“[E]ntrenched class interests and social inequalities rooted in religion, caste, and

gender have made the transition slow and uncertain.”

India’s Welfare State: A Halting Shift

from Benevolence to Rights

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Reetika Khera

I
ndia has long had poor and slowly improving The second question is whether transfers should
development indicators. After three decades be universal or targeted. This debate is reflected
of robust economic growth, what does its wel- in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
fare architecture currently look like? Setting aside (NREGA), a self-targeted workfare program—that
health and education, there has been an attempt, is, one designed in such a way that only those in
especially in the first decade of this century—if need of government support come forward, dis-
only half-hearted—to de- pensing with the need for an administrative mech-
Ways of velop a “cradle to grave” anism to identify the poor.
Governing framework in India. Differ- Third is the question of whether social support
Seventh in a series ent interventions aim to pro- is most effectively delivered in the form of cash
tect different demographic transfers or in-kind benefits. This has played out
groups: a school meals program and an Integrated most explicitly in the case of the PDS, the country’s
Child Development Services scheme that recog- most extensive food security program.
nizes the interconnected education, health, and Finally, does the use of new technologies to
nutrition needs of children under six; cash sup- administer welfare programs make them more
port for pregnant women; a workfare program for efficient, or does it serve corporate interests and
the able-bodied; social security pensions for the make such programs more exclusionary? Looking
elderly. A food subsidy program, the Public Distri- at the Aadhaar project, a biometric identification
bution System (PDS), provides grain to two-thirds system that endangers not just welfare provisions
of the population at a token price. but also democratic practice as we know it, is per-
These programs of social support mix cash haps the most useful way to examine this ques-
transfers with in-kind benefits. Most of the inter- tion.
ventions are at least three decades old, but there
has been a gradual transition to basing them on A new framework
legal rights instead of running them as programs Mai-baap sarkar (“lord and master,” loosely
whose continuation is subject to the policy prefer- translated) is a derogatory Hindi expression often
ences of each succeeding government. used to describe an outdated mode of governing
I will focus on four important questions con- that persists in India. The state was (and often still
cerning the direction of social policy in India, using is) viewed as lord and master of the people. The
a different program to illustrate each debate. First commonplace image is that of a citizen as suppli-
is the fundamental question of whether welfare cant at the feet of the state. In this style of govern-
should be viewed as a matter of state benevolence ing, any redistribution of resources is based on the
or as a right. I argue that the rights perspective is whims of the lord and master, and viewed as an act
the right perspective. Tracking the arduous jour- of state benevolence.
ney to making child support the norm reveals deep This is in stark contrast to more modern ways
hostility to this view in certain influential circles. of governing, whereby redistribution is regarded
as the duty of the state and the right of the citizen.
Reetika Khera is an associate professor of economics at the That is the vision enshrined in the Indian Consti-
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. tution, which took effect in 1950. But for much of

134
 A Halting Shift from Benevolence to Rights • 135

the 70 years of independence, a mai-baap sarkar fetching water and firewood to cook meals of salty
attitude has prevailed. or sweet boiled wheat. The participation of chil-
Between 2004 and 2014, two successive United dren and teachers in meal preparation due to the
Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments, headed lack of infrastructure drew critical press coverage
by the Congress party, passed several major mea- that raised pressure on state governments to act.
sures to reach the goal of a rights-based welfare sys- Slowly, things fell into place—cooks and helpers
tem. Laws such as the NREGA, the National Food were hired, kitchen sheds constructed, and drink-
Security Act (NFSA), the Right to Education Act, ing water facilities set up.
and the Right to Information Act, along with the Most activity in the first ten years following the
Land Acquisition Act and the Forest Rights Act, court order was focused on such first-generation
were enacted to secure basic socio­economic rights. issues in establishing regular provision of cooked
Oddly enough, these moves away from ad hoc meals for students. By the end of this period,

