Towards Women’s Financial Autonomy

In March 2023, the Tamil Nadu government made good on one of its electoral promises by announcing the rollout of a `7,000 crore scheme which aims to provide a monthly allowance of `1,000 to “women heads” of certain “eligible households.”

While on a cursory reading, this new scheme by the Tamil Nadu government seems to be an extraordinary step in the direction of gender equality, though a deeper interaction with this scheme brings to fore a number of grave labour law inconsistencies. A severe lack of the acknowledgement of socio-economic realities is also reflected in this policy.