The world's fastest growing major economy is increasingly dependent on dole to keep its poorest people out of desperate poverty. Over the past decade, government cash transfers, particularly directed at women and farmers, have emerged as a major welfare tool for poverty eradication in India. Federal and state allocations for such schemes grew more than 20 times from under $2bn (£1.51bn) in 2015 to nearly $30bn, according to data from ProjectDEEP, an organisation that works on cash-based