Society & Welfare
Welfare and Development Programmes
Chhattisgarh Welfare Schemes: A Mains Analysis
Chhattisgarh welfare model for CGPSC Mains GS-V: three phases since 2003, Mahtari Vandan, Krishak Unnati, PDS, Niyad Nellanar, outcomes, critiques.
Prerequisites
- Flagship Welfare Schemes of Chhattisgarh: the scheme facts (amounts, dates, eligibility) this page analyses
- Public Distribution System in Chhattisgarh: the 2004 reforms and the 2012 Food Security Act
- Central Welfare Schemes: the central base on which State schemes are layered
The Hook: Same Village, Three Governments
Connect
A paddy farmer in Mahasamund has seen three welfare eras. In the late 2000s he knew the State for cheap rice and a ration shop run by the panchayat. Around 2020 the State paid him a per-acre Kisan Nyay subsidy and bought cow dung under Godhan Nyay. Since 2024 he gets a Krishak Unnati top-up to ₹3,100 a quintal, and his wife gets ₹1,000 a month under Mahtari Vandan.
Names changed with every government; the ration card stayed. What does Chhattisgarh’s welfare model look like as a whole, what is it designed to do, and does it work?
Why it matters: CGPSC Mains GS-V asks you to evaluate welfare programmes, and a Chhattisgarh example lifts any answer. Prelims facts for these schemes live in the Economy, Budget and State Schemes chapter. This page is about design, outcomes and critique. Every figure is as of 2026: State schemes are revised, renamed or wound up when governments change.
Three Phases of Welfare in Chhattisgarh
timeline
title Chhattisgarh welfare: three phases
2003-2018 : Food security model - PDS Control Order 2004, cheap rice 2007, Food Security Act 21 Dec 2012
2018-2023 : Nyay and rural revival model - Suraji Gaon 2019, Kisan Nyay 21 May 2020, Godhan Nyay 20 July 2020
2023 onwards : Cash transfer and saturation model - Mahtari Vandan, Krishak Unnati, landless labourers aid, Niyad Nellanar| Phase (Chief Minister) | Signature schemes | Core idea |
|---|---|---|
| 2003–2018 (Raman Singh) | PDS (Control) Order 2004; Mukhyamantri Khadyann Sahayata Yojana (2007, rice at ₹1–2 a kg); Chhattisgarh Food Security Act (passed 21 December 2012, India’s first State food security law); Saraswati Cycle Yojana (bicycles for girls to reach secondary school) | In-kind food security with community-run ration shops |
| 2018–2023 (Bhupesh Baghel) | Suraji Gaon Yojana (Narwa-Garuwa-Ghurwa-Bari, 2019); Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana (21 May 2020); Godhan Nyay Yojana (20 July 2020); Mukhyamantri Haat Bazaar Clinic Yojana (2 October 2019); Mukhyamantri Suposhan Abhiyan (2 October 2019) | Rural economy revival and per-acre income support, with a cultural-agrarian frame |
| December 2023 onwards (Vishnu Deo Sai) | Mahtari Vandan Yojana, Krishak Unnati Yojana, Deendayal Upadhyay Bhumiheen Krishi Majdoor Kalyan Yojana, tendu rate ₹5,500 and Charan Paduka, Niyad Nellanar, PMAY-G approvals | Direct cash transfers to women, farmers and labourers, plus area saturation in Bastar |
What survived every change
The PDS survived all three governments and has only widened (free rice to 67.92 lakh ration card holders, January 2024 to December 2028). Paddy procurement with a State top-up above MSP also continued under different names. In a Mains answer, this continuity is evidence that a scheme which builds a broad constituency becomes politically durable.
The Current Model (as of 2026): Four Instruments
Chhattisgarh’s present welfare system can be read as four instruments working together. Facts below are kept identical to the Flagship Welfare Schemes page.
