Tamil Nadu and Telangana have built some of India’s most generous schemes for women: cash for education, cash for marriage, and cash for motherhood. The money is reaching them. Equality isn’t. That gap is the real test of SDG 5 in India.

Given India’s federal structure, state governments carry the primary responsibility for translating global gender targets into measurable local outcomes. However, deep regional disparities highlighted by the NITI Aayog SDG India Index make targeted localisation critical. This blog evaluates SDG 5 localisation, specifically the mandate to eliminate all forms of discrimination, violence, and socio-economic marginalisation in Tamil Nadu and Telangana. While the latest SDG India Index 2023–24 shows both states outperforming national averages in women’s health and education, true parity demands moving beyond top-down welfare provisions towards a fundamental restructuring of patriarchal relations. Ultimately, these interventions need to be assessed on whether state policy is transforming gender power dynamics or merely subsidising existing structural inequality.

Tamil Nadu: Localising SDG 5 Through Education and Welfare

Tamil Nadu is consistently recognised as a national leader in the overall localisation of SDGs, securing the 3rd rank nationally with a composite score of 78 in the NITI Aayog SDG India Index 2023–24. By systematically aligning its State Indicator Framework (SIF) with foundational human development benchmarks, the state has secured strong outcomes across key development indicators. However, its performance specifically within SDG 5 (Gender Equality) presents a different trajectory. The state remains in the “Performer” category, scoring in the 50–64 bracket. This divergence points to a broader stagnation in state-level gender indicators and a disconnect between macro-level welfare targets and ground realities.

According to the NITI Aayog SDG India Index 2023–24, Tamil Nadu leads the country with a 47% enrolment ratio in higher education for the 18–23 age bracket. This indicator is supported by the Pudhumai Penn Scheme, which provides monthly financial assistance to girl students from government schools pursuing higher education, directly addressing financial barriers to continued education.

The newly integrated Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam provides a universal basic income layer to women heads of households, attempting to recognise unpaid care work. Together, these programmes reflect an effort to integrate gender concerns into state development planning.

However, Tamil Nadu’s SIF captures quantitative progress in areas such as health and education, while the state’s District Indicator Framework (DIF) reveals critical blind spots. National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) data indicates persistent concerns relating to skewed child sex ratios and adverse gender outcomes in districts such as Salem, Dharmapuri, and Madurai. Further, despite relatively high human development indicators, nearly 45% of ever-married women in Tamil Nadu reported experiencing spousal physical or sexual violence. This demonstrates that improvements in education and welfare access have not necessarily translated into greater domestic safety.

The existing frameworks therefore measure access to services effectively, but remain less equipped to capture or address socio-cultural practices such as female foeticide, son preference, and gender discrimination within households.

Telangana: Localising SDG 5 Through Welfare and Financial Inclusion

Since its formation in 2014, Telangana has pursued a highly institutionalised, welfare-and-incentive-driven approach to localising SDG 5 through its Department of Planning and Department of Women Development and Child Welfare. The state has introduced several flagship programmes directly linked to gender and maternal welfare, including Kalyana Lakshmi, Shaadi Mubarak, Aarogya Lakshmi, and KCR Kits. These interventions have contributed to improvements in maternal health outcomes and institutional deliveries.

Telangana also leverages digital financial inclusion through the Sthree Nidhi Credit Cooperative Federation. By providing rapid, low-interest credit to women Self-Help Groups (SHGs), the state has supported female micro-entrepreneurship. Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak provide direct cash assistance for the marriage of economically marginalised women, with eligibility legally contingent on the bride being at least 18 years old. While this structural incentive can help discourage underage marriage, critics argue that it may also reinforce entrenched social norms around marriage and dowry through state-supported transfers.

Through Aarogya Lakshmi, which provides nutritious meals through Anganwadis, and the KCR Kit Scheme, which combines cash transfers with maternal and infant supplies, Telangana has pushed its MMR down to 43 per 100,000 live births, outperforming the national average.

Yet these welfare interventions have not fully translated into social transformation. According to NFHS-5, approximately 37% of ever-married women aged 18–49 in Telangana reported experiencing spousal physical or sexual violence. Child marriage, although declining, continues to persist in districts including Khammam, Vikarabad, Jogulamba Gadwal, Nalgonda, and Mahabubnagar. High levels of anaemia among women also indicate continuing nutritional vulnerabilities despite targeted welfare programmes.

Telangana’s experience also illustrates the limitations of interventions that focus primarily on measurable service delivery. State-led initiatives such as the SHE Teams have expanded surveillance to improve safety in public spaces, but their reach remains limited when violence occurs within the private sphere, where patriarchal control can remain insulated from formal interventions. The state also faces an unfavourable Child Sex Ratio of approximately 933 girls per 1000 boys, with districts such as Wanaparthy, Jogulamba Gadwal, and Hyderabad having raised historic concerns regarding sex ratios at birth.

Persistent maternal anaemia in rural areas such as Adilabad and Mahabubnagar further indicates that welfare delivery alone may not resolve intra-household nutritional inequalities. These indicators suggest that economic growth and targeted welfare interventions, while necessary, are insufficient for achieving SDG 5 when they are not accompanied by social reform.

The Road Ahead 

The comparative analysis of Tamil Nadu and Telangana demonstrates that gender inequality in India is a cultural challenge as much as a developmental one. Tamil Nadu’s high literacy exists alongside concerns around male child preference, while Telangana’s welfare successes coexist with high levels of domestic violence.

The experiences of both states also raise an important question about the way SDG 5 localisation is currently measured. State Indicator Frameworks and District Indicator Frameworks are effective in tracking access to education, health services, financial assistance, and other measurable outcomes. However, indicators such as domestic violence, intra-household discrimination, control over resources, social norms, and women’s autonomy are more difficult to capture through scheme-based monitoring.

The policy focus therefore needs to move beyond a purely scheme-based approach towards the transformation of social norms, household structures, and women’s economic and legal autonomy. To move the needle on SDG 5, state governments must ensure that:

1. State Priority Analysis through SIF/DIF relies on PLFS and NFHS data to identify why schemes such as Aarogya Lakshmi are not fully addressing issues such as anaemia and other persistent gender gaps.
2. Policy frameworks transition from transactional welfare transfers to rights-based entitlements, including joint land and asset titling, expanded legal literacy, and guaranteed equal inheritance access to strengthen women’s structural independence.

True gender equality will only be achieved when institutional reforms are accompanied by a fundamental shift in gender attitudes. Development must therefore be understood not only in terms of economic participation, education, or welfare access, but also through the lens of safety, dignity, autonomy, and equal value.

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Gowri Sajeendran was a research intern at the Centre for Public Policy Research, Kochi.

Views expressed by the author are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of the Centre for Public Policy Research.