India, April 3 -- Junmoni Gogoi, a resident of Bagchung block in Assam's Jorhat district, remains guarded in front of the camera. A daily wage earner, Gogoi is a beneficiary of the state government's scheme for marginalised women under which four million women were paid Rs 9,000 each, less than a month before the state goes to polls. As a poll pitch, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government claims that this is the largest ever direct benefit transfer (DBT) in the history of Northeast India's most populous state.

Much like Gogoi, several women beneficiaries were reluctant to talk about these schemes targeting women voters, fearing that they may not get the next instalment once the BJP-led coalition comes back to power. "What ha...