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welfare measures toward a rights-based approach MDMs had become the norm. Data from 2015–16
were often characterized by the Indian media as suggests that by then, coverage was almost univer-
a manifestation of the government’s purported sal (98 percent) for children in public and govern-
mai-baap sarkar attitude. Critics claimed that the ment-aided schools.
new laws create dependency and amount to mere School meals can reduce undernutrition. They
handouts. In fact, these laws are the opposite of also play an important role in ensuring enrollment,
a mai-baap sarkar regime. They guarantee people regular attendance, and learning. Classroom hun-
basic rights independent of a particular govern- ger had long been the reality in India—and what
ment’s commitment to social and economic jus- can a hungry child learn at school? Thus, MDMs
tice. are essential to improving education.
Although India is still a lag- Some of the gender and caste
gard on that count, even among aspects of school meals are
poor countries (at least in terms The NREGA program has worth highlighting. Sending a
of spending), these initiatives child to school each morning
faced shrill opposition from
provided employment to can be a task in itself. If schools
the privileged classes, to which millions of households. serve meals, it makes the lives
much of the Indian media be- of working mothers that much
longs, especially the business easier. School meals also play
press. The right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) an important role in the creation of a sense of uni-
came to power in 2014, and its commitment to ty in society. When the bell rings, children wash
welfare is weaker than the Congress party’s. their hands and plates, line up to be served, and
then eat together. Each of these activities is signifi-
The school meals debate cant. Washing hands and plates is a basic lesson in
The evolving debate on the provision of school personal hygiene and health education. And when
meals is a prime example of the halting and dif- children share food, they learn an important les-
ficult transition from a mai-baap sarkar attitude son about democracy: we are all one. This lesson
to a rights perspective. Mid-day meals (MDMs) for cannot be overemphasized, since the firm grip of
children 6 to 14 years old were among the earliest caste is still felt in Indian society.
welfare programs to take root in India. The MDM It is therefore surprising that a significant and
scheme was adopted by the central government in vocal minority in India is not yet convinced of
1995, based on an initiative by the southern state the program’s importance. When implementation
of Tamil Nadu that started in the 1950s and was hurdles are highlighted, the initial reaction from
extended to all children in the state in the 1980s. some influential quarters is often to question the
Until a 2001 Supreme Court order requir- need for mid-day meals rather than think about
ing cooked meals to be provided in all primary solutions.
schools by July 2002, most states tried to get away Whether in Tamil Nadu in the 1980s or Rajas-
with distributing “dry rations” for children to take than in the early 2000s, efforts to regularize mid-
home. In response to the ruling, although nothing day meals faced stiff opposition and derision in the
was in place—kitchens, utensils, cooks, helpers— mainstream media. When teachers and children
states began trying to provide cooked food. In Ra- were involved in cooking, rather than suggesting
jasthan at that time, I found teachers and students the obvious—budgetary allocations to hire cooks
136 • CURRENT HISTORY • April 2020

and helpers—some asked whether it was wise to guishes India from other countries. B. R. Ambed-
continue with mid-day meals if they were hinder- kar presciently warned, “On the 26th of January,
ing educational activities. This undercurrent of 1950 [when the Constitution took effect] we are
support for discontinuing the program gets louder going to enter into a life of contradictions. In poli-
when things go wrong—and sometimes they do tics we will have equality and in social and eco-
go seriously wrong. In 2013, 23 children died as a nomic life we will have inequality.” Ambedkar,
result of consuming a contaminated meal in Bihar, trained as an economist, was the primary framer
one of the states that have been slowest to provide of the Indian Constitution, and happened to be a
school meals and adequate facilities to prepare Dalit himself.
them. The enduring and still firm grip of caste is not
The debate over including eggs in the school adequately acknowledged by the holders of power
menu is an important illustration of the fraught in India, who are still largely members of privileged

