instalments of Mahtari Vandan Yojana
Source: Author’s compilation from PIB releases, Chhattisgarh government statements and official departmental announcements.
IMPACT
Economic security and everyday choices
The most immediate impact of Mahtari Vandan is likely to be a modest improvement in women’s financial security. A regular payment can help manage small expenses that often become sources of stress in low-income households. Women may use the amount for medicines, food items, transportation, school requirements or personal needs.
For widows, divorced women and deserted women, the payment may have a more direct significance because they may lack dependable spousal support. In such cases, the scheme functions not merely as a household supplement but as a limited form of individual income security. However, a monthly payment can support economic activity, but it does not by itself create productive assets, market access or stable employment.
Women’s control over money
The scheme’s empowerment potential depends on whether women have meaningful control over the benefit. This is the point at which the formal structure of the programme meets the realities of household power.
A woman may have a bank account but lack a debit card, mobile phone or knowledge of the account balance. She may need a relative to travel to the bank or banking correspondent. In some cases, another household member may decide how the payment is used.
The use of the transfer for family expenses should not automatically be interpreted as failure. Women may themselves prioritise food, children’s education or healthcare. The important distinction is whether the decision is made by the woman, negotiated within the household or imposed on her.
Health, nutrition and care work
The scheme links women’s health and nutrition with financial support. The transfer may help them buy medicines, travel to health facilities or meet nutrition-related expenses.
However, women’s unpaid work such as cooking, cleaning, childcare and caring for older persons remains largely invisible in economic policy. While the transfer may partly recognise this contribution, it does not reduce or redistribute their care burden.
For the scheme to produce wider empowerment, it should be linked with Anganwadi services, nutrition programmes, childcare, clean cooking fuel, drinking water, healthcare and livelihood support. The Ministry of Women and Child Development’s broader approach through Mission Shakti similarly emphasises convergence and women’s participation as equal partners in development.
Financial inclusion
Mahtari Vandan can deepen financial inclusion by bringing women into regular contact with banks and government payment systems. The importance of this should not be underestimated. An account, transaction record and access to grievance systems can increase women’s visibility as individual claimants.
EMERGING ISSUES
From Receipt to Empowerment
Receiving money in a woman’s account does not automatically ensure empowerment. Its impact depends on whether she can access and control the transfer, participate in decisions about its use and claim it without administrative barriers.
E-KYC and administrative exclusion
The most significant emerging issue is the relationship between verification and access. Reports in 2026 stated that e-KYC had been made necessary for continuing benefits and that beneficiaries were asked to complete the process by 30 June.
Verification is a legitimate administrative requirement. A programme covering millions of people must prevent duplicate registrations and update records when beneficiaries die or become ineligible. However, the process can create exclusion when beneficiaries face biometric failure, incorrect names, inactive accounts, missing documents or limited access to digital facilities. This produces a central policy dilemma. The same system that makes direct transfers possible can also create new conditions for exclusion. A woman may be eligible but unable to prove her eligibility through the prescribed digital route.
Targeting and changing family circumstances
The scheme’s categories acknowledge certain forms of vulnerability, but marital status may not capture the full range of women’s economic circumstances. Unmarried women heading households, separated women without formal documents, women with disabilities and women supporting dependents may face serious insecurity but remain difficult to classify.
Women’s circumstances can also change after enrolment. Marriage, widowhood, separation, migration or changes in household income may affect eligibility. The scheme needs a clear process for updating such information without forcing women to begin the application process again.
Beneficiary database and accountability
Recent reports of large-scale deletions during verification have generated political controversy. The government should publish the broad categories of removal—death, duplication, ineligibility, technical error and non-verification—without disclosing personal information. It should also report how many women were able to restore benefits after correcting their records. Accurate databases are important not only for preventing fraud but for ensuring that eligible women are not wrongly removed.
Fiscal sustainability and policy balance
The large budget allocation demonstrates political commitment, but it also raises questions about long-term sustainability. The scheme must coexist with spending on health, education, nutrition, livelihoods and rural development.
This should not become a false choice between cash transfers and public services. Women may require both. Cash provides flexibility and immediate relief, while public services address structural deprivation. However, the ₹1,000 monthly transfer may lose value as food, healthcare and transport costs rise. The state should periodically review its adequacy while considering the fiscal impact of any increase. The policy challenge is to ensure that Mahtari Vandan complements rather than displaces investments that produce long-term capabilities.
