India, March 9 -- The BJP government in Delhi has finally announced the basic contours of its cash transfer programme for women that had bipartisan endorsement during the recently held elections. With an annual allocation of Rs.5,100 crore and monthly payments of Rs.2,500, the scheme would likely see 1.7 million beneficiaries. That's almost 25% of Delhi's women voters. It is far from universal but not politically insignificant.

What are the budgetary implications of rolling out this scheme? Delhi presented a budget of Rs.76,000 crore last year with a capital spending of Rs.15,000 crore. The new scheme is one-third of Delhi's existing capital spending allocation. The political imperative of cash transfers and other populist handouts is wi...