India’s welfare policies are increasingly focusing on women, with direct cash transfers emerging as a key strategy for both social development and electoral success. Recently, the Bihar government launched the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, a program offering ₹10,000 to 75 lakh women as initial capital for self-employment, with potential for further support up to ₹2 lakh for thriving businesses.
This initiative joins a growing list of women-centric cash transfer programs across India, including Karnataka’s Gruha Lakshmi, West Bengal’s Lakshmir Bhandar, Madhya Pradesh’s Ladli Behna Yojana, and Telangana’s Mahalakshmi. These programs leverage India’s robust Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system, built on the ‘JAM trinity’ (Jan Dhan accounts, Aadhaar, and mobile phones), ensuring efficient and transparent delivery of benefits.
By August 2025, over 56 crore accounts had been opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, with women holding a significant 55.7% of these. The World Bank’s Global Findex Database 2025 reveals that 54% of Indian women opened their first bank account specifically for government benefits or wages. This impressive reach means 89% of Indian women now possess a bank account, a figure comparable to developed nations and well above the global average of 77%. This marks a significant achievement in formally acknowledging women’s economic identity. A chart would further illustrate this growth in bank account ownership among women.
(A chart depicting the proportion of women who own bank accounts would typically be displayed here.)
Despite this progress, a fundamental question remains: Can these direct cash transfers truly empower women to become active economic agents, or do they merely position them as passive welfare recipients? Evidence suggests that DBT schemes do increase women’s visible control over financial resources. Studies indicate that when income is directly credited to a woman’s name, it often leads to a greater say in household financial decisions and improved well-being for both children and the elderly. Programs like Bihar’s Rojgar Yojana, therefore, have the potential to be a foundational step in establishing women’s formal economic identity.
However, the reality behind these promising statistics is more nuanced. While the JAM trinity has facilitated near-universal bank account ownership for women, approximately 20% of these accounts remain inactive. This dormancy can be attributed to factors like insufficient funds, a perceived lack of need for banking services, or discomfort interacting with formal financial institutions. In remote rural and semi-urban regions, challenges such as limited access to bank branches and the persistent digital divide exacerbate this disengagement.
Furthermore, many women primarily use their accounts simply to withdraw cash transfers, with engagement in other financial activities like saving, borrowing, or making digital payments remaining notably low. A subsequent chart clearly illustrates the current levels of women’s participation in various financial activities using their bank accounts.
(A chart illustrating women’s engagement in various financial activities using bank accounts would typically be displayed here.)
Even with the issuance of 38 crore free RuPay cards alongside Jan Dhan accounts and a dramatic surge in UPI transactions from ₹2 crore in FY17 to ₹18,600 crore in FY25, women’s adoption of debit cards and digital payment methods still trails significantly behind men’s.
Beyond entrenched patriarchal norms, insufficient digital access is a major roadblock preventing bank account ownership from evolving into consistent savings, credit utilization, or active digital transactions for women. Statistics indicate that women are 19% less likely to own mobile phones, essential tools for managing accounts and funds. Data points to several barriers to women’s mobile ownership, including device and data costs, privacy concerns, fear of cyber fraud, and prevailing social norms. Furthermore, widespread phone sharing among women restricts their ability to engage in independent digital banking. Both financial and digital literacy remain substantial challenges, with over two-thirds of Indian women still depending on male family members for financial transactions. A final chart in this analysis would delve into mobile access among women and its role in their financial activities.
(A chart showing mobile access and its usage for financial transactions among women would typically be displayed here.)
In essence, India’s journey from merely providing financial access to truly fostering women’s agency is still unfinished. For initiatives like Bihar’s Rojgar Yojana to genuinely empower women economically, they must go beyond simply depositing money into bank accounts. These beneficiaries require holistic, sustained long-term support.
Crucially, achieving true financial agency for women necessitates granting them tangible control over assets through secure property rights and joint land titles. It is only when women possess direct ownership of land or business assets that they can effectively access credit, participate actively in markets, and engage in modern commercial ventures.
Equally vital is reinforcing the ‘mobile’ component of the JAM trinity. Providing subsidized smartphones and affordable data plans would enable women to independently manage their accounts and utilize digital payment tools, thereby reducing dependence on shared devices that compromise their privacy and autonomy. It is imperative for banks, fintech companies, and mobile operators to collaborate and develop financial products that truly cater to the unique realities of women’s often informal, seasonal, or sporadic incomes, their caregiving duties, and varying levels of financial and digital literacy.
Establishing community-based confidence networks is also crucial to bridge the existing trust deficit. Initiatives like ‘digital banking sakhis’ (female banking facilitators) and secure WhatsApp or UPI groups can create safe, trusted environments where women can seek financial advice, share experiences, and collectively address their concerns. Furthermore, a significant priority should be to increase the representation of women among banking agents, as currently, less than 10% of India’s 1.3 million business correspondents are female.
Ultimately, true empowerment for women hinges on pairing financial access with robust agency-building. This means ensuring women are not just recipients of funds, but active participants who can control, manage, grow, and sustain their financial resources for their own personal and economic advancement.
This analysis is contributed by Shravani Prakash, Jiya Bharti, and Riya Khanna, who are researchers with ICRIER’s Economic Policies for Women Led Development Program.