1. Unconditional cash to women: Mahtari Vandan Yojana (महतारी वंदन योजना)
| Design element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Benefit | ₹1,000 a month by DBT |
| Target | Married women aged 21+ (as on 1 January 2024), including widows, divorced and deserted women |
| Start | First instalment 10 March 2024 |
| Scale (as of August 2026) | The 31st instalment (released 25 August 2026) reached about 67.3 lakh women, about ₹631 crore in one month; over 69 lakh were reported in August 2025 |
| Cost logic | At the August 2026 rate, roughly ₹7,500 crore a year (₹631 crore × 12) |
| Design type | Unconditional, individual, women-only, categorical (marital status + age) targeting |
2. Price support for farmers: Krishak Unnati Yojana (कृषक उन्नति योजना)
| Design element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Benefit | Paddy at an effective ₹3,100 per quintal, up to 21 quintals per acre; MSP at the procurement centre, the gap paid later as input assistance |
| Start | First transfers in March 2024 |
| Scale | Kharif marketing season 2024-25: record 149.25 lakh tonnes of paddy from about 25.5 lakh farmers |
| Design tweak | From kharif 2025, farmers who shift from paddy to pulses, oilseeds or maize also get input assistance (see Agricultural Schemes) |
| Design type | Output-linked (more paddy sold, more benefit), so it favours larger, irrigated holdings |
3. Filling gaps that land-based schemes miss
| Scheme | Who | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Deendayal Upadhyay Bhumiheen Krishi Majdoor Kalyan Yojana (20 January 2025) | Landless agricultural labourer families, including traditional functionaries such as Baiga and Gunia | ₹10,000 a year |
| Tendu leaf collection rate (2024) | Forest-produce collectors, mostly tribal | ₹5,500 per standard bag (from ₹4,000) |
| Charan Paduka (revived 29 June 2025) | Tendu leaf collector families | Free footwear |
4. In-kind services and saturation
| Scheme | Design |
|---|---|
| PDS | Near-universal; community-run shops; free rice to 67.92 lakh cards (Jan 2024–Dec 2028); eldest woman as head of household |
| PMAY-G push | The new government’s first cabinet meeting (14 December 2023) approved houses for 18,12,743 families pending under PMAY-Gramin |
| Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Ayushman Swasthya Yojana | The State health assurance scheme (renamed in June 2024 from the Dr. Khubchand Baghel Swasthya Sahayata Yojana), run in convergence with PM-JAY: cashless care of up to ₹5 lakh a year for Antyodaya and priority ration card families and up to ₹50,000 for other families |
| Niyad Nellanar (15 February 2024) | Saturation of about 25 basic services in villages within about 5 km of new security camps in Bastar |
Reading the Design: A Mains Framework
| Question | Mahtari Vandan | Krishak Unnati | PDS | Niyad Nellanar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instrument | Cash | Price top-up (cash) | In-kind grain | Bundle of services |
| Targeting | Category (married women 21+) | Paddy sellers | Near-universal | Geographic (near camps) |
| Conditional? | No | Linked to sale of paddy | Biometric authentication | No |
| Main strength | Women’s control over money | Assured farm income, rural demand | Food security, low leakage | Trust and access in conflict areas |
| Main risk | Fiscal cost; unmarried women excluded | Paddy monoculture, cost borne by State | Rice-heavy diet; authentication failures | Depends on security situation and staff in remote areas |
Outcomes: what the evidence says
- Poverty fell, consumption stayed low. Chhattisgarh had the highest poverty ratio among States in 2011–12 (39.93%, Tendulkar). Its multidimensional poverty headcount fell from 29.90% (2015–16) to 16.37% (2019–21) (NITI Aayog). Yet in HCES 2023–24 it had the lowest average MPCE among major States (₹2,739 rural, ₹4,927 urban), which is measured before counting free PDS rice. See Measuring Poverty.
- Nutrition is the weak spot. NFHS-5 (2019–21) found 34.6% of children under 5 stunted, 18.9% wasted and 31.3% underweight, and 60.8% of women aged 15–49 anaemic. Anaemia rose between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5. Cheap rice has secured calories, not micronutrients.
- Delivery capacity is uneven. In July 2025, news reports said over ₹800 crore in hospital claims under the State health assurance scheme were pending. A generous entitlement is only as good as the payment system behind it.
- Scale of women’s transfers is large. By July 2026 the cumulative transfer under Mahtari Vandan was about ₹18,806 crore since March 2024. Independent studies of its effect on women’s spending, nutrition or work were not yet available as of 2026, so claims of impact should be phrased carefully.
Critiques to weigh
- Fiscal sustainability: recurring cash, above-MSP procurement and the State share of central schemes (now including 40% of rural wage employment under VB-G RAM G) compete with capital spending on irrigation, schools and health centres. See State Budget Basics.
- Crop distortion: an open-ended ₹3,100 price encourages paddy over millets and pulses, with groundwater and nutrition costs. The crop-shift incentive (from kharif 2025) is a partial correction.
- Discontinuity: schemes are renamed or dropped with each change of government (Kisan Nyay → Krishak Unnati; Rajiv Gandhi Bhumihin scheme → Deendayal Upadhyay scheme; Khubchand Baghel health scheme → Veer Narayan Singh scheme). Beneficiaries lose time re-registering, and assets like gauthans fall idle.
- Exclusion: documentation-based targeting can miss migrant, unmarried or undocumented women, tenant farmers and forest dwellers without titles.
- Cash cannot replace services: in Bastar, schools, health sub-centres and roads (the Niyad Nellanar approach) matter more than transfers alone.
A balanced conclusion you can reuse
Chhattisgarh’s welfare model has moved from food security (2000s) to income support (2020s) without abandoning its strongest asset, the PDS. Its next test is outcomes: lower anaemia and stunting, more women in paid work, more diverse crops, and fiscal space for public investment. Independent evaluation and continuity across governments would do more than higher transfer amounts.
