By Dhanisha Raj
Who would’ve guessed that one of the boldest moves in designing social security benefits would come from—not even a country—but a state in India called Jharkhand? For those unfamiliar, Jharkhand is one of India’s poorest states,¹ nestled in the country’s eastern region, often making headlines for its mineral wealth rather than groundbreaking social policy. Yet here we are, talking about Jharkhand as the unlikely pioneer of what can only be described as a “‘Semi-UBI”: a universal basic income, but just for women aged 18 to 50. (Sorry, gentlemen, you’re sitting this one out.)
The recently revamped and relaunched Maaiya Samman Yojana is a universal, tax-financed social security benefit provided to all women in the selected age group across the state.² Simple as that: no complicated targeting mechanism or elaborate eligibility criteria, just a source of financial assistance that will be easily accessible to a high proportion of the female population. The central objective of the benefit is to empower women and improve their socio-economic conditions.³ It’s mainly aimed at mothers (which is why women of reproductive age were chosen), providing much-needed support in a state where life is far from easy for most families.
There is a clear rationale for the introduction of universal social security in Jharkhand. The standard of living for most households in Jharkhand is low, with approximately two-thirds of all households belonging to the bottom two wealth quintiles nationally.⁴ Jharkhand is also experiencing a malnutrition crisis: around 40 per cent of children under 5 years old experience stunting, and a major contributor to this is poor maternal nutrition.⁵ Moreover, only 10 per cent of children between 6-23 months are fed a minimum acceptable diet.⁶ Women, in particular, face disproportionate hardships: in Jharkhand, 65 per cent of women aged 15-49 years are anaemic (compared to 30 per cent of men) and 26 per cent of women aged 15-49 years have a BMI below 18.5 (versus 17 per cent of men) (Figure 1).⁷ Women are also much less likely to be in paid employment than men: only 26 per cent of all women aged 15-49, compared with 79 per cent of men.⁸ Against this backdrop, Maaiya Samman Yojana is a lifeline, not just for women, but for entire households.
Further, Maaiya Samman Yojana may play an important role in empowering many women. Prior to the introduction of the scheme, only 50 per cent of women aged 15-49 had access to cash that they could call their own and over which they could make decisions.⁹ As Figure 2 shows, this affects women across the welfare distribution. Now, almost all women in this age group can enjoy their own cash and the autonomy that comes with this.
Figure 1: Jharkhand’s nutrition challenges
Source: National Family Health Survey 5 (2021)
Figure 2: Percentage of women who did not have any money of their own that they alone can decide how to use, across the welfare distribution
Source: IICP and ICF (2021). NHFS-5.
What makes this initiative stand out isn’t just the simplicity of its design, but also its adequacy. The benefit provides a monthly transfer of INR2,500 (US$29), equivalent to 33 per cent of the state’s per capita net domestic product (NDP)¹⁰ – a life-changing amount for most families in Jharkhand! For comparison, few of the most generous old age pensions in the world reach this level when measured in terms of per capita GDP. The transfer is significantly higher than India pays its older people: recipients of the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme receive only INR500 (US$5.80) per month if aged 80 and above and a measly INR200 (US$2.30) for those aged 60-79.¹¹
For those thinking that Maaiya Samman Yojana is just a tiny state programme, think again! With an expected coverage of approximately 5.6 million women in the state, the benefit is larger than other universal social security schemes in many countries.¹² The Jharkhand government has committed to spending 4.7 per cent of the state’s net domestic product (NDP) on the scheme, or around US$2 billion per year.¹³ To put this into perspective, Nepal, in 2024, allocated just over 1.6 per cent of its GDP to its (relatively generous!) universal pension scheme.
Jharkhand is, in absolute terms, spending more on the Maayia Samman Yojana programme than the central government is spending on its national old age pension: Jharkhand’s spending is the equivalent of 0.05 per cent of India’s total GDP, while the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme costs a mere 0.004 per cent of GDP.
Wondering what the impacts are likely to be? Given that Maaiya Samman Yojana is essentially a gendered UBI, in the absence of global evidence of such a benefit, India’s universal basic income experiment in Madhya Pradesh provides a good reference for what one may expect: the programme resulted in a significant impact on nutrition, increased ownership of productive assets and savings, and yes, it even empowered women since, for the first time, they could enjoy the novelty of having their own money. We can expect Maaiya Samman Yojana to yield similar impacts for recipient households.
