Bridging the Welfare Gap

Despite Tamil Nadu's history of progressive welfare for women, recent schemes like Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam face operational inefficiencies such as exclusion errors, delays, and poor last-mile delivery, sparking public discontent. This editorial critically evaluates the gap between intent and implementation in women-centric policies in the State.

Gaps in Implementation of Recent Welfare Schemes:

• Exclusion Despite High Demand: Out of 06 crore women who applied for the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam (monthly income support), only 1.06 crore were approved. Nearly 1 crore applicants were excluded, largely due to rigid documentation protocols rather than lack of eligibility.
• Bureaucratic Hurdles in Rural Areas: Districts like Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram witnessed women queuing for hours, only to be rejected for minor discrepancies in documents like ration cards or land records, reflecting administrative insensitivity.
• Delayed Disbursement of Approved Benefits: Even among approved beneficiaries, delays in payment were widely reported, eroding the credibility and dignity of the support and undermining policy effectiveness.

Structural Weaknesses in Existing Public Services

• Transport Schemes with Poor Service Quality The free bus travel scheme for women, though beneficial in principle, is marred by overcrowding, reduced services in tier-2 and tier-3 towns, and lack of women marshals or last-mile safety provisions.
• Stagnation in Health and Maternal Schemes: Programmes like Amma Baby Care Kits, initially aimed at maternal and infant health, continue without significant innovation or expansion, diluting their long-term impact.
• Budgetary Cuts to Self-Help Groups Recent years have seen reduced financial allocations for microcredit and subsidies to women-led SHGs, limiting opportunities for rural entrepreneurship and financial independence.

Success Models of Women's Empowerment in Tamil Nadu

• Cradle Baby Scheme Against Female Infanticide: Introduced in the 1990s, this initiative helped reduce female infanticide by over 75% between 1992 and 2011 in districts like Salem and Dharmapuri, showing the potential of empathetic intervention.
• Institutional Empowerment Through All-Women Police Stations: By 2021, over 222 all-women police stations were operational in Tamil Nadu, reinforcing gender-sensitive justice delivery and increasing access to public safety for women.
• Quota and Incentive-Driven Social Mobility: Schemes like 50% reservation in local bodies, Thalikku Thangam (financial + gold support for educated brides), and the Amma Free Bicycle Scheme led to measurable increases in female political representation and school retention, particularly in rural areas.

Practice Question:

Q. Tamil Nadu has long been a leader in women-centric welfare schemes, yet many recent interventions suffer from execution gaps. Critically evaluate the role of design and delivery in determining the success of such schemes, with relevant examples