Memory Tricks
Three phases: 'Rice, Nyay, Vandan'
Rice (2003–18: PDS 2004, Food Security Act 2012) → Nyay (2018–23: Kisan Nyay, Godhan Nyay) → Vandan (2023 onwards: Mahtari Vandan, Krishak Unnati, Niyad Nellanar).
Four instruments: 'C-P-G-S'
Cash to women (Mahtari Vandan), Price support to farmers (Krishak Unnati), Gap-filling for the landless and forest collectors (₹10,000, ₹5,500, Charan Paduka), Services and saturation (PDS, PMAY-G, health assurance, Niyad Nellanar).
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|---|---|
| Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Ayushman Swasthya Yojana (current name, from June 2024) | vs | Dr. Khubchand Baghel Swasthya Sahayata Yojana (earlier name of the same scheme) |
| Health cover ₹5 lakh: Antyodaya and priority ration cards | vs | ₹50,000: other families |
| Mahtari Vandan: monthly, women | vs | Bhumiheen scheme: yearly, landless labourer families |
| Krishak Unnati (2024): gap to ₹3,100 per quintal | vs | Kisan Nyay (2020): per-acre input subsidy |
| Mukhyamantri Suposhan Abhiyan (2019): nutrition for children and women | vs | Mukhyamantri Haat Bazaar Clinic (2019): mobile clinics at weekly markets |
Common Mistakes
Trap 1: claiming impact without evidence
Do not write “Mahtari Vandan has ended malnutrition” or “has empowered 70 lakh women”. As of 2026 there was no independent evaluation of its outcomes. Write “is expected to” or “can”, and cite what is measurable: reach, regularity and amount.
Trap 2: mixing up governments
Godhan Nyay, Suraji Gaon and Kisan Nyay belong to 2018–2023. Mahtari Vandan, Krishak Unnati and Niyad Nellanar belong to the government that took office in December 2023. The PDS model dates from 2004 and the Food Security Act from 2012.
Trap 3: MPCE vs welfare
The low MPCE in HCES 2023–24 does not mean the PDS failed. MPCE is measured before adding the value of free rice and other in-kind transfers, which are large in Chhattisgarh.
Practice
These are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.
Level 1: Foundation
- Chhattisgarh’s State health assurance scheme, renamed in June 2024, is now called the ________.
- The first cabinet meeting of the government formed in December 2023 approved PMAY-G houses for about ________ lakh families.
- NFHS-5 found that ________% of women aged 15–49 in Chhattisgarh were anaemic.
Answers
- Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Ayushman Swasthya Yojana
- 18 (18,12,743 families, on 14 December 2023)
- 60.8
Level 2: Prelims MCQs
Q1. Consider the following statements about the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Ayushman Swasthya Yojana of Chhattisgarh (as of 2026):
- It was earlier known as the Dr. Khubchand Baghel Swasthya Sahayata Yojana.
- It provides cashless treatment of up to ₹5 lakh a year to Antyodaya and priority ration card families.
- Families outside the Antyodaya and priority categories are not covered at all.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 1 and 2 only
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer and explanation
(b) 1 and 2 only. The scheme was renamed in June 2024 and runs in convergence with PM-JAY. Statement 3 is wrong: other families are covered up to ₹50,000 a year.
Q2. Match List-I (Scheme) with List-II (Welfare instrument):
| List-I | List-II |
|---|---|
| A. Mahtari Vandan Yojana | 1. Area saturation of services |
| B. Krishak Unnati Yojana | 2. Unconditional monthly cash transfer |
| C. Niyad Nellanar Yojana | 3. Price top-up linked to produce sold |
| D. Public Distribution System | 4. In-kind food transfer |
- (a) A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4
- (b) A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4
- (c) A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
- (d) A-2, B-3, C-4, D-1
Answer and explanation
(a) A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4. Mahtari Vandan pays ₹1,000 a month without conditions; Krishak Unnati tops up the paddy price to ₹3,100 per quintal; Niyad Nellanar saturates villages near security camps in Bastar with services; the PDS is an in-kind food transfer.
Q3. Which one of the following schemes was launched by the Chhattisgarh government of 2018–2023?
- (a) Mahtari Vandan Yojana
- (b) Niyad Nellanar Yojana
- (c) Godhan Nyay Yojana
- (d) Krishak Unnati Yojana
Answer and explanation
(c) Godhan Nyay Yojana (20 July 2020), which bought cow dung at ₹2 per kg. The other three were launched in 2024 by the government that took office in December 2023.