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transition to a rights-based regime. In the past de- castes. Even the extent of their dominance in most
cade, advocates have emphasized improving the institutions is not fully recognized. To the extent
quality of school meals. Apart from providing nu- that it is, their preferred narrative portrays their
trition to India’s many protein-starved children, privilege as based on merit, rather than on cen-
eggs are attractive for other practical reasons. They turies-old caste rules that denied Dalits (the caste
do not spoil as easily as other sources of animal formerly labeled as untouchables) basic human
protein (such as milk), cannot be diluted (unlike rights—to education, free movement, and more.
lentils or milk), and are more protein-dense than The need for affirmative action policies that
other foods. could remedy these inequities is questioned by
Tamil Nadu, a leader in the field of social policy, public intellectuals who somehow manage to pass
provides a daily egg to schoolchildren. Odisha, as liberals. Meanwhile, Dalits continue to face
considered a laggard until recently, provides eggs discrimination and violence. In recent incidents,
five times a week for 3-to-6-year-olds in govern- some have been beaten up for transgressions such
ment preschools (anganwadis) and twice a week as sporting a moustache, riding a horse in a wed-
in schools. In fact, eggs are on the menu of pre- ding procession, or watching a folk dance in a
schools and schools in most southern and eastern public setting. It would be impossible for me to do
states. Yet in several northern Indian states, a small justice to their struggle, being neither a Dalit nor
but vocal upper-caste lobby opposes adding eggs an expert on caste, but their battle for recognition
to school menus. In Jharkhand, a state with high of their rights is an onerous one.
rates of child undernutrition, eggs were discontin-
ued after the supplier was accused of corruption. Universal or targeted benefits?
The bureaucrat in charge failed to find an alterna- Officially called the Mahatma Gandhi National
tive and, citing flimsy excuses, has stalled on rein- Rural Employment Guarantee Act, NREGA was en-
troducing eggs for nearly a year. acted in September 2005. It promises up to 100
The resistance to eggs exemplifies the mai-baap days a year of employment per rural household, at
sarkar mentality, which considers school meals the minimum wage (which is set by state govern-
a matter of whimsical state benevolence, rather ments)—the national average is now around 200
than a policy based on reasoned arguments for a rupees per day ($2.70). Any adult who demands
child’s right to nutrition. On a recent visit to a few work is entitled to get it within 15 days of asking.
anganwadis in the southern state of Karnataka, If the government fails to provide employment,
however, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that applicants can claim an unemployment allowance.
mothers who belong to vegetarian castes were urg- Unfortunately, in practice, the demand-driven as-
ing teachers to ensure that their children eat their pect and the unemployment benefit have not been
eggs. Rising nutritional awareness sustains hope widely taken up due to limited awareness, possibly
that reason will prevail over illogical social norms as a result of deliberate government policy.
and practices. Beyond the promise of employment, NREGA has
There is a related reason for the halting transi- other noteworthy features. It sets a mandatory min-
tion from a mai-baap sarkar to a right-based re- imum share (one-third) of jobs for women; work is
gime. In many respects, the struggle for greater to be provided within five kilometers of one’s resi-
redistribution and dignity for all in India is similar dence; at least half of the funds provided under the
to such struggles elsewhere. Yet caste still distin- law must be spent by elected local councils, which
 A Halting Shift from Benevolence to Rights • 137

are also supposed to select and prioritize projects; does not have enough resources to implement a
there are strict rules for transparency and account- full-fledged “welfare” program (like the unem-
ability; and workers are entitled to basic facilities ployment benefits widely provided in Europe).
such as drinking water and shelter from the sun. With “workfare” programs such as NREGA, the
Furthermore, the law calls for providing em- non-poor select themselves out.
ployment geared to the creation of productive It is not just a matter of program design. In prac-
assets such as roads, water-harvesting structures, tice, too, self-targeting has largely worked—over
contour trenches, and projects on private land like the agricultural cycle (during the sowing and har-
leveling or well construction. Although NREGA is vest seasons, when farming work is available, many
primarily perceived as a social security program, it withdraw from the NREGA rolls), across geographi-
can also play an important role in rural transfor- cal areas (employment levels under the program
mation. There have been some achievements thus tend to be higher in poorer districts), and within

