Accidental transitions

Since 2020, political parties across the ideological spectrum in India have embraced unconditional cash transfers for women. Thirteen states dispense cash transfers to 118 million women. My paper assesses this novel development through a feminist lens to ask whether these cash transfers instrumentalise women as voters to secure the welfare of the household at a time of high inflation while reinforcing the gendered division of labour? Alternatively, do they herald the accidental transition to an expansive postcolonial welfare state wherein the unpaid work of millions of Indian women finally finds recognition while also financially empowering them to disrupt the gendered division of labour and improve their labour force participation. The paper will revisit this predicament against the backdrop of feminist efforts to realise the vision of SDG 5.4 and improve the female labour force participation rate including through investments in the purple/care economy.