Q4. According to NFHS-5 (2019–21), the share of children under 5 in Chhattisgarh who were stunted was about:
- (a) 18.9%
- (b) 31.3%
- (c) 34.6%
- (d) 60.8%
Answer and explanation
(c) 34.6%. The other options are real NFHS-5 figures for different indicators: 18.9% wasted, 31.3% underweight, and 60.8% of women aged 15–49 anaemic. Matching the number to the indicator is the trap.
Level 3: Mains Answer Writing
Q1. Trace the evolution of welfare policy in Chhattisgarh since its formation. What has remained constant? (150–200 words)
Model answer outline
- Intro: In 25 years, Chhattisgarh’s welfare approach has passed through three phases.
- 2003–2018, food security: PDS (Control) Order 2004, cheap rice 2007, Chhattisgarh Food Security Act (21 December 2012), the first State law of its kind.
- 2018–2023, rural revival and income support: Suraji Gaon (Narwa-Garuwa-Ghurwa-Bari), Kisan Nyay (2020), Godhan Nyay (2020), Haat Bazaar Clinics, Suposhan Abhiyan.
- 2023 onwards, cash and saturation: Mahtari Vandan (₹1,000 a month), Krishak Unnati (₹3,100 a quintal), ₹10,000 a year to landless labourers, Niyad Nellanar in Bastar, PMAY-G push.
- Constants: the community-run, near-universal PDS; a State top-up for paddy; tribal and forest-produce support.
- Conclusion: instruments changed with governments, but food security and farm income remain the core; the next shift should be towards nutrition and human capital outcomes.
Q2. “Chhattisgarh’s welfare model is broad but needs to be judged by outcomes, not outlays.” Discuss. (250 words)
Model answer outline
- Intro: The State combines cash (Mahtari Vandan, Krishak Unnati), in-kind food (PDS), health assurance and area saturation (Niyad Nellanar).
- Outlays are large: about ₹631 crore a month for Mahtari Vandan (August 2026), above-MSP paddy procurement, State shares of central schemes.
- Outcomes so far: MPI headcount fell from 29.90% to 16.37% (2015–16 to 2019–21); but NFHS-5 stunting 34.6% and women’s anaemia 60.8%; lowest MPCE among major States (HCES 2023–24); pending hospital claims (2025) show delivery gaps.
- Why outcomes lag: transfers raise income but not service quality; rice-centric food basket; remote tribal areas with weak staffing.
- Way forward: independent evaluation of Mahtari Vandan; nutrition-sensitive PDS (millets, pulses); crop diversification; timely claim payments; continuity across governments; outcome dashboards at district level.
- Conclusion: Chhattisgarh has built wide coverage; converting it into healthier, more productive lives is the next stage.
Quick Revision Table
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Phase 1 (2003–18) | PDS Control Order 2004; cheap rice 2007; CG Food Security Act 21 Dec 2012 |
| Phase 2 (2018–23) | Suraji Gaon 2019; Haat Bazaar Clinic and Suposhan Abhiyan 2 Oct 2019; Kisan Nyay 21 May 2020; Godhan Nyay 20 July 2020 |
| Phase 3 (from Dec 2023) | Mahtari Vandan (10 Mar 2024); Krishak Unnati (Mar 2024); Niyad Nellanar (15 Feb 2024); landless aid (20 Jan 2025) |
| Mahtari Vandan (Aug 2026) | 31st instalment, about 67.3 lakh women, about ₹631 crore; cumulative about ₹18,806 crore by July 2026 |
| PMAY-G push | First cabinet, 14 Dec 2023: 18,12,743 families |
| State health assurance | Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Ayushman Swasthya Yojana (renamed June 2024); ₹5 lakh AAY/priority, ₹50,000 others |
| Free rice | 67.92 lakh cards, Jan 2024–Dec 2028 |
| NFHS-5 (CG) | Stunting 34.6%, wasting 18.9%, underweight 31.3%, women’s anaemia 60.8% |
| MPI (CG) | 29.90% (2015–16) → 16.37% (2019–21) |
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
- Chhattisgarh’s welfare policy has three phases: food security (2003–18), rural revival and Nyay schemes (2018–23), and cash transfers plus saturation (from December 2023).
- The PDS is the constant that survived every government.
- The current model uses four instruments: cash to women, price support to farmers, gap-filling for the landless and forest collectors, and services/saturation.
- Outcomes are mixed: multidimensional poverty fell sharply, but stunting and anaemia remain high (NFHS-5).
- Mains answers should weigh fiscal cost, crop distortion, discontinuity and exclusion against reach, and call for independent evaluation.
What’s Next
- Women and Child Development: nutrition, Mission Shakti and the State’s women-centred schemes
- Evaluating Welfare Schemes: the analysis toolkit (targeting, cash vs kind, freebies)
- Tribes of Chhattisgarh: the PVTGs and forest communities that saturation schemes target
- Social Aspects of Chhattisgarh: tribal problems and social change for GS-IV
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