Clear, focused cash dole-outs may just work even for debt-ridden Punjab

If some exclusions are made, the doles may empower the marginalised without hitting the exchequer much

There has been a flood of cash-dole promises ahead of the Punjab assembly elections. While Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal has promised that his party would give Rs 1,000 a month to women aged 18 years and above if voted to power, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is wooing half the electorate with an assurance of Rs 2,000 a month to each female head of a poor family. Navjot Singh Sidhu, president of the Punjab unit of the Congress, has committed to providing Rs 2,000 a month to every female homemaker.  

A technical group had projected Punjab's female population