Category Gender Impact Studies Center

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Nirbhaya Fund at 2026: Assessing Allocation, Utilisation and Implementation

Affirmative Action and Empowerment become synonymous when the conversation of Women's rights is brought to the fore. The former cannot be looked into in isolation without the latter. Especially in these trying times as the question of Women’s safety is brought into national cognizance it becomes important to scrutinize the existing policies we have in place for women and how we can better our institutions to changing priorities.

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Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) Loan Schemes across Indian States

Self-Help Groups (SHGs) emerged in India during the early 1980s as a response to the persistent exclusion of rural poor, particularly women, from formal financial systems. Traditional banking institutions required collateral and formal documentation that marginalized communities lacked, forcing them to depend on informal moneylenders who charged exorbitant interest rates. The SHG model drew inspiration from Muhammad Yunus's Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which demonstrated that group-based lending without collateral could achieve high repayment rates through peer monitoring and social pressure. Self-Help Groups have, therefore, emerged as one of India's most transformative instruments for women's financial inclusion and economic empowerment. This represents one of the world's largest community-based financial inclusion initiatives.

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Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) (2004): Residential Schooling for Marginalised Girls and the Class 8 peak

Launched in August 2004, the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) scheme was designed in response to measurable gender, rural, and social disparities in upper-primary education. Its target areas were Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs), defined using 2001 Census thresholds of rural female literacy below 46.13% and a rural literacy gender gap above 21.59 percentage points.

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Girl Child Promotion & Welfare Schemes: A State wise Analysis

India has introduced a wide range of schemes to support the education, safety, health and economic development of girls across different states and union territories. Despite significant progress in female education and social development, girls in India continue to face structural barriers linked to poverty, early marriage, school dropout, inadequate healthcare and limited economic opportunities. These challenges are not uniform across the country and often vary by state, region, caste, income and rural or urban location. Government schemes for girls have therefore evolved as targeted policy responses to address different dimensions of disadvantage, from educational access and financial support to health, protection and skill development. A state wise comparison is therefore important to assess whether differences in programme design, coverage and delivery are reflected in measurable outcomes such as school retention, delayed marriage, financial autonomy and gender related indicators.

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From Incentives to Outcomes: Evaluating Kanya Sumangala Yojana(2019)

Historically, Uttar Pradesh has faced persistent gender disparities, including low female literacy, child marriage and gender discrimination affecting girls. Census 2011 recorded a child sex ratio of only 902 girls per 1,000 boys. NFHS 4 (National Family Health Survey, 2014-15) also reported that 21.1 percent of women aged 20 to 24 were married before the age of 18, while only 32.9 percent had completed ten or more years of schooling. 

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Tamil Nadu’s Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thoga (2023): A State-Level Women’s Cash-Transfer Programme 

Tamil Nadu has a long tradition of universal welfare measures, from subsidised food and health care to free electricity and education support. Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam extends this legacy by placing a regular cash income directly in women’s hands. Announced as part of the DMK’s “seven guarantees” (Business Standard, 2024) before the 2021 Assembly elections and formally launched on 15 September 2023 (the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai), the scheme promises ₹1,000 per month to eligible women heads of households (Government of Tamil Nadu Official portal. https://kmut.tn.gov.in/; The Hindu, 2023). 

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