Year: 2026 | Month: June | Volume: 13 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 322-329
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20260633
Social Protection and Women’s Empowerment: An Exhaustive Evaluation of Assam’s Orunodoi Scheme
Chinmoi Sabhapandit
Research Scholar, Department of Sociology, Madhabdev University, Narayanpur, Assam.
ABSTRACT
Rural women represent the socio-economic backbone of household and community management across India, yet their immense contributions to productive and reproductive activities remain structurally undervalued and largely excluded from formal economic recognition. In Assam, an agrarian state heavily reliant on informal employment, deeply entrenched socio-cultural norms frequently subordinate women in financial decision-making, thereby leading to the feminization of poverty. To address these systemic inequalities, the Government of Assam implemented the Orunodoi Scheme, a pioneering direct benefit transfer (DBT) program providing a monthly unconditional cash transfer to socio-economically vulnerable households, explicitly designating women as the primary beneficiaries. Utilizing a descriptive and analytical research design, primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 registered women beneficiaries in Panbari village, located within the Narayanpur revenue circle of the Lakhimpur district. The scheme functions as a vital macroeconomic stabilizer at the micro-level, significantly smoothing consumption, improving dietary practices and enabling timely access to essential healthcare. Furthermore, mandatory integration with the formal banking system has catalyzed unprecedented financial inclusion and nascent micro-savings behaviours. Sociologically, this independent financial resource has elevated women's self-esteem and fostered greater intra-household bargaining power. However, the study also identifies persistent structural constraints including the inflationary erosion of the transfer value, technical frictions in digital banking, and the pervasive threat of patriarchal appropriation of funds. Ultimately, while cash transfers are vital, they require complementary institutional interventions to achieve truly transformative gender empowerment.
Keywords: Orunodoi Scheme, Women's Empowerment, Direct Benefit Transfer, Social Protection, Capability Approach, Rural Livelihoods.
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