Expert opinion of Prof Sudhanshu Handa provided in Hans India article on Government of India's new Direct Cash Transfer scheme
The Hans India article entitled, "Have money, shape your welfare", discusses the recent Direct Cash Transfer scheme by the government of India and provides Prof Sudhanshu Handa's solicited, expert opinion about the scheme. An excerpt of the article follows:
There are a number of studies on the Direct Cash Transfer schemes under implementation in Latin America, Caribbean, Europe and Asia. Two such academics involved in these studies are Prof Sudhanshu Handa, Head of the Department of Public Policy, University of North Carolina, USA and Dr Benjamin Davis, Economist, Agriculture and Development, Economics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UNO.
The Hans India solicited the opinion of these two experts on the DCT scheme as announced by the government of India. We particularly brought to his notice the absence of social conditionalities, arrangement to hand cash to mothers and absence of a monitoring system in the Indian scheme of things. While Dr Davis replied saying he was currently on tour, Prof Handa has sent in his opinion. It is as follows:
“This is an exciting move for India. As you know, cash transfer programs are now taking root all over the developing world (30 countries worldwide). They are more efficient to administer, and allow households to put the money towards it(s) own highest need. The social benefit of these programs can be greatly increased by facilitating links with other sectors.
Conditional cash transfers make the link explicit through the condition, but research shows that even simple design features such as explaining what responsibility the household has (e.g. making sure children are well nourished and receive health care and go to school) can induce behavioral change for socially beneficial ends.
Providing cash to the woman rather than the man can also lead to more socially beneficial outcomes for women and children. These are simple, easy to implement design features that do not require punitive condition, yet can still leverage cash to address the inter-generational transmission of poverty and gender imbalances. I strongly encourage the Government of India to consider these simple yet powerful ideas.
I would also strongly suggest rigorous impact evaluation of the program be designed and conducted from the outset, to ensure money is getting to the right people, and to understand the benefits of the program. Such evidence has been used in many countries to convince skeptics of the merit of cash transfers."
Read the full Hans India story HERE.
