Whose fate and whose wealth? An analysis of the Bhagyalakshmi scheme in Karnataka Suggestions for creating new pathways to empowerment of girls Centre for Budget and Policy Studies March 2019 Table of Contents List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................................... 4 Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Executive Summary.............................................................................................................................................. 9 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 13 1.1. The issue: Gender equality .......................................................................................................... 13 1.2. The intervention: Bhagyalakshmi scheme ............................................................................ 13 1.3 The framework of the current study and the report ......................................................... 19 2 Cash Transfers: Experiences, issues and effectiveness.............................................................. 21 2.1 Cash transfers in the international context .......................................................................... 21 2.1.1 Origins of cash transfers ..................................................................................................... 21 2.1.2 Documented impact of CCTs ............................................................................................. 22 2.1.3 Conditional and unconditional cash transfers ........................................................... 23 2.2 Cash transfers in the Indian context: Focusing on the girl child .................................. 24 2.3.1 Preconditions .......................................................................................................................... 28 2.3.2 Impact enablers ...................................................................................................................... 29 2.3.3 Critical decision areas .......................................................................................................... 31 3. Methodology .................................................................................................................................................... 35 2.3 First phase: Desk review .............................................................................................................. 36 2.4 Second phase: Mixed-methods framework .......................................................................... 37 3.2.1 Quantitative methods .......................................................................................................... 41 3.2.2 Qualitative methods ............................................................................................................. 42 3.3 Description of our sample ........................................................................................................... 44 3.2.1 Social distribution of the households ............................................................................ 44 3.2.2 Profile of the respondent .................................................................................................... 46 4 Functioning of the BL Scheme ............................................................................................................. 50 4.1 Engagement with enrolment ...................................................................................................... 52 4.1.1. Targeting BPL families ........................................................................................................ 52 4.1.2. Moving against son preference. ....................................................................................... 59 4.2 Understanding conditionalities ................................................................................................. 62 1 | P a g e 4.2.1 Immunisation .......................................................................................................................... 62 4.2.2 Education .................................................................................................................................. 65 4.2.3 Child marriage and child labour ...................................................................................... 70 4.3 Structural processes of BL ........................................................................................................... 74 4.3.1 Geographical variation of BL scheme ............................................................................ 74 4.3.2 Implementation processes................................................................................................. 77 4.3.3 Budgetary and financial review ....................................................................................... 81 5 Redesigning BL: Options and Alternatives ..................................................................................... 87 5.1 MODEL 1: Empowerment Strategies + BL Redesign ......................................................... 87 5.1.1 Change in the coverage/eligibility: Universalization of scheme ......................... 88 5.1.2 Comparative cost estimates and advantage ................................................................ 90 5.1.3 Process simplification / reengineering ......................................................................... 91 5.1.4 Change in conditionality pertaining to education .................................................... 93 5.1.5 Integration/linking of other education related schemes into BL ....................... 95 5.1.6 Scholarships ............................................................................................................................ 95 5.1.7 Other provisions .................................................................................................................... 99 5.1.8 Empowerment strategies ................................................................................................. 100 5.1.9 Pathways to empowerment ............................................................................................ 101 5.1.10 Rebranding BL ...................................................................................................................... 104 5.1.11 Parental death, accidental and disability benefits .................................................. 104 5.2 MODEL 2 – Empowerment Strategies only (Discontinue BL) ..................................... 104 5.2.1 (In)efficacy of cash transfers .......................................................................................... 104 5.2.2 Social norms and empowerment................................................................................... 106 5.2.3 Pre-conditions of success ................................................................................................. 107 5.2.4 Cost implications ................................................................................................................. 108 5.3 MODEL 3 – Empowerment Strategies + Multi-tier cash transfer scheme .............. 108 6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 112 References .......................................................................................................................................................... 114 Annexure 1: Tables ............................................................................................................................................... 0 2 | P a g e Figure 1: Process of data collection in phase 1 ....................................................................................... 36 Figure 2: Occupational profile of the respondent ................................................................................. 47 Figure 1: Annual registration of girls in the BL Scheme ..................................................................... 53 3 | P a g e List of Tables Table 1: BL scheme benefits - 2006-2008, 2008-2018 and 2018 onwards ................................ 14 Table 2: List of changes in conditionalities in BL .................................................................................. 16 Table 3: Supporting documents required for enrolment and claims for BL ............................... 16 Table 4: Factors impacting CCTs .................................................................................................................. 28 Table5: Phases of the study ............................................................................................................................ 35 Table 6: Socio-economic indicators of Raichur ...................................................................................... 39 Table 7: Socio-economic indicators of Tumkur...................................................................................... 40 Table 8: Socio-economic indicators of Mysore ......................................................................................