WAY FORWARD
● Impact Assessment: the government should conduct a gender-sensitive impact assessment. It should examine women’s control over the payment, household decision-making, health expenditure, nutrition, savings, borrowing and livelihood activity. The study should include rural, urban, tribal and socially marginalised beneficiaries and should make space for women’s own accounts of how the money is used.
● Accessible Verification: verification should be made accessible and non-punitive. Anganwadi centres, panchayats, self-help groups and banking correspondents can support local verification, but beneficiaries should not be charged for basic services. Women facing mobility or biometric problems should be offered alternative methods.
● Clear Appeals: the state should introduce a clear appeals process. A payment hold should not become an invisible deletion. Beneficiaries should receive a reason, a correction route and a time limit for review. Information should be available in local languages and through offline channels.
● Financial Control: the government should strengthen women’s financial control. Beneficiaries should receive transaction alerts, balance information and basic financial-literacy support. Banking points should be accessible, and service charges should be publicly displayed.
● Policy Convergence: the programme should be integrated with self-help groups, the National Rural Livelihoods Mission, skills programmes, nutrition services, healthcare and childcare. A cash transfer is more likely to produce durable empowerment when women can convert it into savings, income-generating activity, better health and greater social participation.
● Inclusive Eligibility: Eligibility should be reviewed through a gender lens. The state should examine whether women outside the principal marital categories are being excluded and whether women whose circumstances change can update their status easily.
● Annual Reporting: the government should publish an annual performance report covering expenditure, coverage, payment failures, grievances, deletions, restorations and independent impact findings. This would move the scheme’s public evaluation beyond instalment ceremonies and beneficiary counts.
REFERENCES
Government of Chhattisgarh, Finance Department. (2026). Budget 2026–27: Key highlights. https://finance.cg.gov.in/budget_doc/2026-2027/key_Highlight/Key_Highlight-E.pdf
Government of Chhattisgarh, Women and Child Development Department. (n.d.). Mahtari Vandan Yojana: Yojana ke baare mein. Retrieved August 20, 2026, from https://mahtarivandan.cgstate.gov.in/
India TV. (2026, January 30). CM Vishnu Deo Sai releases the 24th instalment of Mahtari Vandan Yojana. https://www.indiatv.in/chhattisgarh/chhattisgarh-mahtari-vandan-yojana-24th-installment-cm-vishnu-deo-sai-2026-01-30-1194472
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. (2025, March 28). Time use in India, 2024. Government of India. https://wwwt.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2106113®=48&lang=2
Ministry of Women and Child Development. (n.d.). Mission Shakti: Women’s safety, security and empowerment. Government of India. Retrieved August 20, 2026, from https://missionshakti.wcd.gov.in/
Navbharat Times. (2026, April 17). Mahtari Vandan Yojana: Complete e-KYC before June 30 or the next instalment may be withheld. https://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/government-schemes/chhattisgarh/mahtari-vandan-yojana-how-to-do-ekyc-know-full-process-before-last-date-30-june-portal-mahtarivandan-cgstate-gov-in/articleshow/130329855.cms
Patrika. (2026, March 8). 25th instalment of Mahtari Vandan Yojana released on International Women’s Day. https://www.patrika.com/bastar-news/25th-installment-of-mahatari-vandan-yojana-released-on-womens-day-20408980
Press Information Bureau. (2025c, November 20). Women-led self-help groups and Bastar’s traditional tribal economy. Government of India. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2247552
PRS Legislative Research. (2026). Chhattisgarh Budget Analysis 2026–27. https://prsindia.org/budgets/states/chhattisgarh-budget-analysis-2026-27
The New Indian Express. (2026, July 12). Empowering women, Chhattisgarh CM Sai releases ₹626 crore under Mahtari Vandan scheme. https://www.newindianexpress.com/india/2026/Jul/12/rs-626-crore-for-women-empowerment-in-chhattisgarh
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Karnavi Shende is a Research and Editorial Intern at IMPRI. She holds a Master’s in Politics, specializing in International Relations, from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her interests include International Relations, Strategic Studies, Public Policy, Gender, and Human Rights, with a focus on policy research and contemporary governance challenges.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author extends sincere gratitude to the reviewers (Ambika Sharma and Prisha Sachdeva) and IMPRI team for their expert guidance and constructive feedback throughout the process.
REVIEWED BY
Ambika Sharma and Prisha Sachdeva
DISCLAIMER
All views expressed in the article belong to the author and not necessarily to the organization.
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