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far, but many hurdles must be cleared before the population groups (the program attracts more
program’s full potential can be realized. people from vulnerable population groups such as
The NREGA is a useful example to consider in Dalits, Adivasis, and women). There is one impor-
the debate on universal versus targeted transfers. If tant caveat: poorer states have not always generat-
one views social support as a matter of rights, uni- ed the most employment under the program, a re-
versal programs are desirable. Yet, since universal flection of their inadequate administrative capacity.
transfers are often deemed unaffordable, targeting The program was meant to be demand-driven—
is seen as an alternative to achieve affordability as it was assumed that people would know of their
well as equity. (Why give to those who are bet- right to demand work. But due to low awareness,
ter off?) On the other side, following the pioneer- it did not happen that way. Instead, the program
ing British social policy expert is supply-driven: when funds
Richard Titmuss, the eminent are available, the government
Indian economist and philoso- Efforts to regularize opens worksites and offers jobs.
pher Amartya Sen has made This approach has resulted in
compelling arguments in favor
mid-day meals faced high representation of disad-
of universalism on the grounds stiff opposition. vantaged groups.
that “benefits for the poor end Government data and stud-
up being poor benefits.” In oth- ies corroborate these high par-
er words, when services are targeted for the poor, ticipation rates, as economists Christopher Barrett
their quality tends to suffer, since they are seen as and Yanyan Liu have found. Another economist,
a public burden. Laura Zimmerman, observed that “private-sector
The offer of employment through NREGA is uni- wages increase substantially for women, but not
versal for rural adults, yet it automatically selects for men, and that these effects are concentrated
out the non-poor. Given the conditions of hard during the main agricultural season.” Women
physical labor coupled with a basic wage, the gov- participate in large numbers, especially in rural
ernment often steps in only as an employer of last northern India, where they appreciate the oppor-
resort. This is an important feature of the program’s tunity to earn the minimum wage in their own vil-
design; flawed identification of beneficiaries has lages. Wage employment opportunities outside of
been the undoing of many other welfare initiatives. agriculture are scarce in this region; the best op-
The “self-targeting” design has earned NREGA the tion is usually to work as a cook or helper in the
support of many economists. It helps sidestep the school meals program.
debate on universal transfers (that seem unafford- Although NREGA is frequently cited in public
able) versus targeted transfers (that are discredited debates as one of the most important social pol-
because of widespread targeting errors). icy interventions in India, its cost has rarely ex-
Primarily for this reason, NREGA draws sup- ceeded 0.5 percent of gross domestic product. The
port from people of diverse views, even those program has provided employment to millions of
who would otherwise oppose such “doles” from households since the law establishing it took effect
the government. (Even the World Bank called it in February 2006.
a “stellar” example of rural development.) The As is common in India, controlling corrup-
economic rationale for NREGA is based on the fact tion has been an uphill battle; but with NREGA
that while such interventions are necessary, India it has been a relatively succesful one. According
138 • CURRENT HISTORY • April 2020

to National Sample Survey data, the rate of dis- transfers. Even such whittled-down proposals
crepancies between official records and laborers’ are expensive. The preferred options for creating
accounts of how much they had worked or earned fiscal space—such as by phasing out non-merit-
on NREGA worksites declined to a 20–30 percent based subsidies—fizzled when updated estimates
mismatch in 2011–12, compared with approxi- suggested that they amounted to only 5 percent of
mately 50 percent in 2007–8. Another 2011–12 GDP, not 10 percent as initially expected. Inevita-
survey suggested that only 4 percent of officially bly, attention has turned to axing the budgets for
recorded workdays were inflated. More recent es- existing social support programs such as NREGA,
timates are not available. PDS, and school meals. Yet recent research on these
It is possible that separating the implementing programs shows encouraging results—implicit
agency from the payment agency (by depositing transfers from the PDS reduced the poverty gap by
pay directly into workers’ bank accounts instead one-fifth in 2009–10—so making a case for dis-

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of paying cash in hand) reduced corruption, but mantling them is not easy.
that the loss of transparency resulting from this ar- Nonetheless, the Economic Survey devised a
rangement opened a new door for graft. Program flawed measure of performance to suggest that
administrators may inflate the number of workdays these programs are failing. For instance, it de-
and collude with laborers to share the extra pay. clares the mid-day school meals program a failure
by evaluating it through the narrow prism of tar-
Cash vs. in-kind benefits geting, even though the main objectives of school
The Public Distribution System has been at the meals are improving enrollment, attendance, nu-
center of the debate over cash versus in-kind trans- trition, learning effort, socialization, and more. Fa-
fers. After the 2013 enactment of the National Food vorable evidence published in international peer-
Security Act, the PDS covers two-thirds of the Indi- reviewed journals was largely ignored. Although
an population. Corruption has been a major issue there have been some implementation problems,
in the program, but evidence from the past decade the Economic Survey cherry-picked evidence to
shows that several lagging states have been able to make a case for cash transfers.
reform their PDS delivery operations and reduce It is not just the current political dispensation
leakages, even while some continue to struggle. of BJP rule that has sought to make a case for cash
The debate over cash transfers has been sim- transfers. During the Congress-led government’s
mering in India for over a decade. The second second term, when the NFSA was being debated,
UPA government (2009–14) focused on replacing many development economists argued in favor of
food provided through the PDS with cash transfers. dismantling the PDS and promoting food security
More recently, the cash lobby has reinvented itself through cash transfers. Others warned that replac-
as a proponent of a universal basic income (UBI). ing food with cash would be unwise, for several
Historically, UBI was seen as an idea of the left, reasons.
whereas now (including in India) it has supporters First, indexing for inflation to maintain the
on the right as well. Some libertarian technologists value of a cash transfer is not a trivial matter, giv-
in Silicon Valley are funding UBI proposals. en the poor quality of price data and the govern-
The two key principles of UBI are universal cov- ment’s track record. Old-age pension benefits have
erage and a basic income that would allow a dig- remained unchanged for more than 12 years.
nified quality of life even in the absence of other Second, markets are poorly developed in rural
earnings. The UBI proposals that have emerged in areas; if cash is pumped in, there is no guarantee
India, however, are mangled versions of this ideal. that a perfectly functioning market for food will
Ideas presented in the Economic Survey (an an- develop. What emerges could well be a monopo-
nual pre-budget government report) and the Con- listic market, where people are left to the mercy of
gress party’s 2019 election manifesto both violated an exploitative trader.
these two fundamental principles. Nor have other Third, access to banks remains limited in ru-
proposals by serious economists met the require- ral India. While there has been some progress on
ments. making bank accounts more widely available, ad-
The 2017 Economic Survey highlighted the ministrative capacity is overstretched, and the ru-
conceptual strength of UBI by (rightly) pointing ral banking network is still sparse. People worry
to India’s abysmal record on targeted transfers. Yet about high transaction costs to withdraw their
it ended up proposing skimpy and targeted cash money (such as the cost of traveling to the bank,
 A Halting Shift from Benevolence to Rights • 139

