In order to get more female voters in the upcoming general elections, the present ruling government of India is planning to increase the yearly payment to two times for the landowner female farmers to 12,000 rupees, said sources.
This doubling in the amount will be discussed in the budget session on 1 February 2024. This plan could cost the government an extra 120 billion rupees ($1.44 billion). The Modi government which is seeking a third term rule in May this year seeks to initiate this as a build-on to the existing program.
According to economist Rahul Bajoria of Barclays Investment Bank, "women, a key demographic, may find more support for the expansion of the existing scheme."
Both male and female farmers receive 6,000 rupees annually from the government under the "Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi" program. According to reports, the government has provided more than 2.81 trillion rupees to over 110 million farmers in 15 installments.
This move by the government will be an effort to empower women farmers in rural India, says a source as it has not been previously reported about the plans to double the monetary support for women specifically.
Over 260 million Indian farmers, including women, constitute a significant voting bloc. Although women farmers make up 60 per cent of all farmers where less than 13 per cent of them own the land on which they work. However, small financial support for women farmers could not significantly impact government finances, given the estimated $550 billion budget.
The BJP won elections in three out of four major states, including Madhya Pradesh, where a cash transfer program for married women won 51 per cent of female votes. However, opposition Congress party head Praveen Chakravarty criticized the party's claims of political dividends from these announcements.