For the cynics and the sceptics who might be tempted to dismiss this as just an election gimmick, please hear me out. Yes, cash benefits have been used in India as political tools before: states like Maharashtra and Haryana have introduced poverty-targeted benefits around election time. But Jharkhand’s programme is different. It is universal, and the benefit amount is substantial, unlike Maharashtra’s Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana programme, which offers INR1,500 (US$17.30) per month to women belonging to households living in poverty, an amount well below that provided by Jharkhand.¹⁴ And, of course, Maharashtra’s programme will suffer from the expected high levels of targeting error, meaning that most of the poorest women will almost certainly be excluded.
Still unconvinced? Let’s zoom out for a moment. After World War II, countries like Finland and the United Kingdom implemented universal benefits—such as child benefits, Finland’s maternity package and the UK’s National Health Service—that transformed social welfare systems (while helping progressive politicians win elections). Why shouldn’t Jharkhand’s initiative be seen in the same light? It seems to me that all Jharkhand did was figure out what the Finns and Brits had realised years ago: that universal benefits are popular and make a tangible difference in the lives of citizens. If done right, with the necessary operational systems and a robust monitoring and evaluation strategy in place, Maaiya Samman Yojana could set a powerful precedent for universal entitlements in India, and perhaps even inspire other regions globally.
Is It Perfect?
Is a “Semi-UBI” an innovative design? Absolutely. But is it the ideal way to design social security benefits? Perhaps not. Other approaches could yield even greater positive impacts on mothers with children, such as a conventional universal child benefit. I’ll discuss this, and the lessons for other Indian states, in an upcoming blog. Still, Jharkhand’s initiative is a bold step in the right direction. It challenges the persistent myth that low- and middle-income countries can’t afford meaningful, inclusive social security. For that alone, the state deserves credit.
It is proof that when political will aligns with public need, even the most unlikely places can lead the way.
[1] Jharkhand ranks third lowest out of India’s 28 states in terms of per capita state domestic product. Source: Ministry of Finance (2024) Economic Survey 2023-24
[2] Behlari (2025)
[3] Government of India (2025)
[4] IIPS and ICF (2021a)
[5] IIPS and ICF (2021b)
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Authors calculations based on IMF (2024) and Budget Division, Ministry of Finance (2024)
[10] https://mukhyamantrimajhiladkibahinyojana.inAuthor’s calculations based on Behlari (2025) and Ministry of Finance (2024). Note: the last available estimate for Jharkhand’s state per capita domestic product is from FY2022-23.
[11] Authors calculations based on IMF (2024) and Budget Division, Ministry of Finance (2024)
[12] Behlari (2025)
[13] Authors calculations based on Behlari (2025) and Ministry of Finance (2024). Note: the last available estimate for Jharkhand’s state domestic product is from FY2022-23.
[14] https://mukhyamantrimajhiladkibahinyojana.in
References
Agrawal, S. (2023). Malnutrition: Jharkhand’s Silent Crisis and the Heartbreaking Tales Behind the Statistics. The Probe. Accessed from https://theprobe.in/stories/malnutrition-jharkhands-silent-crisis-and-the-heartbreaking-tales-behind-the-statistics/
Behlari, A. (2025). Hemant Soren transfers ₹1,415.44 crore to over 56.61 lakh women under Maiya Samman Yojana. The Hindu. Accessed from https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jharkhand/hemant-soren-transfers-141544-crore-to-over-5661-lakh-women-under-maiya-samman-yojana/article69068728.ece
Budget division, Ministry of Finance. (2024). Expenditure Profile 2024-2025. Government of India. Accessed from https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/eb/vol1.pdf
Government of India. (2025). Website of Maiya Samman Yojana, Jharkhand. National Portal of India. Accessed from https://www.india.gov.in/website-maiya-samman-yojana-jharkhand
International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and ICF. (2021a). National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019-21: India: Volume I. IIPS, Mumbai.
International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and ICF. (2021b). National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), India, 2019-21: Jharkhand. IIPS, Mumbai.
International Monetary Fund (2024). World Economic Outlook Database: October 2024 edition.
Ministry of Finance. (2024). Economic Survey of India 2023-24. Government of India.