sometimes entailing repeated trips, and forfeited cal infrastructure. There are two looming dangers
income if they miss work). here. The first is technological lock-in, whereby
Also, the experience with other cash transfer either unnecessary systems are deployed or com-
programs has not been encouraging. Timeliness of panies are able to gain monopoly control over gov-
payments has proved problematic, and there are ernment functions. The second is a slippery slope:
inadequate provisions for redressing grievances the pursuit of enhanced administrative capacity
over delays. Cash transfer experiments carried out could result in technocratic tyranny that leaves or-
in small pockets of the country have justified such dinary people disempowered.
concerns. Nowhere are these issues of technocracy and
Since 2015, in Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar conflict of interest more apparent than in the Aad-
Haveli, and Puducherry, which are all relatively haar project, which provides a biometrically unique
developed and urbanized settings, the govern- identification number to all residents. From the

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ment has initiated cash transfers in lieu of grain start, Aadhaar promoters packaged what was es-
distribution. An official evaluation is damning: in sentially a surveillance and data-mining infrastruc-
Phase 3 (early 2017), nearly one-fifth of entitled ture as a benign welfare project. Successive govern-
respondents did not receive any cash. In another ments, led first by the Congress party and now by
small pilot program conducted at six PDS outlets the right-wing BJP, have resorted to propaganda to
in Chhattisgarh, one-fifth of the intended benefi- maintain Aadhaar’s welfarist façade. Inconvenient
ciaries received no cash, while 70 percent experi- evidence is suppressed, ignored, or rejected.
enced delays in getting their benefits. It was dis- The use of Aadhaar in administering a range of
continued. In Ratu (a rural area in eastern India), welfare programs has caused exclusion, hassles,
the government reverted to providing food after increased hardship, and even death when people’s
its own audit found that cash identities could not be authen-
transfers were irregular and un- ticated. Contrary to claims that
popular. Self-selection helps sidestep it will reduce corruption, it has
In their latest incarnation, in opened up new channels for
policy recommendations made
the vexatious debate graft through its cadres of mid-
by economists who are conduct- on universal transfers. dlemen, who are entrusted with
ing these studies and working linking individuals’ Aadhaar
closely with the government, numbers to government regis-
cash transfers appear as part of a choice-based sys- tries. Yet in the government narrative, it remains
tem, letting people decide whether they want food a tool for delivering welfare benefits with greater
or cash. Given the complexities of implementation, inclusion, empowerment, and efficiency.
this mixed system is likely to result in an even big- The World Bank’s ID4D program, which says
ger mess than the cash transfer pilots. it aims “to help countries realize the transforma-
Meanwhile, the value of other cash transfers, tional potential of digital identification systems,”
such as maternity entitlements and social security is supported by philanthro-capitalists such as
pensions, are eroding over time since there is no the Omidyar Network and the Bill and Melinda
provision for inflation indexing. Application pro- Gates Foundation. In India, on the one hand, the
cedures are onerous, and the payment process has Omidyar Network has for-profit investments in
become unreliable due to recent changes in the fi- financial technologies that rely on digital ID sys-
nancial system. In recent years, the banking net- tems such as Aadhaar. On the other hand, it has
work has been integrated with an Aadhaar-related emerged as the largest funder of “friendly research”
platform. Linking Aadhaar identification numbers on Aadhaar. The consulting firm Dalberg Advisors
with bank accounts has created a mess—data-entry recently completed a large Omidyar-funded survey
errors render accounts inactive, or switches them whose credibility and independence are dubious,
with other people’s numbers. This is causing a sub- not only because Dalberg has no particular exper-
stantial percentage of electronic payments to fail. tise in these issues, but also because of a revolving
door between the firm and the Omidyar Network.
Technocratic takeover Bureaucrats formerly associated with Aadhaar and
Managing India’s large-scale social support pro- Omidyar have coauthored opinion pieces promot-
grams—up to two-thirds of the population is cov- ing the project in national newspapers. Similarly,
ered by the PDS—obviously requires technologi- the Gates Foundation has funded friendly research
140 • CURRENT HISTORY • April 2020

on cash transfers, an agenda closely linked to Aad- ment Guarantee Act, the Public Distribution Sys-
haar. tem, and Aadhaar—illustrate four key debates on
The key issue here is the role of money in gaining ways of governing in India: whether the safety
access to policy circles (dare one call it plutocra- net should be based on government benevolence
cy?) while maintaining a façade of democratic poli- or rights; whether benefits should be in cash or
cymaking. The parallels between what the technol- in-kind; whether they should be universal or tar-
ogy industry is doing today and what the tobacco geted; and whether the use of new technologies
and sugar industries did in an earlier era are strik- to administer such programs makes them more
ing. Those industries were notorious for funding efficient or serves corporate interests and makes
friendly research that cultivated doubt in people’s them more exclusionary. This is not to suggest
minds about independent research that highlighted that the question of switching to cash benefits
the harmful health effects of their products. arose only in the case of the PDS, or that concerns

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Today, technocrats have gained prominence in about technocratic tyranny apply only to the Aad-
government, and blind faith in techno-solutionism haar project. The debates often cut across welfare
has taken over. Aadhaar is impractical, inappropri- programs.
ate, and untested for use in welfare programs. Fin- Arguments over spending priorities and fiscal
gerprint authentication failure rates are high, server constraints are central in any proposed expansion
connectivity is erratic, and people are being incon- of India’s welfare architecture. There are two di-
venienced or worse. Even when alternative tech- mensions to the question of priorities. First, there
nologies (such as smart cards instead of fingerprint is tension between competing demands (such as
authentication) are available, the use of Aadhaar military spending versus health care). Second,
is mandatory in these programs, often disrupting there is a question of priorities within welfare
the steady improvement witnessed earlier. All this spending. For instance, in allocations for health
indicates a convergence of private interests (to use care in recent years, insurance (with private play-
Aadhaar for corporate surveillance and profiteer- ers) for tertiary care has tended to receive more
ing) and government interests (to use Aadhaar as a funding than expansion of primary health care.
digital means of disciplining the population). In the case of maternity entitlements, a wage-
The dangers of a corporate takeover are evident based legal benefit for women in the formal sector
not just in the Aadhaar project. In 2008, a biscuit of the economy has been on the books since the
manufacturers’ association sent letters to elected 1960s. In 2017, it was enhanced to 26 weeks of
representatives enthusiastically advocating the paid leave. But for women in the informal sector,
substitution of fortified biscuits for cooked school the most vulnerable workers, the law was enacted
meals. Lobbyists often masquerade as anticorrup- only in 2013 and operationalized in 2017, and
tion voices concerned about people’s welfare. The the benefit is an arbitrarily fixed amount, neither
debate over cash versus in-kind transfers involves based on a wage-compensation principle nor in-
an urgent question about which economic activi- dexed to preserve its value over time.
ties should be kept out of the realm of markets in Although India has a robust constitutional
order to protect the social safety net from com- framework in place to shift its model of welfare
modification. provision from one of state benevolence to a rights-
based system, entrenched class interests and social
Setting priorities inequalities rooted in religion, caste, and gender
The four government programs we’ve looked have made the transition slow and uncertain. Suc-
at—school meals, the National Rural Employ- cess cannot be taken for granted. ■